Candidate Clinton: Independent

Prediction, June 3, 2008:
Faced with the likelihood that Hillary will not be able to sway sifficient delegates over to her, driven by her all-consuming hunger to take the Oval Office she will choose to leave the Democratic ticket and take up the fight as an Independent, striking a pose as the Moderate candidate.

Regardless, McCain will win the election.

McClelland: Hero or Hack?

Scott McClelland's tell-all book, What Happened, according to its author, is an attempt to change Washington politics for the better. The argument goes that the partisan bickering and undercutting must stop so that we can return to the way our capital should be run, and hopefully this book will contribute, even in some small way, towards that end. Some conclusions must be drawn from this posturing:

1. In the author's estimations, it will be well worth all the massive damage inflicted on the still sitting war-time president, by his enemies around the world using this fresh ammunition against Bush and the administration, if in the end his book helps even just a little bit to reverse some of our political divisions.
2. The author would have us believe that it is merely coincidental that the book is released in the very midst of a pivotal national election campaign. A time in which the absolute last thing any engaged member desires is reconciliation with the other side...let alone any within the same side.
3. He would have us believe that the sliver-thin difference between his precise wordings, and the accusations they are easily turned into by the other side, are unfortunate misinterpretations.
4. The author believes our political divisions are unhealthy, and need to be repaired, and that such a goal can actually be achieved and measured.
5. The book focuses on poor-judgement decisions made by the president and his advisers, and that those mistakes need to be rehashed and analyzed so as to properly learn and avoid them next time.

One must conclude that Mr. McClelland is incredibly naive, or uncontrollably altruistic, or shamelessly greedy, or unfaithful to his allegiances, or possessed of inconceivably poor judgement himself, or incapable of seeing the danger of his Monday-morning observations. I must conclude, after seeing his explanations on live TV this evening, that he is all of these at once, and that his strongest justifications are in reality none at all. This book is a colossal case of bad judgement itself. Not only will it not lead to improved relations between the political factions, but it will actual contribute significantly in the opposite direction. The political damage will have been made, the book will be tossed aside, and the author will have been forgotten by both enemy and former friend. The very best we can additionaly hope for is that the publisher will find itself stuck with a warehouse of books that nobody wants to buy. To that end, I pledge my part.

Obama the Great Unifier?

Candidate Obama claims to be the one and only who will be able to re-unite our fractured country. Assuming for the moment that we're actually in need of a national reunion, where's the evidence of his ability to do this? Has he accomplished this even within his own fractured political party? No? Well, how about then just the disunity between himself and his sole Democrat opponent. No? Even when the two disagree about so little in the first place?! Odd.

Rather than serve as a unifier, has he not actually chosen to be a divider? Has he not chosen to fabricate or exaggerate distinctions with his opponent, for the hope of political advantage? What would make you think that he, or anyone, would not resort to this same tactic once ensconced in the Oval Office. where the demand for it may only be greater?

Great Unifier? Just more Madison Ave polish.

Barak Hussein Obama, U.S. President?

Though it's now 6+ years ago since 9/11, our nation is still recovering from that event, and perhaps the largest wound yet to heal is our suspicion of all things Muslim...even things Muslim-like. At this point, Barak Hussein Obama has a real shot at garnering the Democratic nomination for president, if not the Oval Office itself. Mr. Obama professes to be Christian, and I have no reason to doubt his claim, yet his Muslim-like name remains, and surely there will be some who prefer to doubt his affiliation.

So, what would happen if the U.S. were to elect as president, in these suspicious-of-all-things-Muslim times, a man who bears such a Muslim-like name? (If our suspicion doesn't make that an impossibility in the first place.) And let's say that he follows through with his promises to get us out of Iraq in the first days of his presidency. How would xenophobic ultra-cons deal with that? Might one of the more extreme among them decide that it's time to complete the image of Obama being the next JFK?

Or, what if in taking office Mr. Obama realizes that such a withdrawal really isn't the right thing to do after all? How would the Islamic world take to the idea of a "Muslim-like" guy being our new commander-in chief, and he's choosing to continue the war against their people rather than end it? Could that turn even more of them against us?

The rising cost of...TV

People might tell you how technology has simplified -and even reduced the cost of- living. While that might bear true in many instances, it surely isn't holding true for our TV lives. ...Not our lives on TV, but our lives with TV. Have you shopped for a TV lately?! For many years, TV set prices have been steadily falling, if not in actual ticket prices, then at least in terms of bang-for-the-buck. But now, any serious shopper is foregoing the tube-TV units and is choosing among the various LCD and Plasma flat-panel units, which tend to start at twice the price of an equivalent old-school set. And bigger units (i.e., 42"+) tend to be the more popular choices. And if you do the right thing, and hold out for a full-HD unit (i.e., 1080P), then you're looking at an $1800 pill, likely more. Now, since you went top-drawer on the set, you can't then just settle for the integral speakers that it comes with, and you surely can't waste your time watching broadcast signals on it. You've got to pony up for a worthy home entertainment system, including high-end speakers and an HD DVD player. But do you go with BlueRay, or HD? And of course your analog cable subscription won't do either. You'll need to upgrade to digital service, at greater monthly cost. Or perhaps even switch over to satellite. And don't forget costs that you might incur in getting rid of those perfectly functional analog sets you probably have, as nobody will likely be interested in taking those off your hands, given the analog-to-digital change-over that's coming in '09...just to further frustrate the situation. After all is said and done, you could easily be looking at a $3K investment for your new TV outfit...per room, with monthly fees higher than what you're dealing with now! Do any of your believe that these system costs will ever come down to the sub-$750 range. ...Fuhgetaboutit.

Hmm...giving it all up and going back to radio is looking pretty good. ...But then there's XM vs. Sirius subscriptions, and HD-Radio units. Arg!

Books!...yeah, books...good ol' cheap, paper-back books. That's the way to go!

Be thankful for Paper Tigers

Is anyone else out there frightened by the unlimited willingness on the part of the presidential candidates to take on any and every cause from the Oval Office? I can't believe the degree of power that these candidates, and their followers, expect to exert once taking the helm. Mitt agrees to address our nation's pet population. Richardson will replace all of our incandescent light bulbs. Obama will bring the entire nation together in one accord, on everything. Perhaps the most confused one is Hillary, who promises as President to implement things that only Congress has direct decision over; things which she has not been successful in achieving as a Senator. ??!

I can't help wonder if these people haven't gotten confused with the holiday season, thinking that they're actually running for the job of Santa Claus, rather than President! "And what would you like for Election Day, little Johnny? ...Well sure, I can give you that!!"

The only thing more frightening than what these people expect to do from the White House would be someone who actually did have that much consolidated power.

Putting Some Skin in the Game

News from the science desk tells us that some intrepid researchers have developed a method of converting average skins cells into stem cells, which then have the potential benefits that have been argued possible only with human embryo cells. ...This is HUGE, if it proves out.

Evaporate would the debate about destroying humans to harvest their stem cells. Poof!

But perhaps the best part about the news, aside from the potential life-saving possibilities, is the fact that this research was, in some part, motivated by the insistence of our president not to invest federal funds to provide more lines of human embryo stem-cells. In other words, researches had to work the contingencies. And they came up with a process that is actually more simple and accessible than the one the president denied them.

So will Bush ever get an iota of credit for sticking to his principles, which contributed to this most amazing work? Will outspoken critics like Micheal J. Fox thank the president for causing scientists to pursue other avenues, which led to this incredible new future? Don't bet your skin on it.