McCain is Awesome

John McCain at His Best:

Holy crap, guys.





Where has THIS guy been all campaign?

UPDATE: Here's Obama's speech:

Yeah

"A Plumber Is The Guy He's Fighting For."

Seen today in Dawsonville, Georgia: a truck with a big sign on the back that read, "I love Joe the Plumber."



The media are trying to claim he's unlicensed, although his company is, and he is enrolled in the apprentice program -- and not eligible to complete the apprenticeship until next month. The union -- Local 50 of the Plumbers, Steamfitters and Service Mechanics, which has endorsed Obama -- is making noises unsupported by the law (see the comments), in order to convince the media that he's not one of their plumbers and shouldn't be allowed to work. Union leadership has never been known to make dubious, politically-motivated claims before (or self-interested ones -- for example, putting out the notion that no plumber unaffiliated with them was legitimate) so I am sure we can trust them.

Obama stopped by this guy's house while Joe was playing football with his kids. Obama picked this guy to ask a question. And then the Senator broke a key rule: he gave an honest answer.

So now the Alinsky playbook kicks in: Joe must be destroyed. He must be shown to be a liar ("He's not a plumber. He works for a plumber."), a criminal (He's not licensed! Whether or not he could be yet!), a thug (Sammy Davis Junior!), and possibly a Republican plant (indeed, planted years in advance in a neighborhood Obama would pick at random in which to campaign, presumably under the influence of some sort of mind control ray! That was probably how they got him to answer the question honestly, too). Union muscle is brought in, democratic officials in the government, the media, the liberal bloggers, everyone focuses on wrecking this guy's life.

Not figuratively speaking, either. That American Dream of his, to buy the company and build it? He needs to be out of a job instead.

Joe's us, folks. Look hard. There's some rule you haven't followed, or that someone can plausibly claim to the ignorant that you might not have followed. You're a hypocrite. A criminal. You'd better watch your step. You'd better keep your head down, eyes on your work. If you want to continue to have work, you know what I'm saying?

Dude

"This Really Is The Apocalypse"

Ben Smith notes an email from a Republican focus group.

Reagan Dems and Independents. Call them blue-collar plus. Slightly more Target than Walmart.

Yes, the spot worked. Yes, they believed the charges against Obama. Yes, they actually think he's too liberal, consorts with bad people and WON'T BE A GOOD PRESIDENT...but they STILL don't give a f***. They said right out, "He won't do anything better than McCain" but they're STILL voting for Obama.

The two most unreal moments of my professional life of watching focus groups:

54 year-old white male, voted Kerry '04, Bush '00, Dole '96, hunter, NASCAR fan...hard for Obama said: "I'm gonna hate him the minute I vote for him. He's gonna be a bad president. But I won't ever vote for another god-damn Republican. I want the government to take over all of Wall Street and bankers and the car companies and Wal-Mart run this county like we used to when Reagan was President."

The next was a woman, late 50s, Democrat but strongly pro-life. Loved B. and H. Clinton, loved Bush in 2000. "Well, I don't know much about this terrorist group Barack used to be in with that Weather guy but I'm sick of paying for health insurance at work and that's why I'm supporting Barack."

I felt like I was taking crazy pills. I sat on the other side of the glass and realized...this really is the Apocalypse. The Seventh Seal is broken and its time for eight years of pure, delicious crazy....

There is a remarkable amount of 'end times' language surrounding the Obama candidacy, and as we've discussed, some of it is really his own fault. Obama is a scion of the Alinsky movement, and Saul Alinsky did dedicate his book on "community organizing" to Lucifer. All those emails I've been getting warning that Obama is the Antichrist? I've spent my whole life thinking the Book of Revelation was impossibly vague to be considered a useful prophecy, and that it was always foolish to trot it out to try and interpret contemporary events.

As Dad29 says, though, you don't have to think "Antichrist" -- it's enough to think "Lucifer," because Alinsky did. The Alinsky method is deeply inhumane: the declaration that you should 'hold opponents to every part of their rule book' is intended to rule out compromise and discourse. Every opponent is a hypocrite, because every opponent is human and people can't live up to their every principle all the time. The system intentionally makes the perfect the enemy of the good, in every case, all the time.

I hope Jim Webb is right, and I'm wrong: and it is comforting to find that there are people I respect who are Obama supporters. I know I can put some faith in them, even if I have none in the man himself. Jim Webb is out there, Phil Carter of Intel Dump, retired General Zinni -- these are people I respect, whether or not we always agree and even when we rarely do. That's comforting.

It's important to have trust in such good and worthy men as there are on the other side, in the event of an Obama victory. We shouldn't follow Alinsky's road -- of making the perfect the enemy of the good, and all our opponents enemies. Sen. Obama himself is an unworthy man and the follower of a vicious creed, but with him come also good men of accomplishments with whom we have only some disagreements. In the event that we are forced to endure an Obama presidency, I am glad to know there are good people on his team.

Joe

Joe Wurzelbacher, American Hero:

This guy is the kind we need more of in our country.

PM: To you, what exactly is the American Dream? Can you explain that?

JW: Me personally?

PM: Yeah, you personally.

JW: Me personally, my American Dream was to have a house, a dog, a couple rifles, a bass boat. I believe in living life easy and simple. I don’t have grand designs. I don’t want much. I just wanna be able to take care of my family and do things with them outdoors and that’s about it, really. I don’t have a “grand scheme” thing. My American Dream is just more personal to me as far as working, making a good living and being able to provide for my family, college for my son. Things like that – simple things in life, that’s really what it comes down to for me. That’s my dream.

PM: Do you think your question surprised Obama, caught him off guard at all?

JW: Well that was actually my intent. Most people, you ask them “do you believe in the American Dream?” Nine times out of ten they’ll sit there and go, “Yeah, of course!” That’s where he messed up, because as soon as I asked him that, his answer shows that he doesn’t believe in the American Dream. You know, like the question you asked before – he pretty much contradicted himself. “I don’t want to punish you but – “ Well, you’re going to anyways.

The whole interview is great. This guy is just what America is all about.

Firepit series

Firepit Series: A Lesson in Cleaning a Lever-Action Rifle

You folks liked the last picture from the firepit, so here's another from earlier in the week. This photo shows me teaching a boy how to clean a lever-action rifle. Mine, in this case, is a Cimarron Firearms Winchester '73. He is cleaning a Henry "Golden Boy" .22 rifle.



If you're moved to music by the photo -- while I didn't find a copy of "Back in the Saddle" by Cowboy Nation, I did find their MySpace page. If you skip to track 6 on their autoplayer, you can hear their version of My Rifle, My Pony and Me.

No Way!

No Way!

So, via FARK, a story about a couple who decided to declare themselves sovereign nations.

[I]n the 1990s, they stopped paying taxes and declared themselves independent of all government authority. They have been battling government ever since.

Joel, 76, went to jail. The IRS went after their money, and Seminole County sold their home because of unpaid taxes.

Now, they face a new battle: Florida's attorney general is suing them, accusing them of fraud and harassment for filing a lien naming four Seminole County officials: Sheriff Don Eslinger; State Attorney Norm Wolfinger; Clerk of Courts Maryanne Morse; and Clayton Simmons, chief judge of the 18th judicial circuit.

The couple recorded the lien in April, claiming ownership of every piece of property held by those officials.

The lady is in trouble for paying for things with a "money order" she wrote herself, claiming that as a sovereign nation she has the right to create her own financial system. The husband has been arrested multiple times for driving without a license -- as a sovereign nation, he need not bother with the laws that touch mere citizens who want to drive on the road.

On the other hand, they've paid heavily for this little act: they've lost everything they owned to the IRS, gone to jail, spent time in court, etc. A certain part of myself that resents government meddling and longs for greater independence is thinking, you know, the liens are a problem, but otherwise if they're willing to bear the costs of this crazy scheme...

...and then I got to this part.

When the Brinkles declared their tax independence, they owned those 5 acres in Geneva.

Now they rent an apartment in a low-income section of Sanford. They have central air conditioning and heat but can't afford to run it. When Donna needed dental work, the couple's church and one of their adult sons paid for it, Donna Brinkle said.

They scrape by on $1,300 in monthly Social Security benefits, she said.

No way!

I would be willing -- eager! -- to sign away all future Social Security benefits in return for the right not to pay any more into the system. But to claim you are totally immune to any law or duty to the United States, and live off the public treasury? That's their conception of a sovereign nation??

The mind attempting to grasp this line of reasoning loses its focus, like an eye staring into a vertigous canyon. Just how far down does this thing go?

Good Point

Good Point:

National Review has a remarkable piece on the debates. What's left to talk about after two presidential and one VP debate? Well, it turns out, most of the issues that we normally discuss in an election haven't been mentioned at all. They list:

1) Abortion.

This is the #1 domestic policy issue for millions of voters on each side. Normally it's a huge issue. Maybe the differences are so stark, this year nobody feels we need to debate it.

2) Cloning/stem cells.

Normally a minor issue, but one we do usually hear about. It is surprising that Gov. Palin was not asked about these issues given her decisions about child rearing.

3) School Prayer/Evolution/Creationism.

It is odd, given the heat Gov. Palin has taken in the media on the subject, that no one asked about this. Maybe the media prefers their straw man version of Gov. Palin's position to her actual position, which is rather moderate.

4) Gun Control.

This is another issue to be the #1 domestic policy issue for millions of American voters. Unlike with abortion, where the difference between the tickets is stark and obvious, on the matter of gun control there is significant obfuscation. Sen. Obama served in the Joyce Foundation, which under his hand spent millions trying to produce anti-gun-rights organizations, and as a Chicago politician took a position on gun rights that was far less friendly than the laws on the books in the majority of states. On the other hand, he says he supported the Heller decision (an apparent reversal from an earlier position).

Sen. McCain, meanwhile, has not been a consistent friend to gun rights. Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr said he expected to get the NRA's endorsement (due to his A+ rating from the NRA and membership on its board), but did not. Gov. Palin is the only person in the race with a clear, uncontradicted record she will stand by.

5) Supreme Court vacancies.

Probably this is an issue like abortion, where people feel there is little need to discuss it. Sen. Obama voted against both Roberts and Alito, and said that he felt Justice Thomas was unqualified. I think we're pretty clear on what kind of justice he feels is qualified.

6) Immigration.

Sen. McCain is the most immigrant-friendly candidate in recent memory, but his base is opposed to heavy immigration. Sen. Obama is probably also friendly to pro-immmigration policies. This may be the opposite of the abortion issue -- there's not enough difference between the candidates to bother with a debate.

7) Race, racism, affirmative action.

Now that's an interesting set to be absent. My guess is the media doesn't feel we should be talking about those things at this time.

It's an interesting list. I think most Americans, asked for their top three priorities, would find at least one of these issues on the list; and if you ask people for their top three issues other than "the economy" and "the war," you'd probably see two or three of these items on the list. None of them have been mentioned in the debates.

Busy

Busy:

There's a lot to do to prepare for a long deployment.



Some of it is making sure to spend time with family and friends. Tonight we had Grim's Buffalo Chili, cooked on a fire over my own firepit.

The hard part will come soon enough. There's still a little time for the bittersweet part.

Notice the hook holding the Dutch oven over the firepit. That was forged from a piece of scavenged rebar by a former Navy SEAL turned blacksmith, "Tiny" Robinson of Moose Creek Forge. The last time I talked to "Tiny" (the nickname is precisely like "Little John" in its form and function) he told me he'd had to give up the hammer due to arthritis. That's a pity, because he was a real artist: one of the very best.

The Cats of Paradise

The Cats of Paradise:

"Only a Woman Could Make A Man So Foolish."

In honor of this story.

Back in the Saddle

Back in the Saddle:

My favorite version of this Gene Autry song was by the band "Cowboy Nation," but I don't see a verison of that one available online.



These guys are good too. Horses like it if you sing this to them. It calms their nerves.

UPDATE: Oh, here's Chet Atkins:



If you know of a Jerry Reed version, send it.

UPDATE: I give up. Here's Chet Aktins and Marty Robbins, the later-great Cowboy singer.



And here is Marty Robbins alone, rounding it out.



That last one I first learned from Atlanta's "Banks and Shane" group, who recorded a cover version on an album my father owned.

"The Western Financial World is Over."

"But, some of us have some money in the Western financial world!"

Berg

Berg Speaks:

Some of you will recall we discussed recently Philip Berg's assertion that Sen. Obama is not a US citizen. Elise in particular was fascinated with the assertion, so I thought I'd provide a link to a video involving Berg defending his case.



I think the hard evidence suggests that Berg is a nut, based on his previous lawsuits claiming that the US was behind 9/11, and the attempt to get SCOTUS Justices disbarred for their rulings on Bush v. Gore. That said, here he is speaking for himself: see what you think.

Boom

Boom:

An economist writes on the global situation:

On the real economic side all the advanced economies representing 55% of global GDP (US, Eurozone, UK, other smaller European countries, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Japan) entered a recession even before the massive financial shocks that started in the late summer made the liquidity and credit crunch even more virulent and will thus cause an even more severe recession than the one that started in the spring. So we have a severe recession, a severe financial crisis and a severe banking crisis in advanced economies.

There was no decoupling among advanced economies and there is no decoupling but rather recoupling of the emerging market economies with the severe crisis of the advanced economies. By the third quarter of this year global economic growth will be in negative territory signaling a global recession.

'A severe global recession touching emerging markets' the kind of technical speech that masks hard reality. What this means is that war and famine are coming to much of the world, and with them the rider of the pale horse.

We tend to think mostly in terms of what this means for America, especially this close to an election: our minds are focused on the immediate. America is stronger than most of the nations, though: this is why the dollar is growing steadily through this crisis. The world is burning, and America is the safest place. It is unlikely that war will reach these shores, though not impossible given the political divisions in the nation and the deep distrust that will greet the incoming President, whoever he is.

Allah notes what we can look forward to tomorrow.

These things, dire as they are, take time to fall. You can see them coming, and there is time to prepare. I am in no way a financial advisor, lawyer, or other expert, but it is the experts who brought us to this pass. Here is what I have done: you may do what you like.

1) I moved all of our money into FDIC-insured accounts, both in the military's USAA and in another secure bank. All of it. The FDIC fund is limited, but it is backed by "the full faith and credit of the United States." If that fails, money will be the least of your problems.

Why this is worth doing: The market is losing massive value every day. The experts seem to think you should be buying now, so that you'll be in a better position when the market comes back. In the meanwhile, every dollar you sink into this is worth less tomorrow. That suggests to me: Walk away from whatever you've lost, and rebuild shares when the situation does turn around.

Several people I respect have declared they are doing the opposite, rather than be part of the problem as they see it, which is panic causing these credit shortfalls. I don't agree that panic is the problem; I think there are real, structural problems. Leaving your retirement funds in your 401K may be patriotic, in a sense; but I would have to consider it an act of patriotism, a sacrifice for some common good.

2) I purchased a large quantity of dry goods: dry beans, flour, salt, dry yeast, baking powder and soda, powdered milk, and so forth, plus oil, whiskey (for medicinal use only, of course), and other such goods. The real danger in America is transportation difficulties: so much of our economy is based on 'just in time' deliveries that can be disrupted by even minor variances in the fuel supply. Anyone living in the South knows this right now, because of the gas outages we've had lately. A major finance crisis could cause shortfalls, and most people keep only a few days' supplies on hand at most.

Stock up. Buy a few months' emergency supplies. As insurance goes, it is very cheap, and can prevent disaster. Right now supplies are plentiful and inflation is no problem.

Why this is worth doing: There is a real risk of disruption in fuel and shipping; at the least, you'll be sure of living in comfort through any such shocks. This kind of 'insurance' is cheap, and if all turns up aces, you'll eat the stuff anyway. So there's no risk, no loss, but you are protected from a danger that has potentially severe consequences and a nontrivial chance of happening.

3) I laid in a few hundred extra rounds of ammunition: not just heavy stuff for defense and deer hunting, but bird shot to make it easy to bag squirrels and birds for the pot. I trust it will not be needed except for sport, and I will have a pleasant day at the range some afternoon in the future. Yet if it is needed, it will be needed intensely.

Why this is worth doing: If you live where there is abundant wildlife (and deer populations are at or near record levels), it's another source of food in the case of fuel-caused shocks. In the case of wider chaos, you're prepared; and if the absolute worst happens, and even FDIC insurance is no good, you have a valuable barter item. Unlike the food, there is a small cost (you can't eat it later if everything works out fine, although you can enjoy a fun day shooting). Still, the potential benefit to having adequate ammunition stores easily outweighs that small cost.

4) I'll be leaving on another Iraq adventure much sooner than I wanted. The parallel for readers: if a solid, good paying job you may not really want appears, take it anyway.

Why this is worth doing: We've heard that in a recession or depression, cash is king. Adding to rather than living off your savings will be difficult at this time, but at the end of the collapse, there will be a lot you can buy cheaply: real estate, businesses priced below their value, homes, etc.

Conclusion:

The advice I hear the financial experts giving boils down to: buy, buy, buy. Double down on the 401K. Shares are undervalued, so pick up bargains and make a fortune on the rebound. Getting out of the market means you can't make up the value you've already lost.

As the AP notes in passing today, however, that money was never real. I would suggest a different approach to understanding wealth.

Wealth doesn't come from speculation. It comes from work.

If your hard work has left you with money to invest, invest it in your own work. Alternatively, invest it in the business of a man you know, whose work ethic is known to you. Use it to buy land, and put cattle or crops on it -- or hire someone who knows how.

These things have real value that can't just 'go away.' They aren't fairy gold. They're real wealth. Hard work, friendships with men of strong ethics, land, cattle, food: this is what we built the country on to start with.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is right: banks don't make out on this.

Clearly, with current International Monetary Fund estimates of the costs of the 2007-2008 subprime crisis, the banking system seems to have lost more on risk taking (from the failures of quantitative risk management) than every penny banks ever earned taking risks.

I intend to focus on the real fundamentals of the economy. It's hard work and sacrifice that got us where we are, and that is how America will thrive -- if it does -- in the future. There is no substitute.

Voting

"I Have Voted":

Since I'll be leaving before the election, I took advantage of Georgia's new 'advance voting' policy. I have some remarks on it.

1) I hate electronic voting. It's easy and convenient, but I don't love the fact that there is really no physical record of how I actually voted.

2) I was reminded again this year of how the real election in Georgia is the primary. Almost all the races consisted of one candidate running unopposed. When I was a boy, the Democratic primary was the real election -- nobody believed he could win as a Republican, so everyone ran as a Democrat, and whoever won the Democratic primary ran unopposed in the election.

Now, that's reversed: the word "Democrat" hardly appears on the general election ballot. The three national elections -- President/VP, Senator, Representative -- had Democratic candidates, but I don't think any of the other races did.

It's odd, for the few of us left who hold to the old ways. There were more Libertarians on the general election ballot than Democrats.

3) I voted for Governor Palin. Oh, and the gentleman she's running with.

Palin Cover

The Palin Cover:

I was off yesterday, but I see that the LA Times attempted to show how Newsweek got its cover picture.



Times reporter Elizabeth Snead writes:

How did Newsweek convince Gov. Sarah Palin to pose with a rifle for its cover?

Simple. It didn't.

Instead, it used an archive (fancy speak for old) stock photo of her taken back in June 2002 and used it for the cover without her knowledge.

However, to the magazine's credit, it did not try to hide the fact that it's a stock photo, even printing circa 2002 on the cover and again referencing the date in editor Jon Meacham's letter entitled "The Palin Problem."

So that makes it OK.

Right? Or maybe not? What do you think?

Hey, is that even the right way to hold a rifle? Can't you shoot your foot off like that?

Just wondering.

Grim's Hall readers will be laughing pretty hard about now.

But don't fail to follow the link and read through the comments. My favorite:

Good catch. That is a 50 caliber automatic street-sweeper cop-killer assault weapon. Not only could she have blown her foot off, she could've killed every human within a 1000 yard radius. Which she would've probably enjoyed, since she loves to kill things. She is terrifying, and I have nightmares about her every night.

Hold me.

Eric Blair would say, "This thread is full of win."

Debate

The Debate:

The moderator and the audience have asked some extraordinarily good, insightful, and deep questions tonight (as well as a couple of duds). The candidates have flatly refused to answer any of them.

Paraphrased based on my memory of the question:

Q: 'What does this $700 billion bailout do for the little guy?'

Nothing at all directly. It may help keep the economy a whole from derailing, which would be good for the little guy as well as the big guys.

Neither candidate wants to say, "It wasn't designed to help the little guy," so we got two dodges. Sadly, this was the least evasive answer of the night.

Q: 'Should health care be a commodity?'

This is a fascinating question, and one I was very sorry that both candidates dodged completely. It's a fundamental issue, and I would like to know what they both think about it. A 'no' answer calls for a European-style system whereby health care is instead considered a right, which we make arrangements as a society to provide for that right to be met. A 'yes' answer is compatible with a market system.

If the answer is yes, as I think it is, it is not only because many people have spent time and money becoming health care providers -- whether doctors, paramedics, nurses, etc. This is an issue, because the government would be seizing their means of making a living if it declared health care a noncommodity: all "commodity" means is that there is something you can buy or sell.

The more important reason, though, is that the market regulates the amount people spend on a commodity. If you take it out of the market, you regulate the supply by law instead. You tell doctors and other health care providers, "You will provide as much as is demanded, and we will pay you what we decide to." So fewer people become doctors, until you have to mandate that, too.

Furthermore, the government's resources become increasingly devoted to health care. Supply is limited by the number of doctors, etc., but demand for health care is essentially unlimited. I could go to the doctor every time I get a cold, or think I might be getting a cold. I could ask for a prescription of Tamiflu just in case. I don't, because of the copay.

If it's my right to receive that health care, then the government has to provide me not with the same level of service I currently get, but a much higher level. Me and everyone else.

Q: 'We all recognize that things are going to be tighter. Prioritize entitlement reform, health care, and energy policy as first, second, and third most important.'

This was an outstanding and direct question from the moderator. McCain flatly dodged it ("I think we can do all three") and Obama followed him. The proverbial tar and feathers should be applied here to both of them.

This is the question that has now been asked in all three debates: 'If you find you won't be able to keep your campaign promises, which ones are you really going to do, and which ones will go by the wayside if things are too tight?' It's a tremendously important issue, and one I'd like to see pushed. McCain came closest to answering it, by reminding people of his spending freeze plan, but that's still not an answer to the particular question (although based on the answer he did give, I'd estimate his priorities as: 1) Entitlement reform, 2) Energy, 3) Health care). Sen. Obama's answer was even less direct, just a recitation of his health care talking points and his energy talking points (which bled into his non-answers to the other questions).

Q: Best question of the night. 'How can we trust either of you, given how badly your parties have both behaved up to now?'

McCain almost answered this one, by pointing people to watchdog agencies that would show he was committed to bipartisanship, whereas his opponent voted with his party every time. True enough, although the real question wasn't about who will work with the other party. If both parties are so bad they cannot be trusted (which seems largely beyond dispute), bipartisanship is not the same virtue as if there are good ideas on both sides (which is less clear).

Instapundit and Brendan Loy spoke to this today:

[I]t's hard to argue with this: "It isn't just that McCain and Obama are flawed candidates; it's that there aren't really any better alternatives. Who would you rather see up there? Hillary Clinton? Mitt Romney? John Edwards? Mike Huckabee? Joe Biden? Sarah Palin? Nancy Pelosi? John Boehner? Harry Reid? Mitch McConnell? George W. Bush? John Kerry? Dick Cheney? Al Gore? Please. Our political class is totally failing us, almost as much as we're failing ourselves."

Yes, the political class isn't attracting the best talent in the nation. It's not even attracting the second-best.

This is the hope people have for Gov. Palin, who at least is a complete newcomer -- real fresh blood. My suspicion is that we'll see a whole lot of incumbents turned out this year, whatever the polls say about it now.

Q: Second best question, from a seventy-something lady: 'Since WWII, Americans haven't been asked to sacrifice anything for the good of the nation, except the blood of our heroic troops. What will you ask?'

Best answers of the night. Sen. McCain actually raises the prospect of cutting social programs and entitlements. Sen. Obama says he'll double the Peace Corps and volunteer programs for the youth. He tries to talk about the civilian expeditionary force concept, but doesn't really know how to phrase it. Pity.

Q: 'What about climate change?'

I can't believe we're still talking about global warming, but apparently we are.

Both candidates reiterate their energy policy talking points.

Most of the night, actually, was talking point hell. For those of us who are following these issues intensely and watching them with people who don't, that is very frustrating ("Obama just said clean coal! Do you know..." "Shh!" "McCain said he voted against the new tanker! Why..." "Shhh!").

The funniest moment of the night was when the moderator, after several warnings, took them both to task for not keeping their answers to the one minute required. Sen. Obama -- having just a few minutes earlier told a questioner that he knew they weren't there to see politicians pointing fingers at each other -- actually stood up and pointed his finger at McCain.

I don't know who won in the mind of the average voter. I am reminded of our discussion of who would be a good VP pick, when Cassandra asserted that one of her standards was, "Who would make a good standard bearer in 2012?" I said then that I didn't see anyone on the slate I'd want to be thinking about in 2012. Gov. Palin is better than I expected, but I hope we'll see a complete turnover between now and then. I'd still believe that our country needs to ask some of those good men who have done so well in Iraq and elsewhere to step up to the task. Sign me up for the Mattis in '12 ticket.

Election "2K H8"?

Those of you who try to keep up with Cassandra saw this fellow earlier today, and Mrs. G. linked to him as well. (Cassandra's post was the same one where she called me an ignorant racist.)

I was amused to read, via Mrs. G., that the Freepers invited him and banned him within 24 hours. That's kind of awesome.



So what did he say to get banned?

BIG BANG recreated!!! That's fantastic!!! Someone recreated a model of the big bang. But hey, you can't have a recreation without an original creation.... if [our] intelligence has brought [us] to a point where [we] can model a big bang recreation, then there must have been an intelligence that gave ignition to the original, and endowed it with life to boot!

I didn't realize creationism was a banning offense at Free Republic. Still, there's two things to say about this that ought to be said.

1) The fact that it requires intelligence to build a model of something does not mean that it required intelligence to create the original. I've seen a carefully-constructed wave pool built to study the movement of sand in tidal regions. That doesn't mean that the ocean was similarly designed. It may have been, or not; we don't know.

2) However, the fellow has a good point. Is it really a "recreation" of the big bang if it doesn't produce a new universe? What if you can make a 'universe,' but it doesn't contain intelligent life?

As Chesterton wrote, people lose the wonder of the thing sometimes.

If trees were tall and grasses short,
As in some crazy tale,
If here and there a sea were blue
Beyond the breaking pale,

If a fixed fire hung in the air
To warm me one day through,
If deep green hair grew on great hills,
I know what I should do.

In dark I lie: dreaming that there
Are great eyes cold or kind,
And twisted streets and silent doors,
And living men behind.

Let storm-clouds come: better an hour
And leave to weep and fight,
Than all the ages I have ruled
The empires of the night.

I think that if they gave me leave
Within the world to stand,
I would be good all through the day
I spent in fairyland.

They should not hear a word from me
Of selfishness or scorn,
If only I could find the door,
If only I were born.

Awe and wonder are too often lost, and this young man has pointed at a place where they are deserved. Our scientists have done a glorious thing! And yet, how very far we remain from knowing even the first things: How? Why?

WV Blog

A West Virginia Blogger:

You might like Deafening Silence, a blog by a lady from West Virginia. I had a pleasant email exchange with her recently, and I think she's the sort of person you'd all like.

Good Ad

A Good Ad:

It seems to me that any effective ad by the McCain team starts the way this one does. The most dangerous question Sen. Obama has ever had to face is, "Who are you?"

Joyce

Obama & Joyce:

Did you know that Obama was a director of the Joyce Foundation? Not that I needed another reason to be opposed to him, but:

[D]uring his time as director, Joyce Foundation spent millions creating and supporting anti-gun organizations.

The Geek With a .45 mentions Joyce occasionally. His point is that they create and support all these little groups so that, when they all say the same thing, it sounds like there are lots of different people independently coming to the same conclusion. In fact, it's bought and paid for by Joyce -- astroturf, in other words.