Quote of the Day
Joy is prayer
Joy is strength
Joy is love
Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.
Mother Teresa
New O'Donnell Ad: All Jokes Aside....
I think Delaware GOP state chairman Tom Ross was exactly right in criticizing out-of-state activists whom torpedoed the all-but-certain election of Congressman Mike Castle, a moderate Republican to the US Senate. But there will be time to reform the process after the election. I'm sure the Tea Party Express must be horrified at the turn of events; they never expected that their core message to get lost in the shuffle with widespread coverage of O'Donnell's financial problems, her social conservatism, and the decade-old film clip of her "dabbling in witchcraft" admission. In fact, it does seem that the Tea Party movement learns from their mistakes, this time not backing Doug Hoffman from NY-23 (Hoffman lost the GOP primary but stays on in a spoiler role on the Conservative Party ticket) in favor of the more viable fiscal conservative Matt Doheny.
I suspect in the future, if the Tea Party is going to continue to be a viable force, they need to to realize it's a lot easier to influence a congenial, charismatic politician than for a strident ideologue to appeal to the necessary independents and moderates needed to carry an election. Have they learned nothing from the fact that Obama's approval ratings exceed the ratings of his politics?
What you now have are inexperienced or unorthodox candidates like Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle, Christine O'Donnell, and Rand Paul. I do like the idea of fresh faces in politics and I don't think anyone is entitled to a nomination (even though NJ Governor Christie and I both supported Mike Castle). [It often seems that way, doesn't it? For example, on the GOP side, we have the Bush dynasty; on the Democratic side, we have Gore, Biden, Udall, Cuomo, Kennedy, Sarbanes, etc.] I think, though, that most people want qualified candidates; to a certain extent, I do think that highly intelligent people can be quick studies, although as a former professor, I can assure you that smart people can be judgmental, petty, inflexible, and socially inept. I probably would make a good politician (I'm not holding my breath); I doubt I would get elected dog catcher because my opponent would exploit the fact I've never owned a dog.
I have poked fun at the Christine O'Donnell revelations, but I don't think I'm mean-spirited like most of the political comedians out there. For example, Obama has openly admitted to illicit drug use as a young adult, and the comedians all but yawned. However, life isn't fair.
That being said, the people of Delaware have a choice next month. They can choose an Obama rubber stamp and professional politician Chris Coons. (Since Reid calls him "my pet", Coons probably would make for a good dog catcher.) Or they can send a message to Washington DC by electing a person whom shares common sense values like hard work, initiative, and being frugal with taxpayer dollars.
As to Christine's ad, I probably would have handled the witch thing a little differently, with more of a sense of humor, e.g., "I never learned to perform powerful magic Democrats do, like getting dead people to vote! I couldn't even make an old video clip disappear..." I think the "I am you" line doesn't really connect; for example, she's unmarried: how does she relate to struggling working families?
I probably would have emphasized things differently, e.g., "I know how hard it is to make ends meet. I was raised with the same values you were--I go to church every Sunday, I was raised with family values, to work hard, show initiative, be honest, self-reliant and charitable... I'm not a professional politician like my opponent; they seem to think they know better than we do what to do with our own money, like they're entitled to it. I'll never forget it's your money, not theirs, and I do not believe in bequeathing massive debts to future generations. I don't want the government telling us how to run our businesses or whether we must buy insurance. Other people out there think it's not yet time to elect a woman from Delaware to the U.S. Senate; I know they're wrong. We need an independent voice in Washington, not a rubber stamp for the ineffective, big-spending, Big Government Democrats. I'm asking you next month to give me the opportunity and privilege to serve the people of Delaware."
Jimmy Kimmel Features Latest Chris Coons Ad
A Note on the Katrina Anniversary
I was catching up on video podcasts over the weekend and listened to guest host Brian Williams (anchor of NBC Evening News). I instinctively disliked Williams' overtly mawkish approaches in discussing Katrina and the recent BP oil spill. Appeals to emotion are not useful in analyzing the tragedy and missed opportunities. There was Williams' reference to a "poor evacuation plan"; I'm not attempting to exonerate George W. Bush here, but it's a matter of public record that Bush advised the Democratic New Orleans mayor and Louisiana governor to evaluate people from the city BEFORE Katrina hit. There was no evacuation until after infrastructure started failing. The Louisiana officials refused. The levees failed AFTER Katrina hit. Relief trucks heading for the city were stopped by Louisiana National Guard.
There at least was an honest thumbs up for the US Coast Guard, which performed valiantly in adversity.
But I'm so tired of endless conspiracy theories that government incompetence was really motivated by subtle racist attitudes. Bureaucratic inertia is a fact of life, and yes, it can result in morally unacceptable losses of life and property. It's more a crisis of leadership; Bush put his political principle of deferring to hopelessly incompetent Louisiana politicians instead of recognizing their lack of leadership for what it was; he needed to act first and apologize later. What I would have liked to see Williams do is less footage of local government officials crying in front of a camera and more coverage of what we've done over the past 5 years to integrate efforts of the federal and state governments. The memory of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal begging for WEEKS to get government approval for sand barriers to protect the coastline while federal bureaucrats in the relative comforts of their conference rooms debated alternative solutions, while oil crept ever closer to shore, still haunts me.
Political Humor
"President Obama has been meeting with voters in what he calls 'backyard chats.' He's held these in real people's backyards. You know something, I think all politicians should talk to people in their backyards. Then you could take what they say and spread it on the lawn." –Jay Leno
[And you thought coprophagia was just a puppy problem. Even after over 20 months in the White House, Obama still has people eating up everything he says; some consider it a form of insanity.]
"President Obama said today that education is the key to our economic turnaround. He said once Americans start getting smarter, the economy will start to improve. So you know what that means: we are screwed." –Jay Leno
[So let me get this straight: in addition to all his vacations, Barack Obama now has found the time to take some evening classes in business and economics?]
Musical Interlude: The "British Invasion" of the 1960's Series
Petula Clark, "Don't Sleep in the Subway"
