Diaries

It is amazing to me how foolish politicians and the media types take us for. They would have us believe that the reason McCain picked Governor Palin for his VP was because he wanted to thumb his nose at conventional wisdom and display once again what a maverick he is. According to the narrative, he wanted to demonstrate his desire for change and desire to break with the Washington insiders whom he has been a part of for the last 25 years. Let’s be clear John McCain would pick Satan himself if he thought it would get him elected. His selection of Governor Palin was a desperate move by a desperate man.

And let's be clear : It was indeed a performance. These things always are.

She did well. Very well.

Now, I can disagree with a lot of what she said and for various reasons and still acknowledge that.

First of all, I disagree with her foreign policy tone. And no amount of rhetoric is going to change that. Not so sure how that plays with vast majority of undecided voters who are at best part-time status quo political spectators.

Following up on post I made last week on the new Census Bureau Stats on income, poverty and health insurance, I read this WaPo Op-ed by Robert Samuelson.

Firstly, my quibbles:

Some writing on Gustav that inserts another perspective on the ordeal.

A few days ago, Paul Krugman, in typically rabid partisan form had another NYT Op-Ed on Gustav and FEMA.

The standard fare: the wonders of government bureaucracy cannot work without proper leadership (Dems who care) and the GOP simply produced a self-fulfilled prophecy with the Katrina debacle....nothing more. IOW, good and effective government needs people who believe in it and it will work great.

Are you favor of an informed electorate?

Naw...

from Newsbusters :

Jake Tapper, hardest working man in the 08 cycle, continues his
coverage of the ever declining mental faculties of Joe Biden,
Senator. For all the coverage given the family affairs of
Governor Sarah Palin, precious little has been given to the
rambling, bizarre statements of Smilin' Joe Biden since his
convention speech. And there's so much good stuff here, too! Just
the other day in Florida, for example, where he went on a 75 minute
riff:

Now the Democrats have released SP's SS# and home address! Amazing coming from the party that wants privacy so badly!

In my spectator role of this upcoming election, I've been becoming and increasingly and quietly intrigued about what could happen and what it could mean....in much the same way that I watch the analysts discuss the prospects of the upcoming NFL season. Former pros turned "analysts" and journalists are caressing their collective chin while scanning a multitude of factors to make the bold claim...namely that Team XYZ, in spite of current perceptions, is the "team to watch" or the "team to beat". See below for video.

Well everyone here seemed to think that those poor demonstrators were being unfairly targeted, and had their civil liberties violated - well now it appears your comrades have now begun destroying property in town - and doing their thing - whatever terrorists do!

Looks like Israel is going to take matters into there own hands if something doesn't happen here pretty quick...

GOP Officials just held a press conference here in St. Paul, Minnesota, to announce changes to the convention schedule in advance of Hurricane Gustav making landfall somewhere along the Gulf Coast. Sen. McCain has directed that all convention activities outside of necessary business be suspended until further notice.

Promoted by John

Does Sarah Palin believe in evolution?

Numerous bloggers have been asking variants of this question since Palin was selected as McCain's running mate. There are two issues here:

• what does she believe?
• to what extent does it matter?

*This is a diary from a friend of mine at RedState. He is obviously a Republican, but he also happens a black man in America. I love his take on things, and so here we are. Enjoy.

Check out this video .

It shows two Democrats, including former DNC Chairman Don Fowler, laughing at the prospects of Hurrican Gustav hitting New Orleans during the GOP Convention.

God must favor the Democrats, says one of the slime balls.

Like I always say, It's all about the politics. It's all about the power. Nothing is sacred and all is fair game in the name of partisanship.

Pathetic. Video and more below the fold.

I have it from several sources inside the California GOP that it is indeed Tim Pawlenty who's name will be put forth into nomination as the Republican Party's Vice Presidential nominee in 2008!
I wish I was wrong, I wanted Mitt Romney, but Tim is a solid conservative and a good choice for JM considering the attacks the left would have brought against Mitt.

OH YEAH! Even better, Sarah Palin is a solid conservative, an incredibly popular Governor, an effective reformer, and the perfect pick for the ticket!

Steve Chapman of Reason looks at Obama and the prospects of Big Government. His premise is to look at Obama objectively and ask if libertarians should "fear" an Obama Presidency. Whether libertarians view the matter as Chapman does is another matter. But he does, nonetheless, make a case in favor of Obama...as many libertarian thinkers have.

Personally, I've been little warmer to Obama than McCain from the get-go for a variety of reasons, some of which Chapman cites.

Tell me, all you left minded people, why does the Democatic party, and Barack Obama hate free speech so much?

Hat tip to Megan McArdle .

Microsoft is unveiling IE8, Internet Explorer 8, which has privacy feature for browsing than will hurt Google's main business: targeted search ads.

From the Financial Times :

Microsoft has unveiled its Internet Explorer 8 browser equipped with a privacy feature that could threaten the advertising model of web search rivals such as Google.

And when I say "Socialism", I'm not talking about the loose and overly applied generic version of the term that gets used...incorrectly I might add...to refer to any redistributive government action in the name of social welfare or justice. No, I'm talking about the economic system definition of the term which refers to centrally planned or administered market action in which the state and not individual and independent market participants dictate prices and, hence, the allocation of resources.