Sarah Palin: The Woman in the Arena

The Sarah Palin mystique will not cease because the ballots have been counted. She, barring Barack Obama, is the brightest political star in the country. America watched her over three months take an insurmountable amount of abuse, and still stay strong, composed, on message and optimistic.

Here is the best piece I have seen on understanding the Palin phenomena, written in the Wall St. Journal:

"George F. Will, Ken Adelman, Frank Fukuyama, David Brooks--these are just a few names on the list of eminent experts who have declared that Sarah Palin is what's wrong with the Republican Party.

Even if we were to add all their prestigious names to the list, however, it wouldn't be nearly as long as the line of people who stood in the cold wind of Pennsylvania to see Mrs. Palin last week.

The line outside the Heiges Field House at Shippensburg University was already growing long by noon, more than two hours before the doors opened for a Tuesday rally that wasn't scheduled to start until 5 p.m.

…Dressed in parkas or hooded sweatshirts, wearing toboggans or wrapped in blankets, they withstood an 18-mile-an-hour October wind as the late afternoon turned to evening and the temperature dipped toward freezing.

…[Palin] took her place at the lectern and tried to start her speech, but the screaming audience wouldn't let her until they'd screamed for another full minute.

None of her critics in the commentariat could ever draw such a crowd or generate such enthusiasm, and yet they do not hesitate to proclaim that she is "not close to being acceptable in high office" (Mr. Adelman), that her selection as John McCain's running mate is "irresponsible" (Mr. Fukuyama) and even that she "represents a fatal cancer to the Republican Party" (Mr. Brooks).

Popularity as a pathology? What Mr. Brooks and the others are saying is that these people who spend hours in the cold October wind for a chance to see Sarah Palin are too stupid to know what's good for them. "Listen to us," say the political experts.

Yes, the experts always know best. In September 2002, Mr. Will advocated "preemptive" war with Iraq, with a nuclear "mushroom cloud" as the alternative. Now, he denounces as "carelessness" the war he once urged, lumping Mrs. Palin into the same category of Republican error.

Mr. Fukuyama agitated for war with Iraq much earlier, signing onto the Project for the New American Century's 1998 letter to President Clinton calling for "a strategy for removing Saddam's regime from power." In the run-up to the 2003 invasion, Mr. Brooks warned that "the fog of peace" was blinding critics to the "menace" of Saddam. Among the advocates of invasion, Mr. Adelman took the cake, so to speak, by predicting a "cakewalk" in Iraq.

…Experts in Washington think themselves infinitely more important to the Republican Party than mere voters in Pennsylvania who stand in line to see the Alaska hockey mom who sent her oldest son to fight the war the experts once urged.

Our Republican experts don't fight wars or send their sons to fight them. They don't make hand-lettered signs and drive 50 miles to wait in the October wind for the chance to wave their signs inside an arena in Cumberland County, Pa. The experts don't seem to care about facts.

Among the facts the experts ignore is that the Republican Party was in deep political trouble long before John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. The total popular vote in the Democratic primaries (36 million) was 70% larger than in the GOP primaries (21 million), and McCain's 9.9 million primary votes represented just 47% of the Republican total.

On Aug. 29, when Mrs. Palin was announced in Columbus, Ohio, the Gallup daily tracking poll showed Obama with an eight-point lead. Twelve days later, the GOP ticket had surged ahead by five points."

Palin will remain a force until the 2012 elections, and a threat to the Democratic Party as a whole. She has had a taste of the national scene and she is a driven person. From last Tuesday on, she will no longer be gagged by the McCain camp and will be able to speak directly to the American people without filter. Her power will come from the ground up, which is the hallmark of any great leader.

When seeing Governor Palin take such abuse during the campaign, I thought of a famous quote from another great American maverick:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." - Teddy Roosevelt

A quote was never meant more for Sarah Palin!

The Sleeping Giant Will Sleep No More - II

As predicted in my post "The Sleeping Giant Will Sleep No More!," our Church hierarchy has passed a crossroad on the abortion debate in America. The 89 prelate voices that were raised to protect human life during the Presidential campaign was just a warm up.

From my brother-in-law, on the other side of the bridge, came today a report that the U.S. Catholic Bishops plan to forcefully address President-elect Obama on his Culture-of-Death views.

From the Chicago Tribune:
"In a direct challenge to President-elect Barack Obama, America's Roman Catholic bishops vowed on Tuesday to accept no compromise for the sake of national unity until there is legal protection for the unborn.

About 300 bishops, gathered in Baltimore for their national meeting, adopted a formal blessing for a child in the womb and advised Chicago's Cardinal Francis George, president of the conference, as he began drafting a statement from the bishops to the incoming Obama administration. That document will call on the administration and Catholics who supported Obama to work to outlaw abortion."

Here are three quotes to tell you where this confrontation is going:

..."Any one of us here would consider it a privilege to die tomorrow--die tomorrow!--to bring about the end of abortion," said Auxiliary Bishop Robert Hermann of St. Louis.

...Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton, Pa., vice president-elect Joe Biden's home town, called on his brother bishops to be more punitive against Catholic officials who are "stridently anti-life."

"I cannot have the vice president coming to Scranton and saying he learned his values there when those values are utterly against those of the Catholic Church," Martino said."

"Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Diocese of Kansas City in Kansas said politicians "can't check your principles at the door of the legislature."

Naumann has said repeatedly that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic Democrat who supports abortion rights, should stop taking Holy Communion until she changes her stance.

"They cannot call themselves Catholic when they violate such a core belief as the dignity of the unborn," Naumann said Tuesday."

As mentioned, it is a different era for the Roman Catholic Church in America.

The Silver Linings in a Dark Day for the Pro-Life Cause

With the election of the most Culture-of-Death-candidate the Presidency has ever seen, there are some silver linings that we can take away from this election season:

1) The "Pelosi Heresy," brought out in the open during this campaign, marked a turning point for the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church in America. 89 Bishops and Cardinals definitively and loudly spoke out without filter or political concern for the unborn in America. Our brave leaders (Chaput, Martino, Burke, Gracida, etc…) are ready for the task at hand in defending life during an Obama Presidency. Also, the misdirected, Catholic vote last Tuesday was byproduct of decades of prelates confusing Catholics and watering down morality in order not to offend anyone. Likewise, a decade from now there will be a byproduct of these great prelates’ preaching. The future of the RC Church in America is very bright.

2) Despite an electoral landslide behind the most liberal presidential candidate ever, one of the most liberal states (CA) voted for a State Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage. Activist judges already have their overturning opinions written on this one, but the majority of people (52%) in this most liberal state are still against gay marriage, meaning the totals are much higher across center-right America.

3) Al Franken has apparently lost his Senate bid. This defeat happened in one of the most liberal states in America, Minnesota. As a note we heard ad nauseum on how Sarah Palin was "unqualified", while the national media never used this term when a professional joke writer ran for Senator. Recognize the bias.

4) Speaking of Sarah Palin, during this campaign she exploded on the national stage. Without a question, she will be a major force in the political landscape for many years to come. More on Palin later.

5) Democrats now hold control of the Presidency, House and Senate. If their failed, tax and spend policies, like the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac catastrophe, don’t improve the country, who are they going to blame in 2012, George Bush? Pelosi now has the opportunity of being exposed for what she really is. A dimwit. This could be setting up a Republican landslide in 2012.

6)Speaking of Bush, Conservatives and Republicans now have to now take a long, hard look at their failings and they will discover that they abandoned their bedrock principles on fiscal and moral responsibilities and this is what brought on this disaster.

7)With an African-American being elected to the highest office in our land by a popular vote, any support of Affirmative Action should be dead in America. With hard work, intelligence and dedication obtaining any office is possible in America. I once heard a comment about Affirmative Action citing, that based on its historical roots of discrimination, it discriminates against someone who was not present, nor guilty of the discrimination it is trying to remedy, to favor someone who was not necessarily discriminated against. If Michael Jordan’s child went up against a white, dirt-poor farmer’s child from the heartland, Jordan’s child would get preference. It is a ludicrous philosophy and should have been based on economic considerations, and not race, to begin with.

8) The most likely U.S. Supreme Court justices set to retire Ginsburg (75 years) and Stephens (88) are the most liberal judges on the court. Obama would be replacing liberals with liberals. The prize of the Supreme Court would be Anthony Kennedy’s (72) replacement, as Kennedy always serves as the swing and deciding vote. He is 72 years old and hopefully can hold on 4 more years as a thank you to the Republican Party that put him in the office.

9) Both the Conservative and Pro-Life causes now are the opposition cause. This tends to bring out more action, dedication, resolve and result. Our country needs it at this time.

The Big Day: The Big States

After looking at the Electoral Map more times than I ever wanted to over the past month, here is what the election will come down to. John McCain has to take 3 out of 4 of these states: Ohio, Pennsylvania,Virginia and North Carolina to have a chance to win the election. If McCain does not take three out of four of these states, the election is over and call it a night. If he does, it is a ballgame and he must flip one more Obama leaning state for the Presidency.

There was a great story on Bill Bennett’s Morning in America radio show this morning. 50 public polls had all stated that Dewey was going to beat Truman on the eve of the election. Harry Truman, thinking there was little hope, went to bed early and told his staff wake him up if something happens. Can you imagine being a candidate for the Presidency of the United States and not staying up for the election returns? He woke up at 4AM in the morning to find out he was up by 2 million votes, then said “We won, it’s over…”

More Worries for Camp Obama

Politico.com cites a Pew Research survey of 21,000 respondents (a very large sampling) citing that Obama has not made any advancements with evangelicals.

"Barack Obama has courted white weekly churchgoers as avidly as any Republican-leaning bloc of voters, though it now appears his efforts may fall flat on Election Day. The Gallup Poll now shows Obama backed by 28 percent of white voters who attend church at least once a week — a group that makes up a roughly a third of all voters — which would be no improvement from the 29 percent of these voters who, according to exit polls, backed Democrats John Kerry and Al Gore in the previous two presidential election. “There has been remarkably little change among whites in the religion gap,” said John Green, of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and a top specialist on the convergence of religion and politics. "

This is of major importance because the Karl Rove strategy could come into play. This core constituency of the Republican party is 25% of the overall voting public. If these evangelicals come in the numbers they did last time, McCain would only need 1.28 of the remaining 3 votes to win the Presidency. I firmly believe these evangelicals will show up in numbers similar to 2004 and 2000. They have been programmed by now and have deep convictions.

Also, another big area of concern for the Obamanites is that the White Catholic vote has determined every election since 1972 as cited by Chris Cillizza:

White Catholic Vote (1972-2004)
2004: George W. Bush 56 percent, John Kerry 43 percent
2000: George W. Bush 52 percent, Al Gore 45 percent
1996: Bill Clinton 48 percent, Bob Dole 41 percent
1992: Bill Clinton 42 percent, George H.W. Bush 37 percent
1988: George H.W. Bush 56 percent, Michael Dukakis 43 percent
1984: Ronald Reagan 57 percent, Walter Mondale 42 percent
1980: Ronald Reagan 52 percent, Jimmy Carter 39 percent
1976: Jimmy Carter 52 percent, Gerald Ford 46 percent
1972: Richard Nixon 57 percent, George McGovern 42 percent

The polls are split who has the white Catholic vote right now. The most accurate poll in 2004, the IBD/TIPP poll, has McCain way ahead on this vote, 51% to 38%. I being a White Catholic can not believe Obama is ahead. No way, no how. The Church has never been more vocal on an election, and the Reagan Democrats have been shifting heavily to McCain.

Again, this election is far from over.

McCain/Palin: An Upset in the Making?

Acknowledging a McCain/Palin victory is a very uphill proposition, here are some things that should make the Obama camp tremble in their boots:

1) Zogby cites that for the first time in many weeks, McCain polled higher than Obama (48% to 47% respectively) in yesterday’s daily poll taking independents and blue collar workers:

Pollster John Zogby: "Is McCain making a move? The three-day average holds steady, but McCain outpolled Obama today, 48% to 47%. He is beginning to cut into Obama's lead among independents, is now leading among blue collar voters, has strengthened his lead among investors and among men, and is walloping Obama among NASCAR voters. Joe the Plumber may get his license after all. "Obama's lead among women declined, and it looks like it is occurring because McCain is solidifying the support of conservative women, which is something we saw last time McCain picked up in the polls."

2) Dick Morris stated yesterday on the Michael Medved radio show that McCain has an "excellent" chance to pull an upset. Morris claims large blocks of demographics are still shifting both ways and this election is far from over. He sites the youth vote is now shifting towards McCain in greater numbers while the elderly vote is shifting towards Obama likewise. Morris the other night on Fox News also stated that Obama has been "hemorrhaging votes" these last two weeks.

When most Conservatives are discourage at the gap between Obama and McCain in the polling, Morris, though his experience in running actual campaigns, knows better. He points out Obama is having great difficulty breaking 49% in the national polls as quoted in the Washington Post. He is looking at election day top down:

"It does not matter how wide or narrow the gap is between the two candidates. What matters is how far above or below 49 percent Obama is in the final polls (49 percent assumes that Ralph Nader gets 1 to 2 points as he did in 2004). Right now, Obama is straddling the 49 percent mark; about half the polls put him over it and half under it. If the final polling numbers indicate that Obama is not convincingly north of 49 percent, we are in for a long night."

He also believes that the "Undecided’s" will break heavily to McCain. I agree with this thinking and anticipate McCain will take these votes 2 to 1. With everything as bad as it is right now, if they haven't decided on Obama by now, they won't.

3) Obama also has had a stranglehold on the Hispanic vote to date. That might change in these last few days. As a population that has the iconic of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the unborn, as a symbol that marks their ethnic identity , their heritage and core is pro-life. This is not compatible with pulling a lever for Obama.

Retired Bishop Rene H. Gracida sent out an e-mail in Spanish to 2.9 Million Hispanics instructing them to vote pro-life. The letter has been made into a radio commercial and will play in battle ground states over Spanish airways. This is a nightmare for the Obama campaign.

4) Finally, politics is all about reading the nuances. The Obama campaign, and their supporters in the media, are throwing out the idea that if Obama loses this campaign, while being so far ahead, it must be racism. It is not the middle class relating to "Joe the Plumber," it is not Obama’s stupid mistake of saying "spread the wealth", it is not the definition of the middle class that keeps being adjusted down, it is racism. The Obama campaign is hoping by making these remarks public it will make people feel guilty if they vote for McCain. This was mentioned on Fox News this AM as a quote from the Obama operatives, and others like Susan Estrich have been floating this out. This really speaks to the issue of how the Obama camp is feeling the tides turn and the pressure. Playing the race card has serious implications on the voting electorate and is never played from a position of strength.

So take heart this is not over yet.

So Proud of Our Church

Here is a roll call of prelates citing abortion is the primary focus of this election. It cites 89 Bishops and Cardinals to date have preached the unfiltered Gospel and lead their flocks. Here are some highlights:

Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican: "Catholics who support pro-abortion candidates participate in a grave evil. They must show a change of heart and be sacramentally reconciled or refrain from receiving Holy Communion." In addition, he stated, "At this point the Democratic Party risks transforming itself definitely into a 'party of death.'"

Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas, Bishop Kevin Vann of Fort Worth: "...there are no 'truly grave moral' or 'proportionate' reasons, singularly or combined, that could outweigh the millions of innocent human lives that are directly killed by legal abortion each year. To vote for a candidate who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion or 'abortion rights' when there is a morally acceptable alternative would be to cooperate in the evil -- and, therefore, morally impermissible."

Cardinal Edward Egan of New York City: "Do me a favor. Look at the photograph [of a 20-week preborn baby] again. Look and decide with honesty and decency what the Lord expects of you and me as the horror of 'legalized' abortion continues to erode the honor of our nation. Look, and do not absolve yourself if you refuse to act."

Bishop Joseph Martino, Diocese of Scranton, Pa.: "No social issue has caused the death of 50 million people [as abortion has]. This is madness, people." (to parish forum)
"Our Lord, Jesus Christ, does not ask us to... take up his Cross only to have us leave it at the voting booth door... Let us continue to speak the language of love and affirm the right of every human being to have the value of his or her life, from conception to natural death, respected to the highest degree."

Three Campaign Thoughts this Tuesday

Here is something extremely interesting. Investors Business Daily, who had the most accurate Presidential Poll in 2004, gives access to their polling demographic data to their respondents. Let’s look at what happened to the Catholics polled over the past few days as to whom they were voting for:

October 20th:
Obama: 49% of Catholics Polled
McCain: 38% of Catholics Polled

October 21th:
Obama: 46%
McCain: 41%

October 22th:
Obama: 39%
McCain: 48%

October 25th:
Obama: 40%
McCain: 47% (McCain lead held)

So what happened to the Catholics responding to the poll ending October 22nd that caused the huge flip to McCain? Well, since it is a rolling 3-day average poll, this means the poll dated the 22nd, with the flip, would have been started on Monday, October 20th. Here is my guess as to what happened. All those Sunday bulletins with Bishop letters on the 19th.

2) Major Garrett brought up a good point tonight on Fox News. Obama has spent the last 2 days in Pennsylvania. Bill Clinton will fly in tomorrow and bang the drum for Obama, with Joe Biden returning to his hometown PA area to campaign in the next day or two. The in-state polls say Obama is up by 10 points in the Keystone State. The Obama campaign is not acting like these numbers are true. If they were up by 10 points they would not be spending so time in Pennsylvania, they would have a comfortable lead. The Obama campaign is forecasting a much closer race in Pennsylvania than the polls and media would have you believe. Please remember, Obama lost to Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania when he outspent her in the state.

3) I had a whimsical thought last night. Lorne Michaels, the creator of Saturday Night Live, mentioned Sarah Palin would do well with her own talk show, and there might be opportunities for her in this venue. Wouldn’t it be poetic justice if Palin took 50% of Oprah’s audience away. Oprah would not interview Palin due to her blatant support of Obama. There is a large portion of her audience who is getting tired of her new age sales pitches and her liberal colors. Her audience is core, middle-American, stay-at-home woman, which is more aligned with Palin’s views and personality.

The Sleeping Giant Will Sleep No More!

I have referenced in a prior post that the "Pelosi Heresy" will be a defining moment and turning point for the Roman Catholic Church in America. The past practice of the Catholic hierarchy in the U.S. privately trying to counsel pro-abortion, Catholic politicians to see the error in their ways while these politicians politely deflected the issue to seem passive came to a blazing, Hindenburg-like end one Sunday morning. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated in front of all America that St. Augustine’s writings would have permitted a pro-abortion position.

This scandal, as literally defined by the Catechism, was unleashed across the airways and country and could not be recoiled back into the bottle by private actions. In trying to confuse the issue for her political gain, Speaker Pelosi actually did the complete opposite by invoking the 2,000-year teaching authority of the Catholic Church to starkly publicize her error. It was the arrogance of a conditioned politician who thought she would have free range without hierarchy interference.

An unending list of Who’s Who of American Prelates (Chaput, Wuerl, Lori, Rigali, Egan, Niederauer, Zubik, Sheridan, etc…) soon followed denouncing Pelosi and her lack of understanding of the Catholic Faith. It was obvious that our Cardinals and Bishops now had their kid gloves off. Enough was enough with this prolonged, American farce that adamant, pro-choice politicians could claim that they were devout Catholics in good standing with their Church.

The clerical outrage that started with the "Pelosi Heresy" has continued and broadened through this whole election season as Church leaders are not remaining silent anymore. Denver’s Archbishop Charles Chaput has not minced words, or dabbled in vagueness, citing specifically that Barack Obama, by name, is the "most committed" abortion-rights candidate for the presidency since abortion became legal.

Knowing the Archbishop, his vocal amplification of the Gospel of Life will not stop on Inauguration Day, if the unspeakable does happen. He will be as much as a nemesis of Barack Obama as he was when the DNC were putting up those "Styrofoam pillars" in the Archbishop’s backyard. Obama greatly underestimates Chaput’s conviction and the Archbishop’s not caring whether or not he is ever invited to a Heads of State dinner. This core of character cannot be understood by most expedient politicians. It is contrary to their very existence. They sniff the air for something they can use. Similar to an indicted mobster not understanding how a district attorney making $45,000 a year cannot be bribed but will do what is just and bring him down while continuing to live below the poverty line because of his conviction. Chaput will be Obama’s ongoing nemesis.

Anyone who travels a lot for business has travel horror stories. Four hours out on a tarmac; a twenty-hour layover; and things not going quite right at 30,000 feet in the air. When these latter prayerful moments come, as they will, I always look at the flight attendants faces to reveal the seriousness of the situation. These reactions of those in charge will tell you more than any group announcement by the pilot.

This strategy holds true as well in the religious realm as we have witnessed the reaction of the leaders of our Faith over the past few months. This election is a very serious moment for the pro-life movement and there has been a plethora of prelate statements reinforcing this view. Rocco Palmo of the UK Tablet has documented that some 50 active, U.S. bishops have issued statements that abortion is the key issue of this election and that it should dictate how Catholics vote.

The latest entry in this catalog of conscience has been Cardinal Justin Rigali, again not mincing words:

"At this moment in our country’s history, defense of innocent human life is a moral responsibility for all of us. The same God who thundered from Mount Sinai: "Thou shalt not kill," thunders still. When life in the womb is destroyed, God thunders: "This is a child!" When by the most barbaric means, unworthy of any civilized people, the brain of a child is sucked out of his or her head by a vacuum, God thunders: "This is a child!" When a baby is left to die of exposure on a shelf because of a failed abortion, and this is considered a "right" by any leader, God, the Source of all law and authority, thunders: "This is a child!" When we are faced with every modern means of education and communication, in addition to the law placed in our hearts at creation, no one, and most especially, no Catholic, can ever say: "I did not know."

The vast majority of Presidential polls point to the fact that the Pro-life cause may have lost the battle of the 2008 Presidential campaign. But take heart! As we continue to fight the "Cultural of Life" war we have a new era of bold, Catholic leadership who will preach the unfiltered Gospel and influence the 25% of the electorate under their pastoral care.

In the movie Tora, Tora, Tora, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto ceases the celebratory and congratulatory mood after his subordinates confirm that the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was a complete success. The Admiral laments, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

On that Sunday morning in August, Nancy Pelosi poked the sleeping giant that is the Roman Catholic Church in America in the eye, and the sleeping giant awoke. The sleeping giant will sleep no more. I do not doubt its resolve.

Sarah Palin: A Compliment from an Adversary

Lorne Michaels, creator of Saturday Night Live, on his impression of Sarah Palin after his exposure to her during her cameo last weekend:

"I think Palin will continue to be underestimated for a while. I watched the way she connected with people, and she's powerful. Her politics aren't my politics. But you can see that she's a very powerful, very disciplined, incredibly gracious woman. This was her first time out and she's had a huge impact. People connect to her."

Sounds like Mr. Michaels doesn't think Palin is hurting the ticket. The mainstream media must not have gotten to him.

Charles Krauthammer: Case for McCain "Straight Forward"

Charles Krauthammer is a syndicated, national columnist and frequent guest commentator on Fox. His life has a truly inspiring story as he became paralyzed in a diving accident in college, still went on to earn an M.D. from Harvard; became the Chief Resident in psychology in Massachusetts General; then entered the world of politics as a speech writer for Jimmy Carter, followed by a political writer and commentator.

His writings have defined terms such as the Reagan and Bush Doctrines. He corrected Charlie Gibson’s understanding of the Bush Doctrine when Gibson used it against Palin citing Gibson did not understand the term himself. He is a very independent, non-partisan thinker. When reading the link above, you will see how his art has influenced life.

Unfortunately, he is pro-choice but I predict he will come around to the pro-life side eventually. I see some rumblings in his writings.

He had the quote of the week last week humorously stating the Joe Biden was a plant by the Republican Party after the umpteenth gaffe by Biden.

Krauthammer wrote a great column that should be read in its entirety, here are a few excerpts:

"The case for McCain is straightforward. The financial crisis has made us forget, or just blindly deny, how dangerous the world out there is. We have a generations-long struggle with Islamic jihadism. An apocalyptic soon-to-be-nuclear Iran. A nuclear-armed Pakistan in danger of fragmentation. A rising Russia pushing the limits of revanchism. Plus the sure-to-come Falklands-like surprise popping out of nowhere.

Who do you want answering that phone at 3 a.m.? A man who's been cramming on these issues for the last year, who's never had to make an executive decision affecting so much as a city, let alone the world? A foreign policy novice instinctively inclined to the flabbiest, most vaporous multilateralism (e.g., the Berlin Wall came down because of "a world that stands as one"), and who refers to the most deliberate act of war since Pearl Harbor as "the tragedy of 9/11," a term more appropriate for a bus accident?

Or do you want a man who is the most prepared, most knowledgeable, most serious foreign policy thinker in the United States Senate? A man who not only has the best instincts, but has the honor and the courage to, yes, put country first, as when he carried the lonely fight for the surge that turned Iraq from catastrophic defeat into achievable strategic victory?

There's just no comparison. Obama's own running mate warned this week that Obama's youth and inexperience will invite a crisis -- indeed a crisis "generated" precisely to test him. Can you be serious about national security and vote on Nov. 4 to invite that test?

And how will he pass it? Well, how has he fared on the only two significant foreign policy tests he has faced since he's been in the Senate? The first was the surge. Obama failed spectacularly. He not only opposed it. He tried to denigrate it, stop it and, finally, deny its success.

The second test was Georgia, to which Obama responded instinctively with evenhanded moral equivalence, urging restraint on both sides. McCain did not have to consult his advisers to instantly identify the aggressor.

Today's economic crisis, like every other in our history, will in time pass. But the barbarians will still be at the gates. Whom do you want on the parapet? I'm for the guy who can tell the lion from the lamb."

This column appeared in Krauthammer's 200 syndicated newspapers. I hope it gives people pause before they vote next week.

Colin Powell: Four-Star Turncoat

I wanted to address the Colin Powell endorsement of Barack Obama.

It should always be understood that Colin Powell is a politician first, and a General second. Americans frequently confuse this order. Powell’s political instincts are a vital part of his core as a person and have served him extremely well in life. They have been constantly used as a tool for his advancement. After being a "C" student at City College in NY, he rose up the ranks in the military with his political skills and amazingly achieving the rank of Four-star General without ever being a divisional commander. This is an extremely rare military occurrence. This also happened to Dwight Eisenhower. Franklin Roosevelt needed a calm demeanor that he could trust directing his war efforts and he could not control the egos of Patton and MacArthur, so he appointed Eisenhower. Eisenhower was a politician as well, proven by he later became president.

To underscore this statement of Powell being a politician first, how many Generals do you know that have the political aptitude and diplomacy to be Secretary of State? I mean, can you image Norman Schwarzkopf sitting across the table, drinking tea, with North Korea’s Kim Jong Il? Schwarzkopf would lunge across the table and take him out. That is a general who is a general first. The spartan element.

I also believe Powell road the coattails of Normal Schartzkoft’s success in Desert Storm for his own benefit. At the press conference after the successful invasion of Kuwait, Powell’s handed off the press conference to Schwarzkopf to explain the invasion. He did this because Schwarzkopf knew it best to explain in, because Schwarzkopf was the mastermind behind it.

Powell has always been a Democrat in Republican clothing, His RNC speech a few years back could have been given word for word at the Democratic Convention, highlighted by his pro-abortion view, the same year and been well received. He was a Republican because that was the political party/administration that was in power for the 12 years when he needed to rise through the ranks, literally.

Powell saw his Obama endorsement as a way to find his way back to his true party, and advance the Powell cause at the same time. A perfect political move. He waited until Obama was up double-digits in some polls and there were only two weeks left to the election to endorse him. Not really a brave move of conviction; it was a political move of expediency. So goes Powell.

Powell endorsed Obama with talking points that seem as if they were directly taken from Obama’s campaign. Obama represents change - - a "transformation figure", is a dynamic orator, he has "style and substance" [Blogger Note: tons of style, no substance], and Powell didn’t like people mentioning Obama’s Muslim background (which is a electorate concern in middle America). Sarah Palin was a ditz, not ready to be President, which according to the polls is a deciding factor to undecided voters. Could not have been scripted better. On Meet the Press, no less.

The Monday after the endorsement, Obama stated that Powell would have a role in his administration. It was a Quid Pro Quo, nothing else. Nothing of courage, nothing of integrity, nothing of underlying principled value. Sadly, the endorsement will sway some people.

The Old Guard Dies Hard

Two very similar stories that most people would not piece together.

First, in July of this year, Jesse Jackson blindsided his constituents with off-camera remarks about what he really thought about Barack Obama. For those who remember these comments, Jackson’s words left no room for opinion as how he felt about Obama.

It was a legacy leader of a movement showing hostility at the person who would replace his status as the leader of the African-American community.

In September of this year, Peggy Noonan was similarly caught off-camera telling her true feelings towards Sarah Palin, citing the election is "over" and McCain picked her only as a "narrative."

Make no mistake about it, this as well is a legacy leader of a movement showing hostility towards the person who is replacing her.

Palin is an attractive, articulate, talented woman who stirs Conservative hearts. This once was Peggy Noonan’s mantle.

I could accept and respect Ms. Noonan’s view on Palin if it was sincere by being consistent from the beginning. But it has been anything but consistent. As mentioned above, there was the off-camera "narrative" comment.

Then within the next few days, Noonan wrote a piece trying to water down her comments.

Then she turned and went into a pro-Palin phase of praise:

"That normality in turn highlighted the courage she showed in being there, on that stage for the first time in her life and under trying circumstances. Her averageness accentuated her specialness. Her commonality highlighted her uniqueness.

She seemed wholly different from, and in fact seemed a refutation to, all the men of Washington at their great desks who make rules others have to live by but they don’t have to live by themselves, who mandate work rules from which they exempt Congress, for instance. They don’t live by the rules they espouse. She has lived her expressed values. She said yes to a Down Syndrome child. This too is powerful."

Then followed it up with another Pro-Palin column saying how she is the star saving the McCain campaign:

"Sarah Palin saved John McCain again Thursday night. She is the political equivalent of cardiac paddles: Clear! Zap! We’ve got a beat! She will re-electrify the base. More than that, an hour and a half of talking to America will take her to a new level of stardom. Watch her crowds this weekend. She’s about to get jumpers, the old political name for people who are so excited to see you they start to jump."

Then yesterday she did the dirty. Rage and vanity are so erratic.

"But we have seen Mrs. Palin on the national stage for seven weeks now, and there is little sign that she has the tools, the equipment, the knowledge or the philosophical grounding one hopes for, and expects, in a holder of high office."

There are two types of people who are infuriated by Palin. The first group is liberals; the second group is elitists. Noonan is obviously not a liberal. But she does use terms like "averageness" and "commonality" to describe Palin as seen in the above quote. A normal person would never describe Palin in these terms. She went from PTA president to VP candidate in 17 years. There is nothing average and common about her. It is the difference between looking up at her, and looking down at her. Noonan obviously does the latter, proving she is the latter group.

Noonan runs in elite, literary circles of affluent writers and Washington power-brokers. When she talks, she is intensely listening to every word that comes out of her own mouth and sounds like she could be sipping tea on the Queen Mary.

It is a sad day for me. I used consider Peggy Noonan the female voice in the Conservative movement. Noonan’s actions alone can tell you she has been replaced.

Post Note 10/26: Tony Blankley agrees on Noonan:

"Peggy's unconscious fear may be that it will be precisely Sarah Palin (and others like her) who will be among the leaders of the about-to-be-reborn conservative movement. I suspect that the conservative movement we start rebuilding on the ashes of Nov. 4 (even if McCain wins) will have little use for overwritten, over-delicate commentary. The new movement will be plain-spoken and socially networked up from the Interneted streets, suburbs and small towns of America. It certainly will not listen very attentively to those conservatives who idolatrize Obama and collaborate in heralding his arrival. They may call their commentary "honesty." I would call it -- at the minimum -- blindness."

Always a Proponent of Free Speech...

As reported in USA Today:

"The teachers' union for the nation's largest public school system accused the city on Friday of banning political campaign buttons and sued to reverse the policy, declaring that free speech rights were violated.

United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten announced at a news conference that a lawsuit had been filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to challenge the enforcement of the policy.

"We couldn't believe it," said Weingarten, who wore a Barack Obama lapel button. The American Federation of Teachers, including its UFT delegates, voted over the summer to endorse Obama's presidential candidacy."

Today, Weingarten and the UFT had a ruling against their lawsuit:

"U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said the policy by the schools of banning campaign buttons seemed to reflect a good faith judgment by the Board of Education about the impact of teachers' political campaign buttons rather than a covert attempt to favor one viewpoint over another."

I am completely devastated with this ruling. I was so hoping to have 500,000 buttons made up saying "Support Vouchers and Help Me Escape this Failing Educational System" to be distributed to all the unfortunate kids trapped in NYC's school systems.