Recently in 2008 Category

Wow. That was powerful. Tonight America saw Barak Obama, not as the wild-eyed radical terrorist that the McCain campaign tries to paint him as, but as an earnest, likeable young man who wants to do right by this great country of ours.

In this period of nasty campaign innuendo and smears and falsehoods about the motives, beliefs and actions of those on the "other side," it's time to stop and ruminate about what is an American. More than one Republican has been throwing anti-American brickbrats at Obama and other Democrats. Is this the American way?

This sounds like a contradiction in terms. If you want to win - and nothing is more important than winning - then you must do everything to denigrate and ruin the reputation of your opponent. This nasty politics has been with us for a long time. However, yesterday's debate between John McCain and Barack Obama proves that nasty is not always the best approach. Nice guys finish first.

The Democratic pickup in the Senate is looking bigger than first expected, but Republicans need not be too glum long term. If they return to more traditional conservative values, stop alienating moderates, and act honestly as a minority party, they will make a comeback. Otherwise another party WILL step in to fill in the void.

During the Debate last night, McCain said several times condescendingly that "Senator Obama does not understand. ...", "Senator Obama does not understand...", "Senator Obama does not understand..." Each time he said it I was annoyed. But what annoyed me even more was to hear after the Debate Democratic pundits, supporters of Obama, say they were disappointed that Obama did not answer McCain in kind. They do not understand Obama.

As our representatives wrangle over the Bush administration's proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street investment firms, I started wondering if there were any alternatives.

That was the first thing I noticed about John McCain's acceptance speech -- a sea of white people. I have never seen so many white people all in one place. I live in San Diego. But that wasn't the point of John McCain's speech. It was this: Did I mention I was a POW?

She might be. Nobody knows. She was never vetted by the FBI. She might be indebted to the Alaskan mob for gambling losses. Who knows? Not John McCain.

McCain is saying that his vetting process for his pick for Vice President was completely thorough (link) and that he was grateful for the results. Grateful for the results!? Really!? This has got to go down as the dumbest, pre-election blunder since Gary Hart's 'follow me' remark.

While the tone of the Democratic Convention's opening night was pretty predictable, there were some surprises. Ted Kennedy's capacity to deliver a rousing address on the heels of his brain surgery, and the rhetorical gifts of Obama's wife, family, and in-laws were displayed. Former Republican Congressman Jim Leach provided a lesson in history and civics.