Turns out we can blame more people.

I just read an article on bloomberg.com that explains how the collapse happened and who was really responsible. It might shock you, but it was the senate democrats in 2005. The legislation that would have prevented Freddie and Fannie from taking on so much risk was caught in partisan wrangling and was never allowed to go before the whole body of the senate to be voted on. 

Funny part is, McCain backed it. Obama, Hillary, and Dodd opposed it because each had received thousands of dollars from Fannie and Freddie. Obama got $125,000, Hillary got $75,000 and Dodd got $165,000 Ooops. Guess we can't pin this one on the republicans.

Note: Please read the linked article before giving a knee jerk response.

Election fatigue, again.

Politics.

The study of politics is a very important subject, that has unfortunately been smeared by hypocrites who paint themselves as angels and in truth are demons.  

People cringe when they hear the word, and often absolve themselves from conversations touching on anything even remotely related to their perception of what it is. However, politics are a part of our day to day life, our conversations, relations, and all interactions. There are the politics of the family, the politics of our immediate social circles, the politics of our home towns, the politics of our states and nations, and international politics. But what fatigues us is not its study, but rather the corruptive nature of competitive "balance of power" politics.

Most people at this point in the presidential election are fatigued. They are fatigued by the attempts of both candidates to paint the other in a negative light, using flimsy arguments and half-truths. Both are equally guilty. In commercials aired by both candidates, allegations have been made that cannot be completely dismissed, but cannot be completely denied. And, unfortunately, this is why they continue to distort facts. If they both can claim transparency, and be nothing but opaque, why should they stop, if it will win them the election? 

People in general do not want to do a lot of research by themselves to determine which candidate most closely adheres to their personal beliefs. They want it easy. They expect that campaign commercials, CNN and Fox will fill them in enough. Well, good luck with that. Here's a link provided to me by a commenter on my previous post that debunks and rates the truthfulness of different campaign smears from both candidates. Whether it helps or not I do not know, but I hope so.

Spin Doctors

Perhaps you remember the band 'Spin Doctors' who wrote a song popular in the late nineties called 'Two Princes.' Perhaps you don't. To make it easier, it's that song that says, "Just go ahead now," a lot, after just about every line in the refrain.  

Some of you like spin. Well, I just don't get you. Even if it does make for a cool song. 

I read an article today about a computer program that measured the amount of spin in politician's speeches. I don't know how the algorithm works exactly, but I do know it measures inflection on certain words like 'I', 'we', as well as 'go', 'going', 'hate', and 'enemy'. Here are the results:

So, whether you like it or not, spin is real. Some can use it effectively, like Obama, and others not so much, like McCain. Whether that is a real advantage is debatable. Either way, the Spin Doctors say: "Just go ahead now."

PS - M. Obama is Michelle, for those of you who are confused. I was for about 3 seconds, thinking perhaps it was one of his Kenyan relatives.

Race is not THE issue.

On July 11th, 2008 I wrote a post about how race is not an issue for me, and I inferred that it probably isn't an issue for most people. 

However, Obama surrogates and sympathizers have been constantly playing the race card without provocation. CNN correspondent Jack Cafferty is trying to make race out to be the biggest issue explaining closeness in the polls between Obama and McCain, negating the other more obvious reasons like: 1. the republican convention, 2. Sarah Palin, 3. McCain's appeal to moderates, 4. his 'maverick' image (and actual distance from Bush and his own party), as well as 5. his appeal to blue collar workers. The reason Obama has not surged ahead has nothing to do with his race, and A LOT to do with his skimpy record and lack of legislative accomplishments. People are just unsure if he has the experience to do the job. So let me show you what Mr. Cafferty said:

"Race is arguably the biggest issue in this election, and it's one that nobody's talking about. The differences between Barack Obama and John McCain couldn't be more well-defined. Obama wants to change Washington. McCain is part of the Washington and a part of the Bush legacy. Yet the polls remain close. Doesn't make sense...unless it's race."

First off, Cafferty makes no effort to show impartiality saying, "Obama wants to change Washington. McCain is part of Washington and a part of the Bush legacy." It may be true that Obama wants to change Washington, but so far, in his 3 years in the senate he has had zero impact. No new transformative legislation to put his name to. Not even a co-authored bill. Furthermore, Obama has only worked with republicans 17% of the time in the senate, whereas McCain has worked with democrats 55% of the time. So while Obama claims bipartisanship in theory, he has never done it in practice. McCain is a testament to bipartisanship, and that is a big part of his appeal, not because he's white. And then Cafferty says McCain is "part of Washington and a part of the Bush legacy." First off, he has been Washington for 26 years, but that is more of a boon for him than something to discredit him with, given his record that is far from the usual partisan gridlock type politics. Secondly, McCain has almost always been at odds with Bush in the places that it matters most. McCain has always been a supporter of global warming legislation, and has fought against corporate interests and large pharmaceuticals (I don't agree with his approach, but I will defend the fact that he is very UNLIKE Bush in those, and other areas like government spending - Obama is actually more like Bush in that regard, wanting to spend more)

So, with all of that, somehow race is supposedly rearing its ugly head. The fact is, it is not, but the democrats so desperately want it to be, they make comments like Cafferty's and Time Magazine's Michael Grunwald who says race is the elephant in the room, even suggesting Barack Obama needs to tread lightly as he fights back against the McCain-Palin attacks. Of course he makes little mention of Obama's attacks, which have not been any better, and in fact, are terribly misleading like his recent Spanish language ad attempting to link McCain with his long time nemesis Rush Limbaugh (and misquoting Limbaugh in the process). Not only that, but Obama once again is using the race card to scare voters, just as when he claimed earlier in his campaign as he had secured the nomination, McCain would use the race card against him. So far Obama has used the race card twice (and many more times if you count all the media correspondents who back him) and McCain hasn't used it once. So is Obama really being hurt by his race, or is he using it as a fear tactic to gain voters worried about being labeled as bigots and racists?

Oh, and another one who wants to make this election a race war is Gov. Sebelius of Kansas (D). Read here for her comments.

My opinion? Let's clean this up folks. Get back to the issues, like Obama said (oh, and Senator Obama, you might want try it yourself).

Getting Back to "The Issues"

I love it when I hear democrats say, "Let's get back to the issues." 

Historically, in elections, when democrats focus on the issues, they lose. That is why Obama has spent so much of his time on a soap box talking about a vague hope, and an unclear, but nonetheless forceful mantra of 'change.' 

And, focusing on the issues does not mean calling McCain Bush and trying to tie him to that administration. That is false campaigning. If they really want to focus on the issues they need to talk about McCain's record, not Bush's. And, if they really want to focus on the issues they need to tell people what an Obama administration would do to 'change' things. If they told America more about Obama's plans, most Americans would disagree. But, people don't vote on issues they don't know about, so instead they vote on character and personality, or, what they perceive as character and personality. So, let's talk about the issues:

Obama wants to cut taxes for the 'middle class' supposedly, and make up the difference by taxing those who make more, making our already unequal tax distribution more top heavy. 

However, his definitions of 'middle class' and 'rich' are not correct. Contrary to popular belief, people who make six figures, aren't necessarily rolling in dough. And, even people who make upwards of $50,000 a year aren't either.  And part of that is because they are taxed like they are rich, when they are not, and then those who make significantly less than them pay nothing. 

Obama wants to make more bureaucracy and government work programs like FDR did, federalizing medical coverage, and creating an 'Obama's Youth' movement. 

Now that might seem all well and good on the surface, except that when the government takes over any large organization or task, it tends to be miserably inefficient. The argument of 'you will pay less for your coverage' may be true on the surface, except if you pay less, you get less, and on top of it, you're not really paying less. To cover everyone's new "free" medical expenses, taxes will go up. And, those taxes don't go to R&D, new techniques, better training and better facilities. No, those taxes go to a new middle man. A technocrat who works for the government and tells you what the government will and won't pay for. The doctors will get paid a flat rate (regardless of their years of schooling and amassed debt from that schooling), and they will be forced to see ALL patients (even illegal aliens). But, so what?! Well, that means that doctors have less incentive to do their jobs well, and reduces the amount of time they can spend on patients, thus causing your "free" coverage to be worth just what you supposedly did not pay - nothing. 

The moral is, don't let politicians trick you into thinking you are getting "free" anything. The truth is, you pay for it. You know how everything in DC is "free"? That's because your federal taxes pay for all those museums and monuments. So, while it might appear to be "free," it's really not.

And, on liberal blogs, and news article forums I read elitist sentiments like this: "The American people are stupid. They are so easily duped by the republican machine. And those people in middle America aren't really Americans, and I sure as hell don't want them to run my country."

Wow. These comments come from people who live in big population centers on both coasts, who have no idea that most of what that they eat, and the electricity that runs their homes comes from those "people in middle America who aren't really  Americans." I love how people who live in big cities claim this moral, intellectual, and social superiority over those who live outside the city. It's a bunch of crock. Guess what? The kids who have an hour bus ride to their school from a podunk farm in rural Montana are often better educated than most inner-city kids. But, people who make these kinds of comments, that despise others who think differently than they (and call them stupid for not agreeing with them) are not inner-city products. Most of them have been fed from silver spoons, receiving their education at private institutions. Oh the irony!  

The World doesn't elect America's President.

You know what I just love? Don't answer that (that could lead to a number of crude responses). I love the media's use of polls. The media loves them. Politicians love them. Or, they hate them. If the poll says what they want, they put it on the front page. If it doesn't, it gets put in the classifieds. Well, a recent poll that has no relevance at all says that the people of the world want Obama as President.

First off, just a little FYI to media people who thought that poll somehow mattered, this is an AMERICAN election. In this election, who matters are the AMERICAN candidates, and what the AMERICAN people want. 80% of the French want Barack (This picture of Barack comes from the French magazine Le Monde. 

Well guess what France, you can have him after the election, if he defects and becomes a French citizen, but for now, we decide. Obviously the percentage is just as high in Kenya, but once again, Kenya is not the US, and neither is Russia, another country that also wants him to be President.

And, if it weren't enough that we have to hear about how the rest of the world wants to run our country, the beleaguered British PM Gordon Brown praised Obama's charisma and economic platforms, in a time when his party is anything but motivated. He claims that he has not endorsed Obama, but in the article that was written by one of his party's junior staffers, there was no mention of McCain. Seems like a 'not so discreet, under the table, while handing the goods to the wrong hands' type of endorsement to me. 

At any rate, while some may argue that the Presidency of the US is a global issue, because we are the world's lone superpower (excluding an emerging China, and a resurgent Russia), the fact remains, that the responsibility and privilege to elect OUR head of state, does still reside in the hands of the American people, and not in the world's hands. It is not the United States of the World. But the United States of America. Now let's stick to the issues, and let America figure out its own domestic affairs (I know we don't always let the rest of the world do it, but if I were president, sovereign states would remain that way under most conditions, and as far as I know the US is a sovereign state).

Drum beats

I dance to the beat of my own drum. If the beat of my drum happens to be American Indian tribal dance, Zulu wedding dance, Depeche mode, Led Zeppelin, or Berlin night club...that is what I will dance. Just as I dance to the beat of my own drum, so does McCain (however, I don't think he is quite so literal).

I am not a devout McCain supporter. Let me start with that. He has a habit of frustrating me. He doesn't dance to his own drum beat. He marches forward with it. He has a history of reaching across the aisle to get reform done. He works with democrats, independents, and republicans. That is something that cannot be denied. He is nobody's b*tch. And, although it can be frustrating to a lot of people, it is a good sign. It means he puts his own judgment and America above that of partisan politics. Aside from drawing in independent and democratic voters, there is a bit in the maverick image that attracts even conservatives (some would argue that what really attracts them is Palin, and that's true too - she's hot), but knowing that he is not anyone's puppet is comforting (I know Bush has been everyone's puppet at one time or other). And, as much as I like puppet shows, I don't want to see that happen again.

McCain's speech last night was a responsible one. It pointed blame where it needed to, - he accepted that his party became corrupt with power in Washington - and he called for unity (and given his habit of bipartisan reform, he can really claim that call more than Obama, who has no such record), he called for energy independence, he called for transparency and accountability, and he called out for controls on government spending and excess taxation. 

On the topic of energy independence his approach is all-encompassing. The energy question does not need to be mutually exclusive, and he proved that. It's not fossil fuels versus green energy. A responsible plan uses both. He called for clean coal technology, natural gas, nuclear power, wind and solar power, electric and flex cars, and drilling. There is a responsible way to do all that. There is a sustainable way to drill, to use coal, and other fossil fuels (and if we don't use them, we are wasting our own potential and shooting ourselves in the collective foot). And, while we use the more economically feasible and well-studied techniques involving fossil fuels, we can concurrently develop more sustainable green energy so there is a smooth transition. 

But the big issue my friends is medical care. McCain said Obama's plan puts a bureaucrat in between me and my doctor. That's true with universal healthcare. Why do people seem to think the government will do a better job with our medical system than competitive, hard-working, private individuals? It boggles my mind. On that point alone I see it imperative to vote for McCain, who claims to have a much more useful reform in mind.

PS - I will continue to dance to the beat of my own drum, right now it's t.A.T.u. - for McCain it's whatever is in the best interest of America, and it will take him to the Oval office. Do the research people! Just because Obama is good-looking and speaks well, doesn't mean he should take the reins over the most powerful nation on the planet.

My love affair with Sarah

Well, I say if the media can have a love affair with Barack Obama, then I certainly can have a love affair with Sarah Palin. The difference of course would be that my affair would be strictly platonic. I wrote a brief about her on the day McCain picked her as a running mate, but now I'm going to give a more thorough break down on the night she is to accept the republican vice presidential nomination.

Many say that she was not vetted appropriately or carefully enough, and now McCain's camp is supposedly 'reeling' from the recent news about Palin's 17 year old daughter being pregnant out of wedlock. Folks, this really is a non-issue, and a weak attempt to discredit her through her kids (it has nothing to do with her ability to lead, or run a government). The second big one that people say is that she's inexperienced. Guess what? She has more executive experience than Obama, Biden, and McCain combined. None of them have held executive office. She has since 1992 (as both Council Member and Mayor of Wasilla, AK and as governor of Alaska for 2 years). The next way that people try to discredit her is by saying that she's neglecting her children and cannot be both a mom and a governor or Vice President. That is blatantly sexist and wrong. Does anyone question Obama's ability to be a father and President? 

But, something I do love about the recent ads, and counter-ads by both campaigns recently is that they are pitting Palin against Obama, rather than McCain against Obama, as if she were going to be President! I love it. In fact, I would vote for her as President over McCain, Obama, and most certainly Biden. 

(By the way, this is a picture of Sarah in Kuwait, visiting the troops, long before Obama did his bogus trip around the world - and the generals were impressed with her shooting accuracy)

Some of my friends and readers think that I like her because she's pro-gun, anti-abortion, pro-drilling (energy independence), and supports this country's ability to defend itself (pro-military - not pro-war, because c'mon, no one is pro-war). And, my friends and readers would be mostly correct.  Except, strangely enough, the reason I most like Palin is because she's a mother of five. 

For me, that says it all. She is raising five kids, running the largest state in the union, dealing with international affairs (Russian and Canada both border Alaska, lest you forget), drives her kids to hockey games, and all the while is unabashedly imperfect. The best part about the attacks against her (her pregnant daughter, the state police scandal, her inexperience and small-towniness) is that they are the exact reasons people are attracted to her. She is one of us. That, and she'll kick the crap out of her own party when it's wrong. She shook up the old boys club, and ratted out a corruption ring with the Alaska's state oil revenue practices. She's a lady with chutzpah, cajones - or to be callously vulgar, but at the same time completely appropriate, she has balls.

Palin 2012.

McCain picks Palin as VP!

This is a great pick for McCain. Palin, the newly elected governor of Alaska is a mother of five, a hockey mom, with strong conservative credentials. She is very reform minded, and, like McCain is herself considered a 'maverick'. She is the first woman to run on a republican ticket, and I think that by picking her, McCain has sealed the deal. I am now sure to be voting for McCain. Obama picked Biden, which in my mind was a terrible pick, given his penchance for saying ridiculous things off the cuff, and because Biden's an insider. Palin was the mayor of the small town of Wasilla, AK, home to just under 7,000 residents prior to being elected governor. She's not just an outsider. She's way outside. Good job John!

Obamamania!

You know what I've heard from the McCain camp, and numerous non-American press outlets? I heard that Obama is getting more publicity from the media than McCain. I am shocked. I mean, it just doesn't make sense for the press to be chasing around a handsome, young, energizing mulatto from Chicago's south side. They should be chasing a battle-worn, cranky, white septuagenarian like McCain.  

The statistics are pretty interesting though. In the past month, of the new stories regarding Presidential candidates, 77% have been about Obama, with only 33% about McCain. That disparity is a tad disconcerting. And, many in the press have been blatantly open about their lack of objectivity, saying, as Chris Matthews did, that they have "felt a tingling sensation go up [their] legs" when hearing Obama speak and campaign. It would not be quite so funny if it weren't actually happening. But, at the same time, most American news is nothing but sensationalism passed off as journalism. And that's one reason I read more news from Britain and other countries.

However, I can't help but think I am only contributing to the Obamamania by mentioning him in my blog as much as I do. I try to get both McCain's name, and Obama's in the same post, or in the same sentence (like this one), but it can be tricky. They are trying to outmaneuver each other using the press.  Well, I won't be bought. The fact is, regardless of the press's favoritism of Obama, the polls have remained relatively the same. Obama has a slim 2-3% point lead and it hasn't changed much at all for a few weeks. That should be comforting to McCain, and a little sign of trouble for Obama. Either way, I think it will be a fun race to watch in these upcoming days and months.

It's not a race issue.

It's not. For me it never was. I don't care what race, sex, or religion you are - that does not influence my vote. What does influence me are your ideas, your platform, your plan.

When Obama made the comment a couple months ago that his grandmother was a 'typical white person,' no one flinched. Why? Because it's okay to be racist against the majority, not the minority. And, if you share some blood of the minority, you are allowed to say non-PC things. Imagine if McCain had said, 'typical black person?' His campaign and political career would be over. And, that is stupid. There need not be a double standard.

Then, if that weren't enough, to pre-empt future racist commentaries from McCain's campaign, Obama made a statement more recently saying that racism would be used to defeat him. He said that before a single race-charged comment had been made by the other camp! He thinks he cleverly brought racism to the forefront while denouncing it. He made it an issue when it was not one. Why? Because if he can paint McCain as intolerant before he makes any intolerant remarks he is setting McCain on a pedestal - and everyone will watch for even the slightest non-PC falter. And, that's cheap politics. Why has no one pointed out Obama's racist comments, demeaning blacks, and even his own white grandmother? Oh, that's right, it's okay because he's part black. Justice never was a part of politics, just a bothersome nuisance.

The Lexington Project

John McCain recently announced a bold new initiative if elected President of the United States. It is called the 'Lexington Project'. Similar to the Manhattan Project and other the Apollo Missions to the moon, it calls upon the American people to put in their best efforts and put their collective minds together to bring about a solution to a growing problem. That problem is Energy.


Most people, if not all, want cheap, efficient, reliable, and clean energy. Those who don't generally just want to line their pockets with the money of other people without just recompense. To achieve this affordable, efficient, and clean energy will take a lot of work. John McCain believes however, as I do, that our country can and should be energy independent by 2025.

What this means is that we continue to encourage the development of clean coal, and the prudent use of our oil, gas, and coal reserves. It also means that concurrently we must continue to develop green energy like ethanol, wind, and solar power. And, it means that we need to make a greater push to nuclear power, which, with our vast uranium fields, makes sense. To many, the energy picture is seen as mutually exclusive. Or we develop green solutions, or we stick with fossil fuels. This is a false dichotomy. We can use the fossil fuel we have in a clean way, while developing other energy sources and technologies. In fact, this is the only way we are going to be able to make a smooth transition. If we stopped using our fossil fuel altogether we would run out of plastic, automobiles, medicines, and everyday conveniences at an alarming rate. And, on top of that, vast oil and coal reserves which serve no other purpose than to be consumed, would sit idle.

This is not a call for increased consumption, but a call to consume less, and produce more. We need innovators to refine the process of converting excess wood, corn, garbage, and wheat bi-products into useful energy sources, thereby circumventing the problem of using the corn we eat, and the trees we use for paper. We need innovators to find ways of accessing our oil and coal deposits without depleting the environment. We need to find better ways to sustainable clean energy. There is progress being made, but it involves an educated and motivated populace. We can do it!


Currently we receive 40% of our oil from our own blessed country in the US. That number can be increased by careful exploration and extraction from both rich deposits recently found off the gulf coast of the US and the vast reserves we own in Alaska. There is also a new microbial procedure which makes old oil wells 90% more effective. It involves putting these microbes into the well, and having them consume certain chemicals and minerals that attach to the crude, allowing the crude to concentrate and push to the surface. This, my friends is innovation! Solar power is vastly unresearched and unused. Wind power is only mildly used. Alaska, in recent years and months has put more research into creating energy by tapping the raw power of its volcanoes! This is innovation. We need more of this. We need to stop throwing billions of dollars into the pockets of tyrannical regimes like that of Venezuela and Iran. We need to be energy independent to maintain our economic superiority and to be good stewards of this great land in which we live. I believe in America, and I know we can do it.

Sign the petition.

Hillary Dead? Yes.

I'm going to proclaim her political death right now. Hillary is gone. But, strangely enough, it is a bittersweet farewell. She was a pandering, lying, self-promoting, scandal-ridden ho, but oh she was loved! That blonde hair and wrinkly over-done face. She could stare down a dead person. Even more so now that she's dead. She gave us all so much fodder! Food for thought. I will never forget the debate with her and Obama when she said "It's the government's job to fix the economy." Oh what genius. Free markets are needless and stupid with Hillary around. But, alas, she walks, she talks no more. She would have been smoked by McCain. She was a time bomb waiting to explode. But now she's gone. Without so much as a poof.

I'm a dog lover, I like a good bitch every now and then. Hillary was no different. Obama has the nomination wrapped up in the pocket of his designer jeans along with the hearts of the media. He may have to provide a bonus incentive to his staffers and followers: kneepads. Like Michelle Malkin so bluntly put it. But Hillary has no one waiting on her. Ogling her every move. Well, I was (Well not really, but it was fun watching her make a fool of herself). Goodbye Hillary! I'll miss you.

Hillary and Barack: Get 'R Done.

To be honest I don't really want to write this. And, I'm sorry I have to put you through more of the same. Well, perhaps I can shake the monkeys in this barrel one more time just to placate the system and appease divine justice. I am of course speaking of Hillary and Barack. They are just the most fun thing to watch since Mork and Mindy. They jab at one another, question each other's legitimacy, ride in the back of red pick up trucks, kiss babies, look amicable and somehow still remain the most divisive enemies. It's just so much fun. And by 'fun' I mean not fun. It's code.

Hillary is a wench. Barack is a panderer (not to be confused with Panda bear, although that would be funny). Think of it, the first woman President and the first Panda bear President. It would do wonders for conservation and Chinese relations. But on another note they blather on like people actually care. And, from the polls it seems that some people do.

At this point I know a lot of people who just want them to figure it out and stop wasting our time. Seriously, I would like to read the news without some stupid report about Hillary's new crush on Rush Limbaugh or Obama's pastor bringing about a new black Nazi movement. They both are not qualified to run the country, with little to no executive experience, and they think the biggest way to solve our problems is to expand the size and scope of government without bringing efficiency and accountability. Therefore, anything they say to me at least is hogwash. Or perhaps, worse, like the beard policy at BYU. And I will have none of it. Just tell them to shut up and get on with the whole 'General Election' thing. McCain's got it in the bag. Now they just need to pick whether it's going to be the wanna be Latina who hates NAFTA or the milk chocolate yuppie who appeals to Hollywood and Oprah.

McCain, my reluctant choice.

I know many of you out there know I was anything but pleased to have McCain as the "presumptive" republican nominee, but I must now come out and say, I'm okay with it now. I was bothered by McCain's attempt to allow illegal immigrants to gain legal status while millions of others who were doing it the right way got shafted. I was bothered by the fact that he has constantly plagued American businesses, especially Pharmaceuticals with anti-big business legislation. Big business is what keeps America employed (despite its many drawbacks). I was bothered by the fact that he almost defected to the democratic party. I was bothered by the fact that he had no real world economic experience. I was bothered by the fact that he's a grumpy, weird old man.

However, I have now seen the light (this may have a lot to do with my options). Both Hillary and Obama want to bring socialized medicine to America. Obama has the "audacity of hope" to create 2 million new jobs in the public sector (hmmm...kinda like overtly bureaucratic poorly run nations like Russia and France). Hillary even made the comment that, "It's time for the government to fix the economy." I nearly spat out my gum. Since when does the government control the economy? Don't get me wrong, the government has certain controls over things like interest rates, trade embargoes and the like, but what controls the economy is big Joe down at the deli, consumer confidence, your investment portfolio and what color Kmart chooses to use to advertise its blue-light specials. On top of it all, both Obama and Hillary want an immediate pullout of troops in Iraq regardless of the situation on the ground. Let me get this straight. After we invaded the country, toppled its corrupt but stable regime and trudged around without a decent strategy against the growing insurgency leaving it in social and political anarchy, and finally got it right and are working to fix the mess WE caused, WE all of the sudden are going to leave. That's like me going over to my friends house, ransacking his pantry, then sweeping up part of the mess, peeing on the rest and running away. That's brilliant. That brings me to McCain.

McCain is a battle-tested, torture-endured military man. He knows what it takes to win a war. He knows what it takes to survive. He sees the big picture. He wants to see more political reconciliation in Iraq. He wants to see more work on rebuilding and creating new infrastructure. He wants to allow the Generals to have the full support of the government to do what they need to do in order to bring internal stability to a war-torn, secularly, religiously and ideologically divided nation. Many might think his support of the surge is for political expediency. Others may think his support is political suicide. To me his support shows he GETS the big picture. McCain knows we erred. Hindsight is so nice. But we cannot live in the past and undo what has already been done. We need to look forward and fix what we can and leave Iraq better than we came in.

On another note McCain admitted he was wrong on how he approached immigration. Good start. Hopefully he stays that way. McCain also is vehemently opposed to pork-barrel spending (all those little multi-million dollar earmarks that allow congressmen and senators to take home projects to their home states and districts with our federal tax money). This is good. We need a government that can run smoothly, effectively and transparently. We need to know where and how our money is spent. Furthermore, the correct way to slim the debt is not only through careful and well-regulated spending, but tax cuts. We should only pay what we have to, and nothing more. McCain was reluctant to call the Bush tax cuts a good idea, but now that he's latched on to them, he most likely won't be swayed back so easily (because he's a grouchy, stubborn, stick-to-his guns type of guy). For these reasons, and many others McCain has my vote. For those of you who think Obama is cute and has a nice voice, I can't really argue. Yes he's charismatic. However, he's also a socialist with staffers who worship leftist guerilla Che Guevarra. Not a good reason to vote for him. He's a political neophyte. McCain is old, wise and as stubborn as hell. I'd take that over a supple, 46-year-old shaven chest from Chicago's south side any day.