On the Campaign...

I think I’ll ramble on a little about campaign politics.

To paraphrase Will Rogers, all I know is what I read on the internet (and see on cable news).

Anyone who’s read me more than a few times knows that I am a modcon, or moderate conservative. Part of my conservative side is that I dislike big government-run social programs like the ones that LBJ foisted on us, although I DO believe we are all “our brother’s keeper.” If we MUST have government involvement in such things, then let them do it through our churches, synagogues and maybe even by way of some well-vetted mosques.

The environment is where I especially wax moderate, maybe even left of moderate. I give GWB credit for NOT signing Kyoto, which lets China and India off the hook, BUT I AM miffed that he’s done almost nothing to wean us off Arab oil. Even with my distrust of government programs, I think its time for a NASA style program to bring together our best and brightest to deal with energy, and that means NO BIOFUELS!

Normally, I believe in letting the free market deal with national problems like energy sources; but not this time, not that our national security is at risk because of it. The average American is not going to start driving more expensive “alternative fuels” vehicles, nor will they be willing to use mass transit; NOT without some kind of economic incentive.

And the mostly Republican push toward bio-fuels is just plain stupid. I’m sure our farmers love the idea of it, but it’s going to drive food prices through the roof. If you think Americans are pissed off about pump prices now, just wait till their groceries start costing Tokyo prices; and we WILL have ten dollar apples once we start putting more than half our field corn into our gas tanks.

I’m staunchly conservative when it comes to national security, then again, so are a lot of smart democrats; they just don’t happen to be running one for president. Pulling our troops IMMEDIATELY out of Iraq smells too much like 1973 when Ted Kennedy and crew pulled the plug on the South Vietnamese after we’d ALREADY won the darned war. What is it about these people? Defeat at all costs?

Concerning our national security, staying tough in Iraq now IS important and NECESSARY. The left, now apparently completely in charge of the Democratic Party, has decided that there IS NO terror war—that it’s a contrived Bush thing—that the Islamic extremists will simply leave us alone IF we leave them alone. Only one of the three presidential candidates still in the running seems to understand the danger of using this “kumbaya method” to win over Al Qaeda and Iran. I’ll give you one guess who that is. (hint: its not a democrat).

As for Barack Obama, he is still trying to have us all ignore the so-called “cherry picked” words of his pastor, the evidently deranged Rev. Wright. Obama’s anxious pleading reminds me of the Wizard of Oz, where the Wizard angrily demands, “IGNORE the man behind the curtain!”

I never would have voted for Obama anyway, he’s far too liberal for my tastes, but there might just be a few fence sitters out there who aren’t happy with his close association with this unhinged Wright character. I just listened to a very irate Bob Beckel, an Obama apologist, as he remonstrated against the Rev. Wright drumbeat on FOX News. Beckel likes to continually ask, “Would you say that any child that ever attended Trinity should now be considered NOT presidential material?” My answer is: “No, but I would definitely hold their parents up to some critical scrutiny for allowing their kids to be indoctrinated by someone who says “God DAMN America… The USA of the KKK… …our chickens have come home to roost (America brought 9/11 on itself) … Jesus was lynched Roman style by garlic nosed Italians… ad nauseum.”

Obama admits that he and his wife regularly attended Wright’s services ALONG with his children. Unless the Obama’s WANT their daughters to be just as ashamed of their country as Michele Obama admittedly is, then WHY did they subject their girls’ young ears and developing sensibilities to Wright’s virulent anti-Americanism?

Hillary Clinton has her own problems. She’s behind in the delegate count to the smooth talking “interloper” from Chicago and to make matters worse, she is now dealing with her own negative press as she fights to overcome her new title as “the great fabricator.” She was caught telling yet another chest thumping “tall tale,” not just once, but several times. Now, I’ve learned to take “combat stories” with a grain of salt after listening to a few, but none of those old yarn spinning vets was running for president.

There are few things worse than being caught in a lie. What makes it worse for Clinton is that it makes her seem desperate to the point that she’ll say ANYTHING, so long as it gets her back even with Obama. Until she was called on her fib, Hillary was recollecting how she and Chelsea had landed under “sniper fire” during a first lady trip to Bosnia in 1997 while under the protection of the US military. Turns out she was perfectly safe, and now a lot of military personnel who made sure she was VERY safe are VERY pissed off at her right now. The result: Obama lovers and Republicans are crowing a collective, “See! She’s a big fat liar!”

People who love Hillary and Obama will not be dissuaded by “little things” such as hate speech from their pastors, or even getting caught telling a few bald-faced lies. For the left, almost anything is forgivable if it will get their people elected. But, to repeat, there just might be a few “undecideds” in the middle to whom this unseemly stuff DOES make a difference.

Watching the two democrat wannabes stagger along towards what looks to be a very turbulent democratic convention is making John McCain seem more and more palatable to me. He certainly wasn’t my first choice; I’m not happy with his stand on waterboarding and his desire to close Gitmo, BUT I CAN live with those things. I was very angry with his proposed amnesty program for illegals, but now that he promises to close the border I can forgive him that earlier misstep. I really like what he says about the environment and getting us off foreign oil. On the environment specifically, he SOUNDS like a tree hugger, just like I tend to be. And above all, I REALLY love his aggressive stance against Islamic extremists. On that note, we MUST see Iraq through to a successful conclusion, another primary plank in the McCain platform.

No fence sitting for me; John McCain IS my man.