Remembering 30

30 years ago tonight I spent a quiet evening in a very quiet apartment waiting for the first day of my career. Symmetrically, tonight was kind of nice to spend a couple of hours with customers at the main site and then a dinner at a nice restaurant downtown with a General Manager whose 2nd line is the CEO and a group of higher level folks from the local site. It had nothing to do with my 30th anniversary, but the GM assured me that it would be impossible to get the paperwork through to get rid of me before tomorrow, so it looks like I make it.

The location of the apartment that I was in then is now under the massive city government center, and one of the "slum lords" that owned that apartment was a state senator here in MN for a number of years. A month after I moved in there was a devastating flood that destroyed a lot of the neighborhood around the apartment, but the building I was in survived.

I suspect that the home that we live in now was being built right around the time that I came to town, but the area between here and the plant was pretty much undeveloped. Lots of growth, lots of success in that 30 year period. Is it due to "change"? There is a bit of symmetry there as well in the world of the political. I didn't realize that I started work the day of the 10th (now 40th) anniversary of the Bobby Kennedy assassination. As I commented before, I can recall that news as an 11 year old, so I guess the 5th of June has some connections in my life.

Looks like I'll close up the night with some wine at the firepit with my wife, and then a lot of customer time tomorrow for the actual anniversary day.

BO "Commands" Respect

Power Line: Obama commands respect

The PL guys do a good enough job here that I have nothing to add. They pick up well the thread of just how impressive BO believes he really is. The "accomplishments" at the end of the piece are especially good--that horrible McCain, failing to recognize BO as having "served" on a level with McCain. When Kerry ran, we heard a lot from the MSM about how heroic he was and how anyone that didn't recognize that and honor it -- especially in contrast with that "draft dodging silver spoon fighter pilot W", was simply not patriotic. I have this strange feeling that military heroism may not be such an important qualification for President this time around with the MSM as it was with Kerry?

There is no task that can't be accomplished by just adding more government -- and to have any questions on that is just to be "mean spiritied".

Titanic Part of Thresher and Scorpion Search

Titanic Was Found During Secret Cold War Navy Mission

Interesting little tidbit. I got to see Bob Ballard talk at a business meeting a decade or so ago. Sounds like the subs went down from mechanical, not military causes and the reactors are having no significant impact at the bottom of the sea.

Minting Trillionaires?

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - BET founder to push for Clinton as Obama’s VP pick « - Blogs from CNN.com

BO will be able to bring this nation together. Once the discrimination is gone, a guy like Bob Johnson ought to be able to be a Trillionaire! ... er, I'm not sure. Aren't "the rich" bad? Oh, I guess that is just if they are Republicans-or maybe white? It gets hard to tell sometimes, but I'm sure that BO will explain it all to us.

The Last Lecture

This book, by a Computer Science PHD named Randy Pausch is a little less theoretical than a lot of the books I read. He is in his late 40's and in the process of dying of pancreatic cancer. He married late, so has three small children, the oldest of which is 6.

Thanks to the modern world, one can follow his odyssey here, due to the wonders of technology.

I'm not going to try to summarize the book, it is short, easy to read and worth it. The lecture itself is out linked off the site, those of you with higher speed connections can look at that as well-- I haven't yet, but I'm sure I will and it will be worth the time spent.

The inside front cover has his version of one of my favorite quotes; " We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand". I'm not a card player, but the logic of playing the hand you are dealt in life as well as you can rather than complaining endlessly of the poor quality of your hand and the unfairness of some other guys hand has always appealed to me.

Is pancreatic cancer to a guy that seems as nice as this one an extremely unfair hand? That sure is how it feels, BUT, the amount of time spent making that judgment is completely useless. It solves nothing, doesn't improve your life any (in fact, it no doubt makes it worse), and it certainly doesn't help Randy or his family any.

It turns out that the chemo has kept him alive for longer than what was expected. When he was diagnosed, it was 3-6 months of decent health. He is well beyond that now, but the tumors seem to be growing and spreading, so his reprieve seems to be coming to an end.

He has certainly packed a good deal into his life to date and knows enough to be thankful for the days so far and for each day he gets to have. That attitude will give one way more hope than any political candidate, and will greatly increase the odds that you will be able to deal positively with the changes that come your way.

Six Theses On Obama

Power Line: Six theses on Obama

Nice little snippet, very worth the read. I went off and read some of the links. One of the very core elements on BO is that supposedly he was "always right on Iraq". The interesting thing is that he wasn't in the Senate when he took that position in 2002, and my guess is that he MAY be just smart enough to have made a great bet relative to his party. Since he didn't have access to the information that the other Democratic Senators had (all of the ones of which were thinking of running voted FOR the resolution), then it was the smartest of him to cast his lot against the war. If the war turned out to go better than predicted, he could always claim that "had he had the information that US Senators had, he would have made the right decision". If the war became unpopular (as it did), he would have a good card. Premeditated or not, that is how it turned out, and that is his strongest appeal to the Democrat left and the MSM.

A closer examination of BOs statements on Iraq will show that like nearly every other issue, he has been firmly on both sides of it at different times. He has supported more troops for victory in 2004-2005, and then completely rejected the idea and declared "adding more troops will not improve the situation" prior to Bush executing the surge that now clearly HAS improved the situation (at least for those that have a footing in objective reality).

The bottom line is that the creature that we see from the MSM and his campaign is basically mythical. It appears that the Democrats and the MSM are committed to seeing that myth in the oval office, this throw of the dice is certainly unprecedented in my lifetime, essentially, other than "way left", this guy has no history that would indicate even marginal ability to be President.

Bennett on Choosing of BO

The Corner on National Review Online

I find this to be WAY too complimentary of BO. Jimmy Carter may have proven to be a disaster, but he was the Governor of a decent sized US state prior to taking the Presidency. That is HUGELY more experience than BO has had. Even Slick was a Governor--and as Bennett wisely leaves him out, he RAN as a "new Democrat" and he was clear enough in at least his lies to make it clear that he imagined that to be "centrist". I'm afraid we will find that Carter cost us very little in comparison to BO. Pain is relative.

And thus the Democratic party is about to nominate a far left candidate
in the tradition of George McGovern, albeit without McGovern’s military
and political record. The Democratic party is about to nominate a
far-left candidate in the tradition of Michael Dukakis, albeit
without Dukakis’s executive experience as governor. The Democratic
party is about to nominate a far left candidate in the tradition of
John Kerry, albeit without Kerry’s record of years of service in the
Senate. The Democratic party is about to nominate an unvetted candidate
in the tradition of Jimmy Carter, albeit without Jimmy Carter’s
religious integrity as he spoke about it in 1976. Questions about all
these attributes (from foreign policy expertise to executive experience
to senatorial experience to judgment about foreign leaders to the
instructors he has had in his cultural values) surround Barack Obama.
And the Democratic party has chosen him.

The Price of Talk, McCain vs BO on Iran

RealClearPolitics - Articles - McCain's Speech to AIPAC

The whole speech is worth reading, but this excerpt is especially revealing. BO is allowed by the MSM to utter any whim and their braying support follows immediately with no concern for the potential harm that could result. What harm could there be in talking? McCain has been around long enough, and even spent some time in prison camps himself with "patriots" like Jane Fonda "just talking" to know that while talk is often cheap, only the naive believe that it can't also be costly beyond measure.

What happens the moment after Tel Aviv is incinerated by an H-bomb? Does everyone negotiate some more? Naturally, all the talk by the Defeatocrats on Iraq hasn't done anything to encourage the folks we are fighting -- it is perfectly fine for leader of the Senate to state that "we have lost in Iraq" months before the surge forces even get there. Remember when it was CERTAIN that Iraq was in "civil war", and the situation was "hopeless"?

The Iranians have spent years working toward a nuclear program. And
the idea that they now seek nuclear weapons because we refuse to engage
in presidential-level talks is a serious misreading of history. In
reality, a series of administrations have tried to talk to Iran, and
none tried harder than the Clinton administration. In 1998, the
secretary of state made a public overture to the Iranians, laid out a
roadmap to normal relations, and for two years tried to engage. The
Clinton administration even lifted some sanctions, and Secretary
Albright apologized for American actions going back to the 1950s. But
even under President Khatami -- a man by all accounts less radical than
the current president -- Iran rejected these overtures.

Even so, we hear talk of a meeting with the Iranian leadership
offered up as if it were some sudden inspiration, a bold new idea that
somehow nobody has ever thought of before. Yet it's hard to see what
such a summit with President Ahmadinejad would actually gain, except an
earful of anti-Semitic rants, and a worldwide audience for a man who
denies one Holocaust and talks before frenzied crowds about starting
another. Such a spectacle would harm Iranian moderates and dissidents,
as the radicals and hardliners strengthen their position and suddenly
acquire the appearance of respectability.

What Democrats Admire

I got to listen to Terry Gross interview Scott McClellen on his "Bush Admin tell all". Terry thought it might be "impeachable" that the Bush administration was "really driven by the idea of democracy in the Mideast more than WMD, but they pushed WMD because that was more salable". Wow, the horror, an American President that believes in democracy. Good thing that is a rarity -- I'm sure BO won't fall into that trap.

I wonder why Scott "came clean"? It is interesting to note that there is an insider book by Doug Feith who was actually in almost all of the meetings leading up to Iraq. (War and Decision") that is 5th on the Amazon best seller list. The NYT won't review that one, and I've never heard NPR do any interviews with Feith, even though he is much more accomplished on many fronts and a lot more of a heavyweight than McClellen. I wonder what the difference is?

Oh, Feith's book is heavily noted with a lot of references to documents that at least could be checked out in the future -- McClellen's is "anecdotal". It is how "he sees things". One just can't "lie" about "how you see things" (unless you are Bush or Cheney).

If you want to be popular with Democrats and the MSM, show that you have no personal character and turn on a Republican. Don't worry what you say, it need not really have any semblance of truth. It will be taken as gospel, you will be a hero in the media, and called "courageous". You will be amply rewarded for your "courage". There will be no questions asked and you will be welcomed with open arms by the liberal elite with any past sins you may have forgotten.

Try the same thing against a Democrat? Point out that you were sexually harassed (Paula Jones, Monica, Kathleen Wiley, Juanita Broderick), or that you were there when supposed purple hearts were earned (Swift Boat Veterans for truth ... all 200+ of them), and you will be demonized from the first instant you open your lips. "Politically motivated", "liars", "must be paid off", "they asked for it", "loose women", etc.

Your past will be searched for any indication that you have ever done anything less than 100% in keeping with perfect character. If you have, your character will be duly assassinated and you will fall to the only sin that a liberal really recognizes, someone claiming to have some morals that is a "hypocrite". Even if you are blameless, you may well be still taken down in any way that can be created--the idea of a "liberal moral" is an oxymoron after all, "whatever gets the job done" will be the operative approach.

Is McClellen right, or is Feith? It may be hard to tell in the real world, but if we like to let the MSM make our decisions for us, it will be easy.

BO Quest for Power

So BO up and decided to leave the church that he has been a member of for obvious political purposes. Is there any limit to what one won't do for the prospect of political power? How can you dedicate your book to the minister that married you, baptized your kids, and then just throw him under the bus?

What kind of person is that? In his supposedly "great speech" that people were comparing with JFK and MLK, he said that "he could no more disassociate himself with Wright than he could his own Grandmother". He has now disassociated himself from Wright, does that mean that Granny would be fair bus bait as well?

So what WOULD the limits of poiliical expedience be for this guy? One thing, we shure don't need to wait for any books by disgruntled employees to see that there is apparently nothing that he would see as a bridge too far in his quest for power.

If BO is now admitting that his personal choice of pastor and church for 20 years was "wrong", what would that say about his basic judgment? He stated clearly that in his judgment the Surge in Iraq was not going to work -- the bulk of data since last fall would indicate that he was wrong on that front as well.

Is there ANY "there, there" with this guy? Certainly doesn't appear to be!

Horrible News for Democrats?

The Iraqi Upturn - washingtonpost.com

If the positive trends continue, proponents of withdrawing most U.S.
troops, such as Mr. Obama, might be able to responsibly carry out
further pullouts next year. Still, the likely Democratic nominee needs
a plan for Iraq based on sustaining an improving situation, rather than
abandoning a failed enterprise. That will mean tying withdrawals to the
evolution of the Iraqi army and government, rather than an arbitrary
timetable; Iraq's 2009 elections will be crucial. It also should mean
providing enough troops and air power to continue backing up Iraqi army
operations such as those in Basra and Sadr City. When Mr. Obama floated
his strategy for Iraq last year, the United States appeared doomed to
defeat. Now he needs a plan for success.

Only terrorists, the Democrats, or the MSM could dislike that kind of news! Since the Post is core MSM, even they must be starting to worry that the fiction of the "lost cause" will be impossible to carry on through the general election. Potentially BO needs to get over there and meet with some generals and troops to let them know that their condition is hopeless and they will lose? Maybe he could even stop in and chat with some of the opposition in Iraq and let them know that if they can just hold out a bit longer, he has promised to cut and run and insure that Iraq is a US defeat that makes it it clear we are powerless against Islamic terrorism? He has staked his brilliant foreign policy analysis on making sure that comes to pass and we have a lot of terrorist attacks going forward (and QUICKLY mind you)-- we MUST be "less safe than we were when Bush took office". Can't prove that without a bunch of attacks, and I'm sure that none could be too big or too soon to satisfy BO.

Wow, if this can be accomplished with the worst President the US has ever had in office, just IMAGINE how great things will be when we have the full majesty of BO in the oval office! No doubt the turn-around will be breathtaking!

MSM State Secret Mildly Exposed

Lifting the U.S. oil drilling ban seen doing little good - May. 30, 2008

Gee, if we are short of oil, maybe we ought to allow drilling? Weird idea huh? Naturally, only the idiot Republicans and evil oil executives would consider something like this-or building refineries for that matter. Thankfully, we have the clearer Democratic heads and the MSM making sure that we don't increase our oil production by 20% or more in a shortage market. Hey, some oil company might make more PROFITS, and we surely wouldn't want that. One has to read well down in the article to find the 20% improvement, and realize that DOESN'T include increased oil shale or coal to oil conversion-there are plenty of government agencies stopping those as well.


I guess it is good politics if you can pull it off. Oppose energy exploration, drilling, innovation (coal/oil shale), refineries, slap a bunch of regulations on for this that and the other thing to increase costs while lowering production and then "blame the oil companies and the Republicans". Works good if you own the MSM and the vast majority of the folks are bleating sheep.

BTW, the old "Demonize the Opposition and Big Business" was the FDR way to keep the country in depression for the 8 years of his first two terms until he was forced to work with business to build the war machine for WWII, without which, we would likely have been in a permanent depression with his policies.

BO Choice: One Name on Ballot

Obama played hardball in first Chicago campaign - CNN.com

I guess it is "change" not "choice" that BO has been peddling, so it is likely unfair of me to think that he would be in favor of having multiple candidates in an election. If one is really going to get to "unity", then having a single candidate is a great way to accomplish that, as BO effectively did in his first election.

Over Race?

Commentary: Race and Politics: Why Americans can't 'get over it' - CNN.com

Apparently, in the face of race, competence, experience, positions, character and all else are meaningless. There is no way that the American people could just decide that a guy that has never held a significant leadership position ought not be instantly promoted to President--unless they have problems with their hearts.

Sen. Barack Obama, in running for the presidency of the United States,
is challenging DeTocqueville's bleak assessment of the human heart. It
remains unclear whether the Illinois senator is on a hopeless mission,
or whether the American people will decide to make history by breaking
with it.

No Jack Kennedy

Power Line: Willliam Katz: Pay no attention to the facts

While one would hope that this is all obvious to the casual observer, I'm sure it is not. BO is no Jack Kennedy ... although McCain is just a little young to use that in a debate I suppose.