Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. As we gather with friends and family to give thanks for our good lives, remember that by dint of living in these United States of America we are blessed beyond the imaginings of most people in the world.

I am thankful for my family, my friends, my health and my freedom. These are things that we tend to take for granted, but they are the true blessings of life.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Girls in the White House

How sweet is it that Barbara and Jenna showed Malia and Sasha how to jump on the beds at the White House? I think this is one of those really cool stories that, unfortunately, we don't hear enough of.

Gov. Palin pardons a turkey

Gov. Palin gives the traditional pardon to a turkey (a stupid tradition in and of itself.) Meanwhile, in the background, a worker continues with the process of beheading and bleeding turkeys in an abattoir.



The New York Times editorial staff reliably wets their pants over what a horrible person she is (they are such an entertaining group of panty waists.) I guess bleeding hearts think that food magically appears on the supermarket shelves and no animals are harmed in the process.

Mark Steyn sees the Governor's act of pardoning a turkey, and then allowing viewers to see others being slaughtered, as an allegory for government bailouts that pick and choose winners and losers. Ann Althouse, my favorite blogger, writes, "Deal with it, you candy-asses."

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Obama on the economic crisis

Yesterday the office of the President-elect put out a video from Sen. Obama.



This is mostly soothing words to make people feel psychically better (which is the proper role for a leader to play.) We don't want a President Carter malaise speech.

There are some policy comments in there. The creation of 2,000,000 jobs to rebuild roads and the crumbling infrastructure. That sounds like a re-creation of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) from the New Deal. And then the bit about a 5,000,000 new green jobs, but I don't think he means the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps.) Since I am one of those who thinks FDR's New Deal didn't actually accomplish much in the way of reviving the economy (unemployment rates did not improve during the 1930's) it's going to be hard for me to endorse revisiting bad policies.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

NY Times Election Analysis

The NY Times has an interesting analysis of the election which suggests that the results might indicate the end of the "southern strategy." I hope so, but I'm not so sure.

Monday, November 10, 2008

He rules!

For those of us who have doubts about President-elect Obama, this type of characterization is not encouraging. My understanding is the President serves the people of the U.S., apparently the leadership of the transition team thinks
it's important that president elect Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one.


Friday, November 7, 2008

Drunk videoing

There was always the risk of drunken emailing and drunken phone calling, this gentleman perfects drunken video. It is funny and I feel sorry for the guy.

Comment on government

Government is evil.

It’s a necessary evil, but it is an evil. Any application of government should be done in a somber fashion, as it is a failure of our humanity that we couldn’t handle it as individual citizens. Deciding whether to apply government to solve a problem should be considered on the same level as burning down an orphanage full of children to solve a problem. Deciding to tax should be thought of like deciding to stab an innocent man for our own gain. Anyone who celebrates government is a ghoulish wretch who must be ostracized from polite society.


Frank J. at imao.us

This is a libertarian statement coming from someone who considers himself a staunch conservative. Anyway, I like it.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

So Tired Today!

Cousin Mark had to road trip for business meetings today, which seemed a bit cruel after almost no sleep last night because of excitement over the election and the election results.

It is hard to describe the intense feelings I had leading up to the election and then the release of the headache when it was announced that Obama had won Ohio at 8:30 PM. I was so afraid that the polls were wrong, or something would happen, etc. (the usual Democratic paranoid feelings!). Anyway, my emotions were a mixture of joy and relief.

All during the afternoon and evening of election day I had fun sending text messages to my girlfriend Teneshia who was working the polls here in Houston and didn't have access to the news for part of the evening. It was fun to send the messages (Drudge headline says "Exit Polls Show Obama Big"). By the way, why is it that the right wing jerk Drudge always has the best gossip and scoops?! His site is indispensible when you need to know NOW!!

Anyway, I am very thankful that it did not take all night to find out the winner. Of course, I had all of the joyful emotions, and even a few tears at the amazing scenes shown on TV. I'm also mindful that many (and most of my own family!) do not wholly share my happiness, so I try to keep it all in perspective. I'm hoping for the best. It's also hard to understate the impact this election will have in our country and around the world. That is my feeling. All the best J.R. and other reader(s).

Wow

When the polls closed in California and it was clear that Obama won the election, I expected to feel some mixture of pride and disappointment. Unexpectedly, what I actually felt was a bit of fear.

We fear the unknown.

We just elected a man who's core values are unknown, and who's governing philosophy is unclear. If his past is the marker he will be truly awful. If what he has been saying in the campaign is the marker, then he has the potential to be a truly transcendent leader. My hope is the latter.

Congratulations to President-elect Obama. I wish him the wisdom to govern our country well.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Finally...

We come to the end of a long campaign. This Presidential race has been going on for the better part of two years. Frankly, I am tired of it in every way. There have been the good, the bad and a whole lot of the ugly, and thankfully some entertainment (can you think of Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich without smiling about how goofily odd they both are?)

Tomorrow the 75% or so of voters who have not voted early will go to the polls and by days end the race will be decided. If it is close we may not know who the winner is but the die will have been cast.

I can say that clearly I have a preference as to who the winner is, but in the end both candidates are decent, intelligent men who are standing for a job that no one can truly appreciate the difficulty of. No matter which way the election goes we will have a new President who deserves the respect that goes with the office. The country will not be destroyed by whoever the winner is. We may discover ourselves moving in a new direction, but that will be tempered by the reality of governing.

Hopefully the hot heads on the far right and far left will remain calm and we will proceed in an orderly fashion from the Bush era to the new administration. America is the greatest nation on Earth and our election process though messy, long and ugly proves this because in the end the winner is accepted and we get on with our business.