Is She Enough?

I think enough time has passed for me to comment on John McCain's V.P choice. When I have strong feelings about something I tend to allow a waiting period to send emotions packing while I call all thoughts back to the brain for a little meeting before I speak. But to my surprise I don't see it any differently now than I did when I first heard it. I'll reach up high on the shelves of over used and worn out transitive verbs for this one and go with flabbergasted.
Initially, I thought Sen. McCain must know a lot that I don't. But since all I knew was that she was the pretty Governor from Alaska who was attempting to clean up some wrongdoing by politicians in her state, I figured of course he would. Unfortunately, relative to qualifications for her new job, the answer was nope, that's about it.
Instead, what has rushed into the information void are things like she has completed less than half a term as Governor, an investigation into abuse of power, a for-before I was against, flip-flop about the bridge to nowhere touted in her V.P. acceptance speech, a mother-in-law who is undecided whether or not she will vote for a McCain/Palin ticket who adds, "I don't know what she brings to the ticket other than being a woman and a conservative." There are bruising appraisals of her V.P. potential from the Alaska press and among others, a line from the Alaska State Speaker of the House who, when asked about her qualification, replied, "She's old enough- she's a U.S citizen." To be fair this may be sour grapes resulting from her house cleaning efforts but it is surprisingly difficult to find positive appraisals at the local level.
Of course from the McCain camp there is no shortage of glowing commendations but listen to what McCain top adviser Charles Black said, "She's going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years and most doctors think that he'll be around at least that long." What can you say to that?
In fairness to Gov. Palin there is no disputing that she has accomplished a great deal in her life. She has much to be proud of. But she has now climbed onto an entirely different stage with an audience that's gone from 700,000 to over 300 million, and I happen to be one of the latter.
Call me cynical but I just don't get all that assured by looking at her early life, her education, her success in beauty pageantry or sports reporting. Her service in city government may be qualifying if the city was Los Angeles or even Anchorage but I've been to Wassila and like all rural politics, becoming the big fish in a small pond is not all that remarkable. In fact all politics in Alaska can be called small town and Gov. Palins service in Wassila may have prepared her adequately for the governorship but the real question is does she posses the skills necessary to be the Vice President of the United States?
I think it's worth mentioning here that Alaska, with a population of 700,000, is physically larger than the next three largest states of California, Texas and Montana which have a combined population of 62 million.
I have experienced the largeness of Alaska with trips out of Fairbanks in bush planes and on the Yukon traveling to distant remote villages. Why is this important? Because it is one way, without going into great detail, to help explain what defines Alaskans and it contributes to how they view the world. Alaska just feels limitless and unrestricted and I see a lot of this manifested in Gov. Palin. It is reflected in her confidence about her positions on the issues of our time. It has served her quite well but has she been shaped by a place that matches up well with the lower 48?
Take issues like immigration? Smart young people leaving state is a greater concern to Alaskans. Pollution? Too much land, not enough people. Taxes? They receive far more money from lower 48 tax payers than they pay. They even receive over 2000 dollars each per year (including children) from oil revenue. Energy? There is a lot of it and finding and selling as much as possible is a self-serving economic goal. Terrorism? About as safe as it gets. Crime and drugs? Alcohol and drug abuse is a scourge and per capita crime statistics rival the rest of the country. There is even gang violence in Anchorage but still a stretch to compare it with major cities of the lower 48. Gun control? not on your life. Ethics in government? She maybe the cleanest, but from a very dirty house. The Iraq war? It's God's will so more of the same. Foreign policy? Sen. Palin has absolutely None. The Economy? Apples and oranges. Alaska lives in a distorted reality, awash in oil profits.
So is this just a pro-Obama/Biden rant about anyone that McCain selected? I like to think it is more objective than that. In fact among the people mentioned on the "short list" I could have easily been silenced. They got the gender right but It should have been the one with gravitas like Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Finally, I do worry that Gov. Palin would be out of touch with what this country really needs at this time. An Anchorage Dailey News reporter called her career "sun-kissed," which doesn't seem to be the right credentials for dealing with the problems which will face the next administration.

Mono A Mono

Now we've got a fight. Senator Obama clearly gave a terrific nomination acceptance speech. For heaven's sake, Chris Wallace, Bill Kristol and Charles Krauthammer even said so. If this isn't confirmation, what is?
It was beautiful and complete and most important he convinced me that in fact he is a formidable force who could throw a punch if the time came.. It must feel like some surreal out of body journey for him but last night, being finally able show himself to the world, he stepped up and scored big.
Remember that each of us is dealt a hand of cards in life. If you think that being black in this country doesn't amount to a few low cards then your kidding yourself. Add the interracial aspect, no father and no money and your ready to fold before you begin. Sen. Obama though, was dealt a few kings, maybe even an ace by having a good external image, a good mother and grandparents and a head on his shoulders. He stayed in the game but to do so he had to play his cards just right. The little intro film before he spoke may have given a clue about the source of a part of him--his reticence.
He said the only time his mother got mad was when she observed cruelty to others. And to her son she said, when people are mistreated, imagine standing in their shoes. This, working together with the don't be too uppity pledge that many African-Americans must take to succeed, could well of suppressed Obama's desire to engage. But it wasn't born from an emotional fear, it was a tried-and-true intellectual one.
Many instances along the way served to reinforce the relative safety of his reticence place. Recall his early "your likable enough Hillary" comment to Senator Clinton. Hardly a serious attack but success in Iowa came to a screeching halt in New Hampshire, reportedly due to this comment.
Maybe the campaign has finally adjusted to running against a man. A standard that sports served to normalize, where man on man rules nearly ignore black man on white man rules of yesteryear.
Well, to say the least Senator Obama did play his cards right and now has raked in about half the chips. The other half, ironically, may only be won if the full and genuine man emerges and that's what I hope we saw last night.

Well Done Convention But Get Ready

No thoughtful and objective person could believe that the speeches we heard from Michelle Obama, Brian Schweitzer, Senator Clinton, Senator Kerry, President Clinton and Senator Biden were not superb. As usual the hours of analysis, produced commentary that lost it's moorings. But the few remaining unaffected and unbiased media people scattered across the network and cable outlets did get it right and found that the speeches did all they could politically for the Democratic party.
So, even as the Republican party worked hard through ads, surrogates and party friendly media to interfere, it seems that the democrats will come out of their convention in fairly good shape. Senator Obama should dazzle the crowd as usual tonight and in the process have put together a nifty little organization in Colorado and beyond in the critical west.
So why don't I feel as excited as I possibly should? Simply because the Obama juggernaut was stalled by the efforts of the McCain campaign over the last month or so and they are working very hard to do it again.
The addition of Senator Biden will help to deliver whatever strategy they intend to use but the campaign itself must provide that strategy.
The problem is that this campaign has put it's bet down on the high road approach. Please don't think that I believe that they should wallow in the mud with McCain's Rovean warriors but there is a mile between the respective campaigns tactics. There is plenty of room to be aggressive or on offense or proactive if that feels better, without being dirty. The Republicans will continue to drive the debate unless the Obama campaign gets some surrogates out there willing to win at a cost greater than what their willing to afford right now.

Be On Offense And Drive The Debate

This is the Republican mantra. Make no mistake about it.
All the cogs are beginning to turn and don't forget they are very good at what they do. They have been at this for a very long time and they do this for what in their minds are principled reasons but, the soldiers also know that there are millions to be made and vast new avenues for networking for future deals. Add it all up and there are plenty of reason for the McCain team to start unbolting the kitchen sink.
One sure sign that the time has come is that Harold Simmons, the Texas billionaire and McCain campaign fund raiser, has started a non-profit group called American Issues Project to finance ads against Obama. Yep, same guy who funded ads attacking John Kerry's military service in 2004.
With this kind of horsepower it's no wonder that they can put the Democrats in a defensive posture which for all intents and purposes is them "driving the debate." The Obama camp takes the logical step by looking at what the Kerry campaign did wrong, then launches counter attacks and guess what--they look defensive. This is why the Carville's and Gergan's and Buchanan's of the world keep begging for red meat. The Obama camp needs to take it to the enemy. They need to abandon the "above the fray" mentality that the American people object to dirty politics. The bottom line is that the America People don't somehow live outside of the boundaries of human nature. And if your losing, human nature says bring out the biggest guns you got.

Dear Sen. Obama

Your first momentous decision, the selection of Sen. Biden for your running mate is for me enormously fulfilling. Shamelessly I must mention that I made this hopeful prediction on June 12, 2008. I gave my reasons at that time. How you exactly came to this decision, we may never know for sure but if you can keep up the good decisions, I'll make another prediction, you just might become the next President of the United States. Btw, the best line of the event in Springfield was Senator Biden saying, "These times require more than a goor soldier, they require a wise leader." All the pieces are in place, now make it reality.

You Never Stop Earning Trust

There are a lot of addictions out there and not too many people would argue that one of them is an addiction to trust, but I'm going to risk the wrath of God himself and stick my neck way out there and ask, why are we going to give Rev. Rick Warren a pass on what happened at his "Saddleback Civil Forum?" To start, it was rather confusingly billed as an encounter of some kind between Sen. Obama and Sen McCain.
If you don't know, to save me a lengthy explanation please Google "Cone of silence."
Warren, with his squeaky clean persona promised fairness in the design of this event and in his failure furthered the idea that extending unlimited trust even to his group comes with peril.
Warren has spent most of the day defending himself and in my opinion not very well. In each interview, when asked why Sen. McCain was in fact not in the sound proof room (cone of silence) for all of Sen.Obama's questioning period, he gave answers which were purposefully evasive.
He quickly, and with Warren style charm redirected the questioners by saying these were bogus charges because the secret service was with McCain in the motorcade and when he did arrive he entered a sound proof room, with Saddleback security staff present.
Then he incredulously discounted an examples of a rumor about a monitor in the green room by saying it was disconnected two days earlier by his staff. These are clever responses that in my opinion are crafted. They dodge the issues and redirect the conversation in a hospitable direction. These are classic examples of verbal dances that are designed to make petty the accusation and simultaneously damage the credibility of the accusers.
Then he worked to place the idea that if anything, Sen.Obama had the advantage because by McCain being late Obama received a tip off on a question about relief for orphans he had planned to give both of them. This attempt appears to try to compensate which only continues to incite suspicion. It's also like not having to cook tonight because your house just burned down.
When asked if McCain could have heard anything in the car, Warren responded, not a chance because the secret service would have reported it, and in a beyond everything else manner, Warren places high value on McCain giving his word on the issue. Maybe civil but not a luxury one should blindly extend to a politician especially during an election.
I don't believe that much if anything was answered about the fundamental questions here and I know this because I still have them. Why was McCain late? Warren said that there was an agreement reached between all parties. Considering the event design, wasn't this an important part of the agreement? How late was McCain? Why would one believe that the secret service is responsible to monitor such things? With today's technology shouldn't it be acknowledged that McCain was at least able to receive improper information? Instead impropriety was simply represented as preposterous. I realize that the imagination can run wild here but the lack of rules creates suspicion about everything including the coin toss that determined who would go first. A smart caller asked the question on CNN's Larry King show and amazingly Warren answers that it was done a month ago with his staff without the candidates present. I realize that we are talking about a church here but I'm sorry, I don't like going for this ride without the assurance of a little proof.
With mixed feelings I expect Warren will escape further scrutiny because everyone seems to love this man and by all accounts he has done more for his fellow human beings than any thousand others. And it is hard for me to suspect that this was planned. But his answers were given like a politician instead of a pastor and if nothing else it exemplifies the importance of the separation of church and state.
The politics of the state is a contaminant that if allowed to seep into faith based organizations, will destroy them as it has in many other examples around the world. Unfortunately the same can hold true in the reverse. The founding fathers were well aware of this and took appropriate measures.
Warren says he believes in this separation but re-entwines the two with talk of individual world views that are part and parcel in the equation. It's like just wanting a little protectionism from world market capitalism. In simpler terms, it's flirting with disaster.
In my last post I spoke about the exact players in the McCain campaign staff who were front and center during this controversy. I think you know whether or not I believe this crew is capable of carrying out something this devious. But because of what appeared to be loose rules I can't know the truth and likely will never know it so I hold nothing against McCain for this.
But I do know that if Rev. Warren is going to continue to play a role in the election of my president he had better get his act together because this was harmful and an early sign of the hubris that has spelled doom for many of his kind before him.

McCain, A Campaign Reformer?

I've purposefully steered clear of politics for a while to clear my head before the final stretch. While the Democratic primary got a bit surly toward the end with it's Democrat style pillow fights, what's coming will make these skirmishes look like Haight/Ashbury before the summer of love.
The "Brittany/Paris" add gave a glimpse at where it's headed.
Whether or not you think a President McCain administration will be an extension of the Bush administration, we can be sure of one thing, the guys who are trying to put him there are from a Pedigree that stretches back to the Nixon Administration.
All you have to do is look at Senator McCains top people to realize that from the beginning of his campaign he has utilized the same kind of players that Republicans seeking the presidency have gone to since Donald Segretti was hired to conduct his "dirty tricks" campaign against Democrats in 1972. Segretti was convicted of distributing forged campaign literature and other types of "ratfucking" as he crudely referred to his duties.
Astonishingly in 2000 he served as co-chair of Senator McCain's presidential campaign in Orange County, California.
Guess who is commonly considered a protege of Segretti ? None other than Karl Rove.
McCain has shuffled the deck to assuage periodic rises in criticism but he continues to return to the tried and true dirty pool solutions to his political problems.
His latest addition and likely responsible for the Brittany/Paris add is Karl Rove protege Steve Schmidt. He was along for the ride with Rove as he ran President Bush's Re-election campaign in 2004. He was an exclusive member of the "Breakfast Club" as it was known.
He was also a White House strategist in charge of the U.S. Supreme Court nominations of Samuel Alito and John Roberts and worked on the Schwarzenegger campaign in 2004 and was a top aide to Vice President Cheney.
Then there is Charles R. Black Jr. who most recently and quite famously said that a terrorist attack would help his candidate, Senator McCain.
His relationship with Karl Rove started with a dust-up over leadership of the College Republicans way back in 1972. None other than RNC chairman George H.W. Bush had to step in and ruled in favor of Rove. Black also met the notorious Republican attack dog and Karl Rove associate Lee Atwater at that time and later hired him for the Reagan campaign. Black worked on the George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush campaigns as well.
Who is he? He's a lobbyist extraordinaire who's done work for a long list of unsavory clients including dictators and other regimes around the world. He has a reputation for being a tough guy as colleague Roger Ailes said, " Charlie's the kind of guy who if he came home and found somebody making out with his wife on a rainy day, he'd break his umbrella and ask him to leave, then have him killed a year later. Lee Atwater would blow the house up."
How he was able to stay on after McCains recent campaign lobbyist purge is a mystery but it highlights just how inadequate election rules really are.
His relationship with Ahmed Chalabi, a champion of the Iraq war, is laced with controversy. He received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the U.S for consulting with Chalabi. One can only wonder what that money bought.
Next there is Richard "Rick" Davis. Again a puzzle as to why McCain allows this super lobbyist to continue. Davis watched first hand in 2000 as his candidate, Senator McCain, was smeared by the the Bush Campaign in South Carolina. He knows the game well although seemingly less inclined to go dirty, which may explain the acquisition of Schmidt.
But his hands are are not much cleaner. Though it's said he is on leave from his lobbying firm and doesn't currently receive a salary, he has made plenty off his relationship with McCain and if he can put him in the White House he'll make plenty more.
Another recruit from the Bush Administration, Greg Jenkins, was recently sued by the ACLU for removing peaceful protesters from a McCain appearance in Denver, Colorado. Finally the lovely and talented Nicolle Wallace who also worked closely with Rove as President Bush's communication director and before that Jeb Bush's press secretary. Wallace can be summed up with her primary goal which is to be aggressive and drive the debate in the campaign. Unfortunately anything goes in that pursuit.
This is just a sample of the people who survived the shake-up of the McCain election staff. Imagine the conflict of interest for those who were let go.
The bottom line is that the McCain election crew is a who's who of lobbyists and operatives who thrive in a sham world where perception is reality and in the end having all to do with getting their hands on your tax dollars. They do it the only way humanly possible, without conscience.
It's an especially awkward duplicity when you consider Senator McCains projected image as an election reformer.

Some Thoughts On Hope

Slow but sure our paths wear deep. The more traveled the more appealing until new paths, we no longer seek. Narrow becomes the trough that shadows dim the way. Once aimless, those who follow trade tomorrow for today. Few step up to take a stance. Treasure brinks existence until courage breaks the trance.