Author: McQ

They just cannot help themselves (part – oh the heck with it, I’ve lost count). Measured and rational dissent? Phaaa. Not among the nutty left. Cintra Wilson of Salon on Sarah Palin: I don’t want Sarah Palin being the representative leader and custodian of my rights, my Constitution and my country any more than I […]

I and others have mentioned ad nauseum how the media (and Democrats) seem unable to find a way to approach (attack?) the the Palin phenomenon (I think that’s a fair description to this point) in a steady, measured way. They’ve been all over the place trying to marginalize the Alaska governor and have seen all […]

Poll numbers come and poll numbers go. McCain/Palin are now enjoying an expected convention bounce which has put them, depending on which poll you consult, anywhere from 2 points to 10 points ahead. But that’s going to change as we continue to move toward the election. That means it’s a little early to put too […]

The next few weeks are going to be very interesting in terms of political strategy as well as tactics. The introduction of Sarah Palin into the electoral mix has badly disconcerted the Dems and thrown them off stride. The Obama campaign’s initial reaction was to go after her directly by questioning her credentials and experience. […]

At least that’s been the charge against the McCain campaign for picking Sarah Palin for VP. And it stood there basically unchallenged until she personally destroyed that argument Wednesday night with her speech. Suddenly, women who weren’t really necessary or important to the ticket (see Dem VP pick and the dissing of 18 million votes) […]

Some reaction to Palin’s speech from the left. Here’s Michael Crowley at TNR’s “The Stump”: Several moderate-Democrat friends of mine have been emailing–few if any would ever vote for McCain–but all agree that Palin was very strong. The more liberal among them are a little panicked. I completely misjudged how negative she would be. Her […]

How badly might all of this negativity about Gov. Palin backfire on the media and the Democrats? Well first look at the “sampler” of what passes for objective media analysis this week: Here is a sampler of media comment on Governor Palin this week: – Eleanor Clift, the McLaughlin Group: “If the media reaction is […]

Not Obama’s campaign manufactured resume, but Old Sol: The sun has reached a milestone not seen for nearly 100 years: an entire month has passed without a single visible sunspot being noted. The event is significant as many climatologists now believe solar magnetic activity – which determines the number of sunspots — is an influencing […]

Conventional wisdom says that hurricane Gustav is a disaster for the Republicans and their hoped for convention bounce. Essentially the meme says that they can’t effectively use their 4 days for the uninterupted message sales job conventions normally provide. And that, of course, is expected to dampen any bounce the Republicans might have enjoyed. Nate […]

How soon we forget. Bill Clinton a few nights ago: He recalled that 16 years ago “Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be commander in chief. Sound familiar? It didn’t work in 1992 and it will not work in 2008.” Really? Well it doesn’t mean that Democrats won’t try: Rep. Diana […]

Let’s see how this breaks out. Foreign policy and national security are the forte of the executive. The Democrats have nominated a presidential candidate with no experience in either area. The Republicans have nominated a vice presidential candidate with no experience in either area. Which makes more sense to you? Under the topic of change, […]

Bill Clinton’s speech last night was vintage Clinton. And there is no question that to those will not dig under his words, it was effective. But it was vintage in another way as well – it was quite deceptive. For instance: He recalled that 16 years ago “Republicans said I was too young and too […]

Just when gathered Democrats were about to convince the nation that they live in a miserable place and in miserable conditions, the Census Bureau has to report this: -Income. Median household income rose to $50,233 in 2007 after adjusting for inflation. That’s $665 more than a year earlier but still below the peak of 1999. […]

If you don’t vote for Barack Obama. As commenter Wulf warned us in MichaelW’s disemboweling of Slate author Jacob Weisberg’s similar claim, “we may as well get used to this:” A prominent union leader on Tuesday blamed racism for Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) failure to build a big lead over GOP rival Sen. John McCain. […]

Nancy Pelosi on natural gas: On NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, the speaker twice seemed to suggest that natural gas – an energy source she favors – is not a fossil fuel. “I believe in natural gas as a clean, cheap alternative to fossil fuels,” she said at one point. Natural gas “is cheap, […]

These according to Politico: He’s fixing for a fight. Obama has been criticized as being slow to react to attacks. As Karl Rove said, he now has an attack dog at his side. However, if anyone has observed Joe Biden for any length of time, Biden has a penchant for going too far and saying […]

Ralph Peters takes a look at the Russo-Georgian confrontation and points out that in reality, this is nothing new. Russia, observing what has been going on with Iran and the West, did what it was sure it could get away with: The result? Russia won this war, energetically integrating the various elements of governmental power-military, […]

KameraDSM of the Daily Kos is just depressed when he (or she) considers our prowess in the Olympics and a bunch of statistics he (or she) ran across when looking for negative info on the US: As we continue to celebrate the Olympics with profound pride and patriotism, I wanted to share some disheartening rankings […]

As it turns out, the Saddleback Forum may turn out to be one of the most significant events in this election season: He clashed with their leaders in his 2000 campaign. He struggled to gain their votes during the 2008 primaries. And he still doesn’t spend much time talking about the issues they consider most […]

David Gergen, of all people, notes one of the outcomes from Saddleback which have to have the Obama campaign concerned: Heading into the candidates’ appearances on Saturday night at Saddleback Church, the conventional wisdom in politics was Barack Obama should have a clear upper hand in any joint appearance with John McCain — one the […]

One of the questions I’ve been asking since the Russian invasion of Georgia is how the necessary buildup and staging of troops by Russia could have been missed by Georgia. As I’ve noted before, unless troops are prepared and staged to go on order, an army cannot react in the time the Russians did. That […]

I don’t care what side of the abortion debate you come down on, this is simply a cop out: Asked at what point a baby gets “human rights,” Obama, who strongly supports abortion rights, said: “… whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity … […]

The doorbell rang at 3am. Mike Morel answered it and stood staring at 3 Marines . “You’re going to tell me my son is dead”, he said. “Yes, sir”, one of the Marines answered. “Was he in the front when he died”. “Yes, sir”, said the Marine. Said Mike Morel, “I always knew that’s where […]

Kate Snow of ABC tells us: A deal has been brokered between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that will allow Clinton’s name to be placed in nomination at next week’s Democratic nominating convention, sources close to the Clinton camp told ABC News. “Both sides agree that it is in the best interest of party […]

Charles Krauthammer looks at the war in Georgia and decides while there’s not much we can do, there are some things we should do. What is to be done? Let’s be real. There’s nothing to be done militarily. What we can do is alter Putin’s cost-benefit calculations. We are not without resources. There are a […]

You may have noticed recently, that oil prices have gone down. As you might imagine, there’s no magic involved, no conspiracies and nothing particularly profound which has caused this to happen. In fact, it is a result of more supply than demand at this moment because use, on a world-wide basis, has temporarily fallen. Global […]

The creator of the “Flying O-Hole” that MichaelW reported on a few days ago is a bit stunned by the negative feedback he’s seen since his idea first surfaced: Among the hundreds of comments posted on the Whispers site were those comparing it to a gang gesture, a Nazi salute, or worse. “This is how […]

The Russian invasion of Georgia is more than just a military action, it is a statement to the world that Russia is back and seeking to regain its superpower status. In a carefully chosen military action, it is essentially thumbing its nose at the West and especially NATO. I say carefully chosen because unlike the […]

I had a very interesting and unusual week this week (and it precluded me posting here). As a member of the DoD Blogger’s Roundtable, I was offered an opportunity which, frankly, I couldn’t refuse. Tuesday evening I boarded the USS Kearsarge, a Wasp class Amphibious Assault ship based in Norfolk VA. As you can imagine, […]

Violence in Iraq is down to 2003 levels, the Congress is in recess for a month, and frankly we’re entering what should be a very slow news period. So you can expect some “inside baseball” posts about the political campaigns as they enter their last 3 months (thank goodness) before the election. George Will hits […]