Don Singleton

Friday, September 05, 2008

Snowbama vs. Snowmama

Jim Treacher blogged It occurs to me: If Obama's experience in this presidential campaign is itself to be considered one of his qualifications for the Oval Office, what are we to make of his performance over the last few days? Is this an indication of how he deals with adversity? Because -- and this may be unfair -- it seems to me that over the next 4 years, the President of the United States will face much tougher challenges than watching a cute lady with glasses on TV.

And he did not even sit down and talk with her. He is as afraid of her as most Dems are of Fox.

It seems like instead of picking a strategy and seeing if it works, they're trying everything they can possibly think of, all at once. Which is one way of doing it, I suppose.

If you don't have a plan, other than Hope and Change, and if your opponent points out they both have experience with Change, and that is giving Hope to your opponent's base, yu need to do something.

And that's putting aside the apparent epidemic of insanity in newsrooms all over the world.

Did you guys see Hancock? Remember when Will Smith just stood there while the train hit him, and it derailed all over the place? Sarah Palin's kind of like that, except happier.

ROF, LMAO

Health care

BatesLine has a good summary of McCain's Health Care plan, according to Texas Congressman Michael Burgess. McCain's plan builds on the employer-funded insurance that serves 160 million Americans, but removes tax-code discrimination against those who purchase insurance individually. McCain's approach would make employer-funded premiums taxable, but there would be a $5,000 tax credit per family. So if you're employer pays, say $10,000 a year, for your health insurance and you're in the 25% tax bracket, your taxes would go down by $2,500 ($2,500 taxes on the employer-funded premiums, minus the $5,000 credit. If you're in the 10% bracket with the same plan, you'd be ahead by $4,000 under this plan. That net gain could be used to fund a Health Savings Account to cover out of pocket expenses or even to pay for an individually-owned plan.

This makes sense to me. I would really prefer getting rid of employeer provided health care altogether, and let everyone buy their own individual policy, from anywhere in the country, and then they would not need to worry about changing jobs and having to deal with pre-existing conditions. But expecting the government to provide it is absolutely stupid.

Obama Suddenly Riled

SFGate reported Sen. Barack Obama ditched his normal languid cool today, punching back at Gov. Sarah Palin as he spoke with reporters in York, Pa, hotly defending his work as a community organizer. He said he assumes Palin "wants to be treated same way guys want to be treated, which means their records are under scrutinty. I've been through this for 19 months. She's been through it, what four days?"

And already she's got you riled up.

Obama's hackles were clearly raised by Palin's dismissal of his community organizing --a response to his earlier dismissal of her record as a small-town mayor. "Why would that kind of work be ridiculed?" Obama said.

Why would he dismiss the work of a small-town mayor. At least she had a budget to meet, a town council to interact with, city employees to deal with, etc.

"Who are they fighting for?" The idea that community organizing is not relevant to the presidency, he said, just shows why Republicans "are out of touch and don't get it."

And Obama thinking that working as a community organizer somehow qualifies him to be president?????

The Obama campaign was clearly on the defensive today, acknowledging how appealing Palin came across, and sending out surrogates hitting their talking points that Republicans have spent their time on attacks rather than substance.

So rather than provide substance to show he is qualified to be president, his surrogates are just going to attack.

Palin nearly hit Obama's record 38.4 million viewers for his Denver acceptance speech. The Nielsen ratings show she drew 37.2 million viewers, despite being shown on six networks to Obama's 10.

Now I understand why he is ticked off. She almost got better ratings than he did. And did it with fewer networks carrying the speech. And maybe he also heard Presidential candidate John McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention drew more television viewers than his rival Barack Obama attracted at the Democratic party's event last week, according to preliminary ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

Obama said the "essential question" of the campaign is "who's got a better plan and agenda to move this country forward and fundamentally change it from the economic and foreign policy failures we've seen for the last eight years."

And I suspect they will go with a team of two maverick, both with proven histories of going after waste, abuse, and fraud even by members of their own party, combined with examples of working across the aisle to improve things for their constituenties, rather than just themselves or their party.

Defiant Warship

Newshoggers whines Yet again, the AP subtly pushes the Cheney/McCain narrative, this time on foreign policy:
The flagship of the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean fleet anchored outside a key Georgian port Friday, defiantly bringing in tons of humanitarian aid to a city still partly occupied by hundreds of Russian troops.
Defiant? The vessel in question is the USS Mount Whitney. Her heaviest weapon is a 25mm popgun

I am not sure I would call a Two 25 mm Bushmaster cannons a popgun, and she also has Two Phalanx CIWS and Four .50 cal. Machine guns, but but I guess if you hate the military like the rabid left does, denegrating their armament is a part of life.

and over half her crew are civilians. She's a command and control ship, meaning without her armed escorts she is the most unassuming, reduced-threat, undefiant vessel the Navy could have chosen.

And the appropriate selection for the mission she was assigned, which was to bring in tons of humanitarian aid to a city still partly occupied by hundreds of Russian troops, not to defeat the Russian troops.

She's exactly the right choice to ratchet down tension, which speaks volumes about the reality behind neocon rhetoric. Her crew - military and civilian both - are to be commended on the admireable job they're doing bringing humanitarian relief to a warzone. Aid to any warzone's civilian victims is a good thing.

I agree, and I am sorry if AP's choice of words frightened you, but I am pretty sure the Russians did not ask for the ship to come in, even though I bet the Georgians appreciated the aid.

McCain Health Care

Jonathan Cohn wrote McCain did talk about his health care plan--something, as best as I can recall, no other prime time speaker did. But his suggestion that it would "make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance" is just plain wrong. As numerous experts have noted, its primary effect will be to move people out of employer-sponsored insurance and into the individual market,

Which is where it should be. People can buy as much insurance as they want, and are willing to pay for, and they don't have to worry about losing it when changing jobs.

where the benefits are less comprehensive

Benefits are a good as people are willing to pay for. If they want a comprohensive policy they can buy one.

and insurers refuse coverage to anybody with pre-exsiting medical conditions.

No one should expect them to pay if you wait until you are sick to try to buy insurance. But if you buy a policy before you get sick, they will pay for your treatment when you get sick.

Troopergate

ABC News reported ABC News has exclusively learned that Alaska Senator Hollis French will announce today that he is moving up the release date of his investigation into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her office to get the Alaska public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, fired.

Even though he would not fire an officer that threatened her family.

The results of the investigation were originally scheduled for release Oct. 31 but will now come almost three weeks earlier, according to sources.

That is good. She will have time to rebut any claims in the report before the election.

Alaska state senator Hollis French, who is running an investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin, says the McCain campaign is using stall tactics to prevent him from releasing his final report by Oct. 31st.

I can't imagine why McCain would have wanted the report to come out a week before the election, but it is nice that any attempt to delay it is going to make the Democrat release it early.

The announcement is set for 9 a.m. AKDT time. "It's likely to be damaging to the Governor's administration," said Senator Hollis French, a Democrat, appointed the project manager for a bi-partisan State Senate Legislative Counsel Committee investigation.

Gee, I wonder why a Democrat would release a report damaging to a Republican Governor, particularly one that may well become Vice President.

Palin, who has denied any wrongdoing and has said she has nothing to hide, has hired private lawyers to represent her in the matter.

Good, she is not even asking the State f Alaska to pay for her defense.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Did you see the speech?

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Alaska Maverick

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Palin's children names

Andrew Sullivan blogs "Willow" was Buffy the Vampire Slayer's best friend and "Piper" was the the second sister on the series Charmed.... Willow and Piper are both witches. Good witches.

Well at least they were good witches. Maybe this is an indication that Palin respects other religions, like Wicca. But understand, these are not real witches, Those are TV shows. I.E. not real. Besides in People Todd explains where they got the names

Sarah's parents were coaches and the whole family was involved in track and I was an athlete in high school, so with our first-born, I was, like, 'Track!' Bristol is named after Bristol Bay. That's where I grew up, that's where we commercial fish. Willow is a community there in Alaska. And then Piper, you know, there's just not too many Pipers out there and it's a cool name. And Trig is a Norse name for "strength."

They just don't get it

NYTimes pretends to worry Disclosures on Palin Raise Questions on Vetting Process -- A series of disclosures about Gov. Sarah Palin, Senator John McCain’s choice as running mate, called into question on Monday how thoroughly Mr. McCain had examined her background before putting her on the Republican presidential ticket.

Washington Times says
a team of some 25 people poring through public records searching for trouble spots without her knowledge. Then came the 70-question survey and a nearly three-hour interview.
NYT may hope these things that have come out about Palin will hurt McCain, but they just don't understand how they help him, and how the Dems would be committing political suicide by raising them too much

.... their 17-year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, was five months pregnant and that she intended to marry the father.

Gee, not only did not Palin not abort her Downs Syndrome baby. her pregnant daughter is going to keep the baby, and marry the father. And does the NYT think the Republican party will be upset about that?

Among other less attention-grabbing news of the day: it was learned that Ms. Palin now has a private lawyer in a legislative ethics investigation in Alaska into whether she abused her power in dismissing the state’s public safety commissioner;

Even if it was because he would not fire a violent thug who mistreated her sister and was a threat to her safety fired -- who cares?

that she was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party, which has at times sought a vote on whether the state should secede;

So she is for states rights. So what?

and that Mr. Palin was arrested 22 years ago on a drunken-driving charge.

And he learned his lesson.

and Jeralyn wonders What Day Will Sarah Palin Drop Out?

When will hell freeze over, and when will pigs learn to fly?

Charles Mahtesian blogged New Palin details may help, not hurt

John Hawkins blogged The Top 7 Reasons Why Palin Was A Brilliant Choice For VP

Monday, September 01, 2008

A Leading Hillary Supporter Defects to McCain

TamCam reported John Coale, a prominent Washington lawyer, husband of Fox TV host Greta Van Susteren and a supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton, announced today that he was supporting John McCain for president.

The first of hopefully many.

Coale, who traveled with Sen. Clinton, President Clinton and her family through out the primary season, complained of sexism, and said the Democratic Party is "being taken over by the moveon.org types"

I know what you mean.

What Palin does for McCain

Ed Morrissey blogged Third, and I think maybe most importantly, Palin addresses the energy issue better and more attuned to the American electorate than maybe any of the other three principals in this election. Even beyond her efforts to reform the Oil and Natural Gas Commission, she has demonstrated her independence from so-called “Big Oil” while promoting domestic production. She brings instant credibility to the ticket on energy policy, and reminds independents and centrists that the Obama-Biden ticket offers nothing but the same excuses we’ve heard for 30 years.

Absolutely. When McCain/Palin pushes for drilling the Dems can't just say they are in the "pocket of big oil" when Palin contronted Big Oil, and raised their taxes, and then rather than speding the money like the Dems would have, she gave it back to the taxpayers in the form of a $1,200 check to each one.

Finally, based on all of the above, McCain can remind voters who has the real record of reform. Obama talks a lot about it but has no actual record of reform, and for a running mate, he chose a 35-year Washington insider with all sorts of connections to lobbyists and pork. McCain has fought pork, taken real political risks to fight undue influence of lobbyists, and he picked an outsider who took on her own party -- and won.

This is change you can believe in, and not change that amounts to all talk. McCain changed the trajectory of the race today by stealing Obama’s strength and turning it against him. Obama provided that opening by picking Biden as his running mate, and McCain was smart enough to take advantage of the opening.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Obama's Story

I think Jon Stewart is about to get excommunicated from the left for blasphemy.

Hat tip to Frank J.

NYT still does not "get it"

NYTimes highlighted an article Troop ‘Surge’ Took Place Amid Doubt and Debate

Why put the quotes on it. Don't you think this successful policy was a surge?

When President Bush speaks to the Republican convention on Monday, he is expected to tout the "surge" of forces in Iraq as one of his proudest achievements. But that decision, one of his most consequential as commander in chief, was made only after months of tumultuous debate within the administration,

Rumsfeld did not like it, and there were probably other Rumsfeld supporters, but Bush made the right decision, and I wish he had made it much earlier.

according to still-secret memorandums

What is the NYT doing reporting on them if they are secret?

and interviews with a broad range of current and former officials.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Gov. Palin talkin’ energy

Hat tip to Anchoress

Friday, August 29, 2008

South Ossetia

NYTimes reported Russia’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent nations has filled people here with hope that other countries will follow. To outsiders, that hope may seem far-fetched; Western leaders have made it clear that they consider the regions part of Georgia.

How about North Ossetia, which is a part of Russia. If Russia feels so strong that South Ossetia should be independent, why does it not give North Ossetia it's independence, and then the two can combine and be an independent country. And then let the Ossetians decide whether they would rather be friends with Russia or with the West.

Palin

NYTimes reported In a surprise move, Senator John McCain announced here Friday that he had chosen Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate, shaking up the political world at a time when his campaign has been trying to attract women, especially disaffected supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

And Hillary supporters now have a very good way to show Obama how ticked they are that he did not pick her.

Pam Fessler blogged Sarah Palin is no stranger to the "maverick" label often assigned to Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate who has selected her to join him on the GOP ticket. Alaska's youngest and first female governor

And the country's future first woman VP, and if McCain only serves one term, a potential woman President without the Clinton baggage (i.e. Bill).

has pushed for ethics investigations of fellow Republicans in her state and bucked the powerful oil industry on a major natural gas pipeline project.

When she ran for governor in 2006, she ran as an outsider and an agent for change.

Obama says the country wants change, here is an agent of change, working with a President that has experience working with the other party.

But she's also an anti-abortion, pro-gun fiscal conservative — something sure to please the Republican base.

Politico blogged Conservatives thrilled at "game changer" VP pick

Volokh blogged You would not believe how the Sarah Palin pick is playing out at the Hillary Clinton Forum

Politico blogged McCain aide Jill Hazelbaker:
It is pretty audacious for the Obama campaign to say that Governor Palin is not qualified to be Vice President. She has a record of accomplishment that Senator Obama simply cannot match. Governor Palin has spent her time in office shaking up government in Alaska and actually achieving results — whether it’s taking on corruption, passing ethics reform or stopping wasteful spending and the ‘bridge to nowhere.’ Senator Obama has spent his time in office running for president.

David Freddoso blogged She is everything Obama is not. A real reformer who took on her own party's corrupt establishment and won, defeating an incumbent governor, 80-20. Don't forget that she's also a mother who chose life for her Down Syndrome baby — we can probably guess where she'd fall on the Born-Alive act. If this is the future of the GOP, they're in good shape.

Ed Morrissey blogged Politically, this puts Obama in a very tough position. The Democrats had prepared to launch a full assault on McCain’s running mate, but having Palin as a target creates one large headache. If they go after her like they went after Hillary Clinton, Obama risks alienating women all over again. If they don’t go after her like they went after Hillary, he risks alienating Hillary supporters, who will see this as a sign of disrespect for Hillary.

But the Hillary supporters now have an alternate place to go.

For McCain, this gives him a boost like no other in several different ways. First, the media will eat this up. That effectively buries Obama’s acceptance speech and steals the oxygen he needs for a long-term convention bump. A Romney or Pawlenty pick would not have accomplished that.

Second, Palin will re-energize the base. She’s not just a pro-life advocate, she’s lived the issue herself.

With her Downs Syndrome baby that she refused to abort.

That will attract the elements of the GOP that had held McCain at a distance since the primaries and provide positive motivation for Republicans, rather than just rely on anti-Democrat sentiment to get them to the polls.

Third, and I think maybe most importantly, Palin addresses the energy issue better and more attuned to the American electorate than maybe any of the other three principals in this election. Even beyond her efforts to reform the Oil and Natural Gas Commission, she has demonstrated her independence from so-called “Big Oil” while promoting domestic production. She brings instant credibility to the ticket on energy policy, and reminds independents and centrists that the Obama-Biden ticket offers nothing but the same excuses we’ve heard for 30 years.

And maybe she can convince McCain to push to drill in ANWR.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Not Ready

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Hillary chicken out

Hillary chicken out and ends the role call vote. I know they negotiated that, but I had hoped she had enough backbone to make him at least sweat it out a little longer.

Changing religions

AFP reported Maher al-Gohari converted to Christianity 30 years ago, but the Muslim-born Egyptian only recently took the decision to make his conversion public.... It's ony the second time this year that such a request has been made in a country where converting to Christianity, while not illegal, is practically impossible. In January, a court rejected a request by a Christian convert from Islam, Mohammed Higazi, to have his new religion written on his identity card.... In Higazi's case, the judge based his decision on Sharia, Islamic law, to prove that one cannot convert to an "older religion".

Does that mean the government would allow one to change to the Bahá'í Faith? Its founder, Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892), is regarded by Bahá'ís as the most recent in the line of Messengers of God that stretches back beyond recorded time and that includes Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Christ and Muhammad.

"Monotheistic religions were sent by God

Actuall religions were invented by man in an attempt to reach God. All God sent to man was His Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

in chronological order... As a result, it is unusual to go from the latest religion to the one that preceded it," the judge said at the time.

Unusual, but should it be impossible?

The Higher Administrative Court is due to hear on September 2 the case of Maher al-Gohari, whose chosen Christian name is Peter Ethnassios, and who has been in hiding after receiving death threats from his family.

Not from God, who has known of the conversion for 30 years, but from the man's family, that just learned of it.

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