Hussein! Hussein Obama! He he he!

Radio Talker Bill Cunningham introduced John McCain today at a campaign rally, repeatedly making reference to “Barak Hussein Obama”.  McCain stood up and rebuked Cunningham, stating he had the utmost respect for his Democratic rivals.

I have to give props to McCain for playing it exactly right.  He neutered the presumed Obama/Media attack on him for not addressing the “Hussein” references, and put himself above nitpicking.  The more he avoids situations like this, the more he can focus on attacking Obama where he’s the weakest– the issues.

Obama Madrassa Fashionista

Hillary’s goons have been circulating this picture of Obama in Somalia. (Thanks to Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch.)

Yes, it’s a low blow. But remember, those in glass houses (or funny hats) should not cast stones.

So what 4-year Colleges are there in the Virgin Islands?

And are any of them hiring?

Here’s our regional weather map from weather.com.

Why McCain?

So, I’ve been thinking long & hard about John McCain.  I was more likely to support him back in 2000.  But now he’s been doing his best to stick it to the base and do whatever he wants.  As a member of the base, I’m not happy and, as I’ve said before, I’d be happier with an Obama presidency just to illustrate what horrible leadership you get with a Democratic president.

But I’ve changed my mind, and now I’m reluctantly putting my support behind McCain.  Frankly, I’m getting tired of voting for “best of the worst”, but hearing more and more from the Obama camp, especially what he’s planning on doing with taxes, nationalized health care, and foreign policy, I’d rather take the Maverick than the Obamamessiah.

The issue that really put me into the McCain camp was thinking about the Supreme Court.  The Maverick can appoint whoever he wants, and they may be a Souter, they may be a Kennedy, or they may be an Alito.  All I know is that there’s a greater chance of getting someone who believes in a “living Constitution” with Obama– 99%.  McCain, IMHO, would appoint some who have stronger conservative positions, simply because those on the liberal side would tend to rule against stronger actions against terrorism.

The court currently has 1 member who is 87 (turning 88 this year), and that’s John Paul Stevens, a strong liberal on the court.  It is highly likely that whoever the 44th President is, he’s going to be replacing Stevens (I think it’s clear Stevens has been holding onto his seat hoping to be replaced by a Democratic president in 2008).  In addition, Scalia (71), Ginsburg (74), Kennedy (71), Bryer (69) and Souter (68) are all approaching “ripe old ages”, and the likelihood one of them will retire in the next 4-8 years is pretty good.  Having Obama there would not necessarily be a disaster, but it could significantly alter the composition of the Court.  If Obama gets elected, I’m sure we’ll see Ginsburg and Stevens retire- maybe even Bryer.  That would be three solidly liberal justices replaced by three solidly liberal justices.

To truly overturn some really bad constitutional law made from 1970-1995, the court needs to have 5 justices with conservative credentials, as well as a legacy of justices who maintain those credentials.  Currently, Roberts & Thomas are good for a legacy, with Scalia and Alito backing them up.  Kennedy is more of a moderate, but leans more towards the Conservative edge of the spectrum.  Replacing Stevens with someone more conservative would return the court to a stricter interpretation of the Constitution, and get rid of abominations such as Kelo and Roe v. Wade.

The Democratic nominee should emphasize this point to rally the base.  But they won’t, because they know that running to lock up the USSC is not a good campaign strategy.

So, I’m going to cast my vote for McCain.

It’s Been A While

As I mentioned before, there was some personal upheaval in my life recently.  Nothing bad– we were going to buy a house!  So we were busy doing all the pre-approvals, pre-pre-approvals, inspections, pre-inspections, post-inspections, pre-post-approval-inspections, etc.  As it turns out, the plumbing in the house was shot, effectively negating any “good deal” status of the house, so we ended up passing on it.   That and the flu have pretty much kept me from posting (my case of the flu has been relatively minor, but the rest of the family has been feeling worse).  I’ve been trying to keep myself healthy because I’m getting LASIK done next week, and they won’t take you if you’re sick.  (Don’t want patients sneezing in the middle of a laser zapping the eye.)

But I’m back for some more semi-regular posting.  Thanks for your patience!

The Autopsy Political Compass

Ducan Hunter blew my mind.  Seriously.

He’s the guy with the best conservative cred, and the conservative base abandoned him and flocked to Rudy, Mitt, McCain and Huckabee.  I was a bit confused, then my head exploded when Hunter endorsed Huckabee.  Seriously.  I was shell-shocked for about two days.

Duncan.. Huckabee?  Why?  I could understand Rudy, or Mitt, or McCain– but Huck?  My guess is Huck offered him VP and Duncan thought he could have a meaningful impact on policy in a Cheneyesque manner.  To have Hunter as President of the Senate would be awesome.  You listening, Mitt?  John?

So, I had to regroup.  Then McCain started winning.  The Maverick was on the loose.  And my head exploded again.

Yes, two explosions.  But it still works.  It must be American made!

So, we’ll see how Super Tuesday fares.  I’m feeling a McCain vicotry, and I’m dreading it.  If McCain locks up the nomination today, the head won’t explode, but I’m going to have to actively work against McCain.

We should elect a Democrat.   Bring on Hillary.  Bring on Obama.  We need to have 4-8 years of meandering bollocks policy.  Seriously.  America needs to remember why we don’t elect Democrats any more.   The last thing we need is President McCain reminding the people of the country why we don’t like electing Republicans.  We need to be able to point at the past and say, “We did things your way.  See what happened to the country?”  We need people to flock to the polls, overwhelmingly elect a Hillary or an Obama and have them enact 8 years of the worst legislation ever.  We need to dispel the myth that people should vote for a race of a gender because it would be historic.  We need 8 years of boneheaded leadership that puts Bush’s leadership to shame.

For that reason, I’m endorsing any Democrat for President this year.  Please, enter office.  Get out a plan for Universal Health Care.  Pull us out of Iraq and instead put us into Darfur.  Enact sweeping Global Warming legislation.  Do it all!  DO IT ALL, GUYS!  Don’t let any stone go unturned.  Show us how a good Liberal runs the country, and do it 100%.

That was the problem with Bill Clinton.  In 1994, he figured out that everything he was doing caused a Republican backlash that cost him the House, and later, the Senate.  I don’t think Hillary or Obama have that self-editing power.  They’ll roll on with their mismanagement, and there will be a revolution.  And hopefully we’ll be able to send Code Pink, MoveOn.org, DailyKos, CAIR, and everyone else on a quick trip to nowhere.

Then, in 2012 or 2016, Duncan Hunter can run again, or some other conservative (me!), and start reducing the National Debt, fixing Social Security, cutting pork, reducing the size of government, and getting America out of the hole its dug itself for the past 50 years.

The Mayor of Detroit is in Trouble

He was having an affair.  Just one of many little things he was doing while diddling the taxpayers’ money away on a ruined Detroit.

Oh, and the story neglects to mention it.  He’s a Democrat.

And just remember– any sex scandal with a Republican ALWAYS states their party affiliation next to their name.

How many people out there think Gary “He May Have Killed a Woman He May Have Been Sleepign With” Condit was a Republican?  Show of hands?  Well, Gary was a Democrat, too.  And one who was railroaded by the 4th Estate.

Just ask Larry Craig.

Bill Clinton the Shady

Seems he had a hand in a major uranium deal, and profited handsomely from it.

I don’t think he’s really any different from most politicians.  But you have to wonder about his loyalties.

Maybe the Sun DOES Have Something to Do With It

Looks like sunspot activity is hitting dangerous lows.

I’m not going to start shouting “Ice Age!  Ice Age!” After all, if you look at the record from 1600 to 2000, you see a lovely oscillating record of sunspot data.  And you can find more sunspot data here, which I refuse to compile on general principle (if I barely have time to post, I’m not going through 140 years of sunspot data to discover very little).

The low sunspot count is interesting, but given the fabulous outpouring of activity from our stellar neighbor over the past 10 years, I think it deserves a well-earned break.  Now, if it doesn’t pick up over the next 10 years– then I’ll be worried.  Very worried.  Hey, I live in Wisconsin!

Busy Busy Busy

Real life intrudes.  I’m putting a lot of effort into the classes I’m teaching this semester to get myself into a nice, shiny spot on the faculty.  Plus I’m getting LASIK on March 4th, so I’m wearing glasses.  I hate glasses in general.  I find the lack of peripheral vision to be ultimately annoying.

But wanted to post and say I’m not dead.  Just otherwise engaged.