Debating the Debate

In last week's presidential debates, both candidates displayed their own personalities and styles, and the facts as they see them, in a very predictable, and unremarkable way. In that regard, if you liked McCain going in, you were very pleased. If you liked Obama, you were pleased. That's why the end result to most pundits was, "it was a draw!". No surprise there. 90-some percentage of all debates come off exactly that way.

Both sides hoped for a standout performance, either through an incredible, eye-opening, game-changer by their own man, or an absolute foot-in-mouth, career-killing gaff by the opposition. Neither side got what they wanted in that regard.

As a conservative backer of McCain, I probably watched him more than Obama. I always tend to watch my own guy more. Do most of us do that? For that matter, how many people actually use a debate to make a decision of this importance? How can anyone be that incredibly lost on the other 98% of what is said by each candidate outside of these debates?

Anyway, while I'm talking about all this, I'll offer this critique on each man:

John, John, John.....will you never, ever, get aggressive? I don't mean angry! I know that you don't like to get angry. I mean aggressive. Turn the big guns on the guy. I know you've got them. For crap's sake, even Jim Lehrer's pleading couldn't get you to look at Obama. Leader's must be able to look someone right in the eyes and say "this is what we're going to do". (Sarah - if you're reading this, do something to help this guy would you?)

Now Barack, you presented yourself and your ideals very well. So basically you did nothing right. Sorry.

R.I.P. Paul Newman

Anti-hero on the screen. Anti-Hollywood in real life. A better than decent driver. One of my Top-10 for sure.

R.I.P. "Cool Hand"

Want of Wisdom ( or another Bidenism)

“When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on television...” —Joe Biden

Uh, Joe, Roosevelt wasn’t president in 1929 and TV’s weren’t commercially available until the late 1930s.

Just imagine what the press would be saying if this had been a Sarah Palin quote!

Will there be a Joe Biden skit on Saturday Night Live this week? Don't hold your breath.

Raking in the Money

Here’s one for you: The University of Vermont will receive a $45,000 Department of Agriculture grant to study the effects of global warming on autumn leaf color! You think I make this stuff up?

I’m not a scientist, but how the heck do you measure this? Most things I’ve read still indicate that scientists are not 100% sure about which affects of temperature (day and nighttime), humidity, rainfall, cloud cover, pollutants, stress and even insects have on the process of a green leaf turning red or gold anyway. If you take these causes singularly and then multiply the various potential combinations, you’ve probably got a thousand variables. But somehow, (and I guarantee this), the result will be that global warming is muting our fall colors! No doubt about it. (Hey it’s Vermont after all)

Don’t we all recall that there are certain years when colors are more vivid than others? In fact, every year is a little different. But color hue and brightness are all subjective things anyway.

So here you’ve got an outcome with a thousand variables, on a subjective value that can’t really be measured, and on something we can’t control anyway! Great way to burn 45 grand, but then again, how else do you finance something called the “Proctor Maple Research Center”? I mean, money doesn’t grow on trees….or does it?

Just Another Example

Barack Hussein Obama travels to Europe and meets with a dozen or so EU leaders, as well as some of those from moderate Arab countries and Israel, and the main-stream media is enamored with his “proactive” approach to reaching out to them. After all, (in their minds), it is the next President of the United States’ responsibility to set the stage for the new policies that will reshape and rebuild the U.S. on the world stage! The press is locked out of many of those meetings, but they understand the sensitive nature of many of the discussions, and they respect that.

In contrast:

Sarah Palin meets this week with several diplomats and world leaders in NY, and the same media labels this her “crash course” in world politics. Nothing but McCain trying to get her up to speed. And they are infuriated that many of these meetings are being conducted behind closed doors. How dare she?!!

So there you go. Example number one-million and something of the left-bias of these media clowns. Sarah is being schooled. Just a naive simpleton. But Obama went to teach. He went to enlighten and advise with his brilliant and worldly insight. As if he had nothing to learn….having not one more minute of global experience than Palin. It’s just different when you’re anointed.

The Bubble Bursts

The blame-game is up to full steam now on this mortgage-banking crisis, which depending on who you listen to, has been staring us in the face for up to a decade. Yet history will show that no one would be willing to do anything to try and correct things, despite the growing concern. At least no one who had any power or the authority.

Clinton saw it’s beginnings and did nothing. Bush saw it expanding and did nothing. Senator’s Obama and McCain will no doubt blame each other in the upcoming debates, but where is the legislation with either’s name on it that would have helped defuse the issue?

I submit that this is one of those rare instances of real, bi-partisan cooperation….in doing nothing! It’s roots are in good, old-fashioned American greed, and everyone was on-board.

It started with the typical American consumer who wanted more, but needed and demanded more credit to get it. And now this was applied to the American Dream, our homes. And so in the late, last-century, everyone up and down the food chain found it in their de-regulated interest to “enable” us to realize the dream. Those unfortunates who had never had owned a home, suddenly found that they could. Those that already had one, suddenly realized that they could have bigger and better. So lenders began dumping a whole lot of money into the market and it really began to fuel the prices. It didn’t matter that there was no basis for a “starter home” at $300,000! Somehow, the American family, although shrinking in average size to 2.8 members, needed 40% more room in which to live! The average master-bath now contains as much square feet as two to three bedrooms used to. The average kitchen has become cafeteria-sized, with countertops made of stone. Not just niceties…..we NEED this stuff!

Then came the banking industry’s “no family left behind” lending policies. Why did they adopt this? Because as soon as they could get someone signed up, qualified or not, their loan became a saleable commodity to a larger bank, and then the larger bank could sell it to an even larger bank. Each step of the way gave the seller of the note a little mark-up on the deal. I bet I saw my own mortgage bought and sold 5 or 6 times in as many years. Everyone got a piece. And when you have something saleable and profitable, and I mean anything, then it becomes good business to market it and try to sell more. Works with everything from peanuts to prostitutes.

So where was the government in all of this? Aren’t they supposed to protect us from ourselves? No, not according to good Republicans who want less government influence in our lives and who also love those Wall Street profits. And not according to good Democrats who think that everyone is entitled to a nice, new home despite any ability to pay for it! In fact, within their own mortgage institutions, Freddie Mac was up to his Fannie Mae in backing this high-risk, easy money!

This time there is more than enough blame to go around, and the guilty are everywhere.

The fact is, sometimes in America there is a cause which is so profound that we all share in striving for it at almost any cost. Beating the Germans. Putting a man on the moon. And getting everyone who wants it, three baths and 3000 square feet.

Empty Words, Spoken With Authority

Reader's of this blog must sometimes wonder how or why I stay active in the Episcopal Church. All I seem to do is whine about it. And here I go again.

In fact, I've written on this topic before, back when our leadership was only threatening to do it. Now they are following through, and so on October 3rd, our esteemed Presiding Bishop, Katherine Schori, will officially apologize for all us, for the Church's "involvement in the institution of transatlantic slavery" practiced almost 200 years ago.

What a disgusting display of meaningless pandering.

She may think she's apologizing for me. She is not. Why? First, because no one can truly apologize for another's actions. Fact. And even if she could, I've never owned a slave. Never endorsed slavery. Never held stock in a slave-trading company.

In the same way, she cannot apologize for the Episcopal Church. She is most certainly not the Church. She is part of it to be sure; holding the same percentage of stock that I own if you care to look at it that way. But that is all. It's more than exceeding authority.

Let's back-up for a minute. For the Bishop's sake, who and what is the Church?

First, the Church is Jesus Christ. Second, the Church is everyone of us who accepts Jesus as our Lord and Savior. That is it. That's the Church. It's important to understand it in that way, but the Bishop evidently doesn't. It's not a building or an agency or an institution. It's just us and Jesus together. Because when you think of it correctly, you have to ask the Bishop, why is the Church apologizing? The Church has nothing to apologize for. Not one Church member is to blame for "transatlantic slave trade". Not me. Not Jesus. Not even the Bishop herself!

And conversely, who is she apologizing to? Not one person alive today has ever been a victim of "transatlantic slave trade."

So there's our Bishop; apologizing for those who have no guilt, to those whom have never been trespassed. Wise. Pious. Righteous. Yeah.....she thinks so!

Sorry. Just pretentious, phony pandering. As long as she feels better!

......There I go again......

Where I Was

The work day did not start out like most others. It was to be a bit more involved.

I was at my office early, to gather up some co-workers and our presentation materials. The team had been preparing for a couple of weeks for this important introduction of our company to a new, big potential customer.

We scurried around the office, knowing that we had to be on the road by a certain time in order to make our appointment across town. You do not want to be late for something this important. The customer was bringing in the “big guns” to listen to our pitch.

We jumped in the van, and sped down the freeway, hoping that most of the cops were still bellied-up to a donut somewhere. We rehearsed our individual segments of the presentation and got psyched.

We pulled into the parking lot with a good 10 minutes to spare. Not bad considering the trip all the way across town in the extremely unpredictable morning rush. The receptionist buzzed us in and showed us to the big conference room, understanding that we needed some set up time for the computer and the projection equipment.

Ties straightened. Computer ready and idling. Notes neatly set in front of us. A big clock on the wall ticking up to the exact start time.

But then it ticked past the start time. Not to worry. That’s what big guns do to you sometimes. They have so many headaches, and their time is very valuable. Oddly, they forget that your time can be valuable too. But they’re the customer. You cut them slack.

More time ticked by. We were alone in the room. No customer with us and not even the receptionist poking her head in to apologize for the big guns. Then more time. At roughly the twenty minute-late mark, we were starting to get angry. If they treat us this way now, what will our business relationship be like? Very unprofessional. We had this meeting set for two weeks. Downright rude.

More time ticked by. This is absurd.

Then the receptionist reappeared. Only she looked almost like a different woman. Her nice tan had almost faded to white. Her sunny disposition was gone. Had she been crying? She was visibly upset about something.

Then she told us as calmly as she could, but voice shaking, an unbelievable story about jets crashing into the World Trade Center. Not one, as in accidently, but two. Both towers in flames. She didn’t invite us back to the one television they had in the building. “No”, she advised, this big company had an emergency procedure, sort of a lock-down thing, and the building would have to be closed immediately. We needed to leave.

We gathered up our equipment I guess, because honest to God, I don’t remember doing it. Then we went out to the van and turned on the radio. What followed was four men, sitting in the van, hanging on every word coming out of the speakers. Very little talk as I remember, except “How?” and “Why?”.

Four men, punched in the gut, some red eyes, and speechless for the most part.

I started the engine and we drove out, all of us on cell phones trying to contact wives. Not really sure what to do next except to head back to the office and get our own cars and head home to loved ones who had suddenly become a hundred times more important than our big presentation.

I don’t really even remember the drive back. So tuned my senses were to the radio, I guess.

I remember September 11, 2001. Like we all do. How it spun our priorities so fast we didn’t even think of it. But it doesn’t take long for priorities to again realign themselves to much lesser causes, does it? Even the best of us must have an anniversary and acknowledgement of an event like this, just so we can think about proper alignment, let alone really live our lives that way. So let’s carry on, but never forget. Never.

Running Scared

Maybe it's just my wishful thinking, but I sense that the libs are reeling right now. The Sarah Palin nomination put them back on their heels so hard, that I'm convinced they never saw it coming. She wasn't even on their long-list of who to expect (and prepare for). They were like a caribou in Sarah's headlights.

And now, after a week has passed, they still seem unable to react. Like being punched so hard in the gut that they have yet to be able to grab a breath. All they can squeeze out are little childish and ineffective jabs.

Sarah is like kryptonite to SuperObama. Oh he'd like to chew her up, but he doesn't dare. In the same way we couldn't attack him without being racists, he can't attack her without being sexist! All those white women voters, many still ticked-off about Hillary's exit, now identify so well with Sarah. I guess life was easier for all of us when everything was run by old white guys!

Truth is, libs are scared. Very scared. Their trusted and beloved poll-numbers are now pointing the wrong way.

Old-time dems will not admit it, but you have to know that there are many, many of them who miss the Clintons terribly. They have started to come out of their Obama drunk now, and like waking up with a New-Year's morning hangover, they're wondering what the hell happened the night before. "What could we have been thinking?" is what I imagine them saying. "If we only had Hillary now!" "And he's black guy to boot!"

Well, it's too late. They're stuck with a far-left radical and the aforementioned generic, old white guy, career politician. No, it's the Republicans that have the dream team, and they know it.

The Conference Crasher

The latest issue of Episcopal Life highlights all of the activity around the recent Lambeth Conference.

Whether the editors wanted to, or had to, they feature Bishop Gene Robinson in a full page “highlight”.

I have written about this individual and his desperate ego many times, and so I hesitate to do it once again. But I’m so compelled by the continuing farce this man generates, that I really can’t let it go.

The article confirms that he was not invited to any of the official Lambeth proceedings. Yet here he was in London with his total conceit on display wherever he could get a small audience. Supposedly, his trip over there was not funded by his diocese or the Episcopal Church, but by a “foundation”. I’d love to know which group that was!

He’s quoted as being pained by the separation from the House of Bishops participating in the Conference. Yet he insisted on being right on the doorstep.

In the ultimate act of arrogance, he actually had a book signing for his “In the Eye of the Storm” inside the Lambeth marketplace! Unbelievable!

This guy loves the eye of the storm. He created it and perpetuates it. His mission continues.

King Kwame Gets The Kage

Kwame’s Kingdom has now come to a very predictable end. We knew what was going to happen, we just didn’t know how long it would take.

There was no way that this guy would resign. He’d have to be taken out in ‘cuffs. Well, in essence that is exactly what has happened with his plea bargain agreement. The man who always thought that he was above the law, has learned that he isn’t.

He will now resign, and starting in late October, he get’s four months behind bars.

In his court statements, he was contrite and subdued. I’ll give him one little iota of credit for that. The arrogance was gone. The King sounded just like any other common criminal who has finally learned something.

But let’s remember the lies upon lies. We don’t know, and probably never will, all of the corruption under this guy’s watch, or directly under his hand. He is deserving of more penalty than he’s getting.

So ends another depressing chapter in Detroit’s history. There will be more, until a level of professionalism, honesty and accountability trumps racism, favoritism and greed in Detroit politics.

But here’s a late-breaking development in the case….

Governor Jennifer Granholm has just announced a Board of Inquiry, which will investigate a process for removing the Mayor from office.

Good going Jennifer! Great timing. Way to come to the party. Or should I say; way to succumb to the Party. She is absolutely inept. Indecisive and nothing but a Party hack. Michigan deserves more than her or the present City of Detroit.

Setting the Tone at the RNC

My party has made me proud tonight. What a joy to watch the convention!

First to speak was Rudy, and he did a number on the enemy! He was on his game. My favorite quote: "Change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy." How'd that taste Obama?

Then he introduced Sarah. She came out exactly as I expected. A take no prisoner speech that apologized for nothing and set just the right tone. But beyond that, a real person, speaking from the heart about real issues and conservative values. My favorite quote of hers, comparing McCain to Obama: "using his career to bring change, not using change to build a career!"

I'm feeling very hopeful tonight. I think we've got a winning team.