Urban hiking with Sarah

I really really mean it this time when I say I'll never blog about Sarah Palin again until next time. But I was watching this video and it struck me how ideal this small-town government thing is. When I wrote earlier about structural reforms, I was grasping towards this. Do you think the Governor of Alaska needs a staff of consultants and advisors to tell her what Joe Citizen is thinking? Hell, no! They just walk right up to her on the street, and address her by her first name.

Daddy, why can't we get us some ree-form?

OK, last post on it for awhile. Just want to throw in a comment I left on Barry Ritholz's blog:

McCain is angling to run a reform ticket, which appeals as much to Republicans who are sick of Bush as it does to independents. Palin strengthens that story. McCain's giving up the 'experience' talking point because it was essentially a losing position, for all the armchair pundits think it powerful. Obama wins in a change vs. experience election. But now, McCain is change too! I think it was a masterful deep post pattern; but it's way too early to know the outcome.

Do you agree that this was his thinking? It turns the cult of personality thing on its pretty little head. Personally, I doubt it'll work, simply because the nation has a special place in its nest for shiny things and Obama is just too damn shiny. But her presence makes the game alot closer.



I've heard from many, many commenters that McCain has now lost his strongest argument against Obama, but I disagree. His strongest arguments are culture and ideology -- Obama is one of the superelites (just like John Kerry), and one of the most socialist members of Congress (just like John Kerry). That's the way to run against him.

Politics as theater

Or as BSG!




Apparently, the Col. Tigh meme is gaining traction...

Grandson of the Bomb

Today is the official anniversary of Japan's surrender to end WWII. In 1945, my grandfather was the executive officer on an LST in the Phillipines. He told me that he had already received training orders for the invasion of Japan -- orders that entailed dropping tanks on the beach and then disembarking his crew to fight as infantry. Them's some pretty long odds against survival there...for my grandpa, my mother, and myself. So today, I raise my glass in salute to all the boys in the atomic chain, from Oppenheimer to the crew of the Enola Gay. Thanks for the millions of American lives saved/created as a result of your efforts!

IF

If the sun weren't shinin'
if it weren't such a beautiful day
if I were feelin' more poorly
if my mood were more grey

I might sit inside
and blog about Palin
but I'm down at the beach
drinkin', surfin' and sailin'