Iran

Until I can come up with something blog-worthy on my own, here’s something to think about.

Squinting for the Fence

Apart from a brief flirtation with the Republican Party in college (hey, the Wake Forest of the early 1980’s wasn’t exactly a bastion of liberalism, and Walter Mondale always reminded me of Mr. Rogers), I have always considered myself to be a moderate Democrat. Left-leaning, but sitting on the fence nevertheless. Reasonable, rational, thoughtful, even-keeled, willing to consider all options. Sure, I’ve nearly always voted a straight Democratic ticket, but that’s only because it’s been the reasonable, rational, thoughtful thing to do.

I guess that should have been a hint.

According to this quiz, I’m not only not sitting on the fence that separates liberals from conservatives, I’m nowhere near it. Maybe, if I squint, I can see the fence – way off in the hazy distance somewhere to the right of me.

Hi, I’m Wags, and I’m a Liberal.

Take the quiz. Know thyself. It might confirm what you already know. Or, if you’re like me, you might have your eyes opened just a bit.

Thanks to Democratic Central for the quiz.

Palin Part II

One of my favorite Latin legalisms is “res ipsa loquitur” – “the thing speaks for itself”.  This phrase is appropriate in situations where no further detail or explanation is necessary; the proof of the matter is self-evident.  As we got to see more and more of Sarah Palin after my initial post on her, in which I had reserved judgment, I’ve been tempted to just say “res ipsa” and move on.

But, I can’t let this Dick Cavett column go by without passing it along.  Enjoy.

It’s Split

“It’s split.”

Fair and balanced, for sure.

Thanks to Kos for the link.

Palin Post

Where did she come from?

Alaska, I know.  But you know what I mean.

I haven’t quite gotten a handle on how I feel about Sarah Palin. It’s not that there is any question in my mind about whether I support her – there’s not and I don’t – what I’m still wrestling with is the question of how seriously I should take her.

My initial reaction to McCain’s announcement was that he had attempted a Hail Mary and had thrown an interception instead.  I mean, really -  political experience consisting of less than two years as governor of a state with more reindeer than people, and being city councilor and mayor of a town of 7,000?

At the very least, I concluded that the Republicans had conceded the “experience” argument.

Silly me.  I was ignoring her tenure with the PTA.   

She does give a good speech, I’ll grant that. But, the campaign can’t keep her shielded from interviews forever. It will be fascinating to see how she deals with the press once they start asking the tough questions. And, there is the VP debate to look forward to. Foreign policy, dealing with the lower 48’s domestic issues including a humongous deficit that came about under her guy’s watch, and not appearing to be an extremist on social issues might prove to be, um, challenging for her. We’ll see.

Glad things have gotten interesting, anyway.

Thanks to Mudflats for the Wasilla City Hall photo. Check out the site to “tiptoe through the muck of Alaskan politics.” Interesting stuff.

Fingers Crossed

Obama will probably have announced his VP decision by the time most people read this, but I thought this was right on and had to share.

Fingers crossed….

6 Things

I’ve been in a blogging drought lately.  If good intentions counted for anything, I’d be on my second or third book by now.  But, they don’t, so I’m not. 

To break the dry spell, I’ll hit each of the 6 topics in the masthead – family, faith, politics, current events, career, and outdoor adventures. 

Family first.  As it should be.  On Sunday we took our 3 girls up to Pennsylvania for two weeks of summer camp.  We couldn’t be any more pleased with this camp.  The girls love it, and have a wonderful experience there every year.  That said, while they are away my thought patterns tend to run something along the lines of how-are-they-doing-what-are-they-doing-will-there-be-any-letters-in-the-mailbox-today-how-many-days-before-we-pick-them-up.  I should really be a joy to be around in 3 years, when our son is old enough to join them.

Faith.  There’s an interesting flap brewing between James Dobson and Barack Obama. It seems that Dobson has taken issue with a 2006 Obama speech in which Obama pointed out that Leviticus suggests that slavery is acceptable but eating shellfish is sinful. Obama also noted that Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount isn’t exactly in line with Defense Department policy. Expect finger pointing and mischaracterizations to ensue – on both sides.

Politics. Obama has asked his contributors to help Clinton retire her campaign debt. Sorry, no can do.

Current Events. George Carlin’s passing over the weekend reminded me of going over to my neighbor’s house to listen to his new Class Clown album. As the album was released in 1972, this meant that I was somewhere in the neighborhood of 9 years old at the time. Suffice it to say that my friend’s parents ran a somewhat looser ship than mine did.

Career. I learned today that a former colleague has moved his family to one of the area’s most exclusive country club communities. His reputation, at least when I worked with him, was that of a mediocre performer who exceled at playing the corporate game. I’d like to be able to congratulate him on his success and move on, but this is going to take some time to digest.

Outdoor Adventures. I sent out my annual email to organize a whitewater rafting trip to the Gauley River. I have a talent for making things more complicated than necessary, and I did a bang-up job this time by inviting input on changing some of the aspects of the trip. I wish I hadn’t opened that Pandora’s box because predictably, responses are all over the map. It’s hard enough to find a weekend that suits everyone; I can’t imagine what possessed me to add additional variables to the mix.

Well, that’s it. All 6 topics covered. I’ll try for a less disjointed post next time.

Blog Hill

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on politics. I just haven’t felt like I could add much in the way of original thought to the cacophony of opinion, well-informed and otherwise, that’s been swirling around through the media and blogosphere.

It’s not that I don’t follow politics. My long-suffering wife can attest to that. Is there a 12-step program for freeing oneself from the addictive clutches of Real Clear Politics? How about Daily Kos? Drudge? They should all thank me for boosting their traffic stats.

But those sites aren’t my real vice. The site that I seriously, honestly, have a difficult time staying away from is … get ready … Blog Hillary. Specifically, the comments that her supporters post to the campaign’s blog entries.

It’s not because I support her. I don’t support her, I am not sure that I trust her, and I am fairly certain that if I met her in person, I wouldn’t much care for her.

I keep going back to the Hillary blog site largely out of a sense of morbid curiousity, I guess. I don’t spend much time on Obama’s – I do keep tabs on the Obama campaign website to stay current on events and endorsements, but have no interest in reading the comments posted by supporters. I already support Obama; I don’t need to be convinced by some guy I don’t know who calls himself “Joe from Austin”. Nor do I have any interest in reading comments posted to McCain’s site. It’s a safe bet that I’ll disagree with most of them, and I’d rather save my disagreements for the candidate himself.

I find myself returning to Hillary’s site because I have been fascinated to see what is going through the heads of those who continue to devote time and money to what is clearly a lost cause. (Money, by the way, that many of them don’t seem to have, judging by the number of posters who say they are selling possessions, racking up credit card debt, and putting off paying other bills in order to contribute to the campaign).

Her legion of blog commenters is an interesting lot. Actually, “legion” is probably not the proper term – I’m not sure how many people it takes to techically constitute “legion”, but I suspect that the number of Hillary website bloggers comes up somewhat short of that level. Scrolling through the comments, the same names start to appear over and over. Many are the innocuous sort of screen names that populate any message board, but a few – “HillaryIsMyShepherd” and “DIE 4 HILLARY” are two examples – are downright scary. With those limited exceptions, I suspect that the majority of posters are well-meaning types who, once having invested time, money and energy to the cause, and having received some positive feedback and encouragement on the site from like-minded folks, are finding it very difficult to give it up. I’m sure there is a Psychology or Sociology dissertation just waiting to be written on the phenomenon.

The posts typically fall into one of several recurring themes.

There are the we need to elect Hillary because she is a woman posts:

“I’m sick of men, we need real change and have a woman as our next President!”

There are the wishful thinking will make it so posts:

“I am convinced more than ever that Hillary will be our 44th president.”

“We know the FACTS–Hillary is winning”

“Hillary is already my president”

There are the Obama is evil posts:

“I think everyone should know that Barack is the one making back room deals to get SD’s to go against their constituents.”

There are the our cult is better than his cult posts:

“This Hillarymania is so addicting and contagious. Although I must say its not just a “mania”, as its not like a fad like that of the other camp.”

“Don’t be fooled they are running scared and we will not be motivated to vote for this Pied Piper I refuse to be led like blind mice over a cliff and into the abyss.”

There are the…um…admiring posts:

“She looks radiant in her BLUE Pants Suit.”

“She was in a pretty pale blue jacket with charcoal grey slacks. (Hillary looks so trim and tiny in person.)”

There are the I know it’s over and I’m really mad posts:

“We will also remembered who the traitors were, I will never forget Edwards, Richardson, NARAL, and and so many others..I will sit home and watch the election or vote for McCain.”

There are the I failed both Civics and History posts:

“Hillary, please go independent if you are not nominated. If you do you will win the presidency. I know it’ll be tough, but you can do it!”

Finally, there is the most popular theme – the media doesn’t think Hillary is going to win so I’m not going to listen to them any more posts:

“Stay away from Time magazine – forever”

“I had to stop watching the news and listening to the press. I get my information from here and I have not had the news on since Victory speech.”

“AFTER HEARING SOME STUPID COMMENTS ON TV THIS MORNING I JUST BURST INTO TEARS OVER THE UNFAIR TREATMENT SHE GETS”

“I SAW THE VERY SAME SHOW AND BURST INTO TEARS, AND THEN I GOT PISSED BECAUSE I KNEW IT WAS NOTHING MORE THAN SPIN SPIN SPIN….I DETEST THESE ANCHORS – WHO ARE THEY ANYWAY…THEY ARE PROBABLY ALL REPUBLICANS ANYWAY…”

“we all need to only listen to Hillary”

What will these people say and do when the end does come? Judging from some of the comments, I fear that some may do harm to themselves or others. I hope not.

We could find out as early as this week.

See For Yourself

Obama explained it much better than I did.

See for yourself.

Is There Anything That She Won’t Say?

So now Obama’s an elitist.

Give me a break.

First, read the article that spawned the whole brouhaha and get some context. Obama is responding to the suggestion that “white working-class don’t wanna … vote for the black guy.” Rather than buying into that racist motive, he suggests that many people in small towns in industrial states have become cynical about government because administration after administration has promised change that has not come to pass. “[O]ur challenge,” he said, “is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives.” His subsequent comments about the reason for people’s bitterness and frustration simply show that he understands why people feel the way they do.

And for that, Hillary calls him an elitist. “[M]y opponent said that the people of Pennsylvania who face hard times are bitter,” Clinton said during a campaign event in Philadelphia. “Well that’s not my experience. As I travel around Pennsylvania. I meet people who are resilient, optimist positive who are rolling up their sleeves.”

Could she be any more patronizing? It’s hard to imagine.

It does get funnier, though. Now she’s pro-gun. Maybe she and Mitt hunt varmints together.