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Notes on the Palin-Palin Debate
Here are some observations on last night’s debate that resonate with me. Time’s report card on Palin (both candidates got an overall “B”): By the standards of those Americans conditioned by the late night comics…
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Ya Gotta Bereave
For the second straight year the Mets are eliminated by the Marlins on the final day of the season, after leading the division late in September. I was hoping they would make the playoffs, but…
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Bailout Wisdom from Various Sources
Bill Whittle recently had a very painful medical mishap, which inspired him to refer to “the $700 billion kidney stone the economy is trying to pass.” He prescribes some therapeutic pain: Every decision we make…
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Playing Politics by Suspending Campaign? Of Course.
Is McCain’s call to suspend the campaign over the financial crisis an example of leadership? Is it a political ploy? Yes. Neo-neocon (I like her blog, but I LOVE her blog’s name) sums it up…
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Isn’t Marking to Market Supposed to be a Good Thing?
OK, I’m trying to get my head wrapped around this whole market meltdown thing. One of the things that has puzzled me is seeing complaints that some of the various bailouts have been triggered in…
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Some Perspective (or Maybe, Rose-Colored Glasses)
Today’s Wall Street Journal informs me that Wall Street as we knew it has ceased to exist. That bums me out. I used to make quite a decent living as a corporate gumby on Wall…
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Gay Republicans Make Their Peace With Palin
This article is a response to gay friends who have taken issue, quite civilly, with my support of John McCain for President. (Disclaimer: there is a comment on the article from someone named “Kirk,” who…
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Bullish on (Bank of) America
So Merrill Lynch, where I toiled for 12 years, faces the end of nearly a century as a private company. At least it’s not like Lehman, an even-older company that was forced into bankruptcy when…
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McCain Rides the Palin Tide, Part II
For the first time since I’ve been watching it, the electoral-vote.com map is showing a McCain victory, by the narrowest of margins. I put the EV map in my sidebar with the thought that it…
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McCain Rides the Palin Tide
For the first time since Obama effectively clinched the Democratic nomination in February, the pay-to-play Intrade prediction market is narrowly predicting a McCain victory.
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Never Forget
Some day soon I need to write more extensively about the name of this blog. It comes from something that English statesman Edmund Burke apparently did not actually say, so I’ve felt free to modernize…
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Palin Backlash Watch, Parts III & IV
From Tammy Bruce, former head of the Los Angeles chapter of NOW and “a registered Democrat her entire life until February”: In the shadow of the blatant and truly stunning sexism launched against the Hillary…
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Palin’s Key Appeal is Class, Not Gender
Lisa Schiffren makes the case that Palin is on the ticket not so much to appeal to women as to appeal to working-class, Reagan Democrats: If you were that autoworker or miner — even if…
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His & Her Candidates
My lovely wife, the self-taught Web Goddess, supports Obama (as does almost everybody we know in our blue-town/blue-state of Maplewood, New Jersey). I support McCain, primarily on the basis of the Iraq war issue. As…
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McCain: Nine-and-a-Half Extraordinary Minutes
I had an event to attend in New York City last night, so I didn’t watch McCain’s speech. On the brief drive home from the train, I heard snippets of it live on the radio,…
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So THAT’S Why He Picked Her – What a Speaker!
I take back everything I said or hinted or even thought about Sarah Palin being a drag on the ticket. She did several things she had to do in her speech tonight: She established that…
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Palin Backlash Watch, Part II
Palin’s working-mom street cred is going to appeal to some (certainly not all) women who would not be expected to share Palin’s political views — such as, a national correspondent for NBC’s Today show: Politics…
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Outperforming Her Resume
TNR offers an Alaskan perspective (hat tip: Neo-Neocon): What the Republicans missed about Sarah Palin then [just before she ousted a sitting Alaska governor in a primary]–and what the Democrats seem poised to miss now–is…
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McCain Strategist Describes the Vetting of Palin
I’m skeptical of the partisan contention that McCain did little or no vetting of Palin in advance of the announcement. Here’s an extended response from the McCain camp — according to an unidentified senior McCain…
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The Quayle Comparison
The second half of this 1988 NYT article explains how George H.W. Bush waited until the convention was already under way to announce Dan Quayle as his running mate. Consequently, the first part of the…