Of Pledges And Pins

The question I have is not why the school suspended the kids for not standing during the Pledge of Allegiance. If they don’t want to stand, fine. Free speech and all that. (Although it is my personal opinion that kids, while in school, should not have the same free speech rights as adults. Unfortunately, the courts have ruled otherwise in this case so what can you do?)

No, the question I have is why the hell did their parents did not raise them to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s sad that they haven’t taught them to voluntarily show respect for the flag of a nation that secures and protects their right to free speech. Then again, when Barry Obama, the likely Democratic nominee and possible next President of these United States won’t even wear a flag pin why should they?

I bet they know there aren’t 57 states though.

Eight Things

1. Global Warming Could Stop Naturally In Ten Years - but don’t let that inconvenient news keep you from going green and starving a third-worlder.

2. I never had sexual relations with that Pastor.

3. Eight essential gadgets for the secret agent.

4. Ten worst job interview questions.

5. Facebook in real life. I’ve never tried it so I have no clue if this is funny or not. On the other hand, British accents always make things funny.

6. Today, (April 30th) is French No-Spank Day. Fortunately it was about spanking children, for the moment spanking brunette women on the bum is still allowed. Dodges a bullet there I tell ya.

7. “Youthful passion is really quite tedious.” Most of the tedious passion he is speaking about is the liberal kind, thank goodness.

8. Fort Bragg soldier receives Distinguished Service Cross - the second highest honor our nation offers its brave warriors. Another American hero mostly ignored by the liberal press.

PLUS ONE:

This blogger is very upset that a Macy’s buyer didn’t know what she meant when she asked about Macy’s “green policy.” I do find it amusing that the buyer didn’t know she meant environmental policies, but other than that I have the exact opposite reaction. I love that Macy’s isn’t concerned about green policy. In fact, while I have never shopped at Macy’s before, I am going to go out of my way to shop there from now on. Green policies are sometimes doing more bad than good. Yeah, yeah, I want to protect the environment (and do more than my share actually - if you only knew), but this type of obsession is not a good thing; obsessions rarely are.

Celebrating Spirit Through Shadow

Is it just me or do the upcoming Olympics seem to be coming off about as well as a Chinese fire drill?

My second question is - do you think the phrase “Chinese fire drill” is racist? Because I certainly don’t harbor any racist feelings towards the Chinese people either as individuals or as a whole and I don’t want my use of it here to be interpreted as such an attitude. It’s just a phrase that I heard and no doubt used a few times in my younger years and, because of this growing “chaotic exercise” that are the Olympics, China, and Tibet, it came to mind.

If ever there was a situation that begged the use of the phrase I suppose this would be it, is what I am saying.

But that explanation aside, I should make it very clear to everyone that I believe it is racist because it implies that the Chinese as a people are “confused, disorganized, or inferior” (as noted in the Wiki article), which, of course, is nonsense.

In fact, I would argue the opposite as would, well, everyone with any common sense really.

No, it’s the Chinese communist government that is confused, disorganized, and inferior and, it appears, incapable of carrying-off the Olympic games without no small amount of embarrassing controversy, not to mention the violent repression of human rights.

Which is too bad. Both because it overshadows the spirit of the Olympics and the spirit of the people of China.

Both of which should be celebrated.

Here’s hoping they can pull it off.

UPDATE:

I don’t think the USA should boycott the Olympics. I think back on the Miracle on Ice of the 1980 Olympics and the boycott that would have denied those young men, and our country, that tranforming event, and I would hate to see our athletes denied their opportunity to make history today. So, let’s go and let’s win.

Absolut Nonsense

Rest assured I absolutely will not be drinking Absolut vodka after seeing their Mexico ad campaigns. That’s no small loss to that company as loving wife and I do like our vodka.

Hopefully this will gain some momentum in the blogosphere and enough Americans will stop buying their vodka to make it sting a bit. I cannot imagine America is not a bigger vodka market than Mexico, land of tequila.

UPDATE:

I emailed Absolut Vodka to complain about the ad and got an email back saying that the email box was closed and no longer receiving email. Wonder why?

UPDATE:

Absolut posts a non-apology-apology on their website. Predictable. Screw em, I’m drinking Skyy, Stoli or Grey Goose from now on.

UDPATE:

Hi to the visitors from Sweden. If you are Absolut people, you really screwed-up. Sucks to be you today.

UPDATE:

This Absolut story has legs - long, tight, tanned, legs - just Google blogs and see. Of course Ace takes a look at it in the way only he can, and it’s from him I steal this great take on the Absolut ad.

As Ace paraphrases the Absolut(ly) lame apology excuse, “it reflects a Europe that many Russians feel would be more ideal.”

UPDATE:

Even more Absolut World parodies

Juicy Links

1. Like I’ve said before, global warming is still very much in dispute.

2. This appears to be more about the so-called housing crisis than anything else. What is disturbing to me is that Americans think it is government’s fault that people were stupid enough to buy more house than they could afford and that it is government’s responsibility to bail them out of their stupidity. Nonsense. Plus, what does “going in the wrong direction” mean exactly? Well, it means different things to different people. Had I been polled and asked that question I would have said yes because I think that our open-borders policy is the wrong direction. I think retreating from Iraq is the wrong direction. I think electing a Democrat as president is the wrong direction. So when you think about it, the question is meaningless as are the poll results.

3. Obama’s support softens. I’m not surprised. When people get to really know him they don’t like what they see as much. He’s still the nominee though. Because of his glamour and not his substance, of course. Mark my words, if elected he will have a Jimmy Carter presidency.

4. British Muslims would have killed thousands in major terrorist attack if not caught. The threat is real, folks.

5. Male rock fans vote Republican? So Led Zeppelin influenced me in more ways than I thought.

6. Sounds like a nice place to me. I do love Asian . . . food.

7. Star Trek, 60s Rock, and psychedelic drugs. Via Southern Appeal.

8. The hazards of cocktails in space. None made with Absolut vodka, of course.

9. Obama’s, and the Democrat’s, patriotism problem.

10. Have you seen Hillary’s second “phone call at 3:00 am” political ad? Well, here’s the transcript of how McCain would react to such a call.

The phone rings, waking President McCain. Groggily, he answers it. “Hello?”“Mr. President. There is a foreclosure crisis. We need action now.”

McCain looks at the clock. It’s 3 A.M. “Are you psychotic?”

“This is very important.”

“Who is doing business at his hour?”

“We can’t wait for a decision on what to do.”

“It’s 3 A.M.! What the hell can we do right now?!”

“We need to make a plan.”

“Are honestly telling me you didn’t find out there was a problem with foreclosures until right now?”

“Well… I found out earlier today. I forgot to tell you until now.”

“I will strangle you!”

“That won’t help the foreclosure crisis.”

“Do you have a family? I will murder your family and make you watch!”

“That seems a bit extreme.”

“It’s 3 A.M.! You do not wake me with crap like this at this hour!”

JOHN MCCAIN: Ready to answer the call appropriately at 3 AM.

That, my friends, is a man ready to be President.

Traditional American Values

Wow, this is great news.

WASHINGTON, March 30 (UPI) — Young Americans have a reverence for national institutions, traditions and family values, a U.S. survey indicates.

A survey of so-called “millennials” — those between 21 and 29 — revealed the group overwhelmingly said they support monogamy, marriage, the U.S. Constitution and the military, The Washington Times reported Sunday.

“We were completely surprised. There has been a faulty portrayal of millennials by the media — television, films, news, blogs, everything. These people are not the self-entitled, coddled slackers they’re made out to be. Misnomers and myths about them are all over the place,” said Ann Mack, who directed the survey and is the official “director of trend-spotting” at J. Walter Thompson, the nation’s largest advertising agency.

In addition to indicating 94 percent of millennials respect monogamy and parenthood and 84 percent revere marriage, the survey found 88 percent said they respect the U.S. Constitution, 84 percent respect the military and more than three-quarters believe in the “American dream.”

The survey of 1,250 adults was conducted online throughout January. No margin of error was reported.

No wonder anti-American, anti-military movies have done so poorly lately. The media, which includes Hollywood, is absolutely clueless about its audience.

Or doesn’t care. Even the article at the link in the preceding paragraph shows Hollywood trying to explain away the bad box office on anything but the fact that people do now want to see our military played as evil or incompetent or both.   They want to see them as winners, which, by the way, is what they are. 

So whatever the reason - willful ignorance, plain stupidity, or leftist agenda - Hollywood keeps making these losers and losing money in return.

Serves them right.

Fitna

A short film of some controversy and, as such, blogworthy.  Watch it and judge for yourself if it is true or false or somewhere in between.

YouTube has a habit of removing videos that offend Muslims (one they don’t seem to suffer from when videos that may offend Christians are posted), so here is a linkto LiveLeak if this one goes missing.

One caution.  The film shows disturbing and violent scenes.  But then, jihad is by its very nature disturbing and violent.

UPDATE:
According to this report, the film was pulled by LiveLeak due to death threats. I still see the one I posted above, but it’s not the full version.  To see the whole film go here.

Death threats? Intimidation? I guess the film was right after all.

This is the threat we face.  This is the fight we must fight.  Freedom or religious tyranny.  And I don’t mean that so-called Christian tyranny of TV preachers and Catholic League boycotts, or Bush pushing through the Patriot Act that the left likes to whine about.  I mean real tyranny.  The kind that involves mass murder of innocent people, the violent subjugation of women and gays, and the destruction of everything that is free in our culture. That is what radical Islam brings.  And if we don’t fight it now, we will be living under it in a not too distant future.

Bring Your Daughter To War Day

BTW, military people will find this amusing.  It’s the same kind of humor that homicide detectives, emergency room personnel, and so forth use to keep their spirits up. 

Hat-tip to Op For.

Well, Isn’t That Special

Then again, maybe Jesus didn’t die for our sins after all. At least that’s the impression that some publishers of church curriculum, decided to put in their preschool Easter Sunday School lessons.

The pastors at this church in Raleigh, North Carolina, were perplexed when they saw the Holy Week Sunday school lessons for preschoolers from “First Look,” the publisher of the one to five year-old Sunday school class materials. There wasn’t a mention of the resurrection of Jesus. Naturally, the pastors inquired about the oversight. It turns out it was no oversight. The letter sent from the publishing company is up on the Two Institutions blog website. I had to read it three times to make sure I wasn’t falling for a Lark News parody. It turns out this publisher has decided that the Gospel is too scary for preschoolers.“Easter is a special time in churches,” the letter from the publisher says. “It’s a time of celebration and thankfulness. But because of the graphic nature of the Easter story and the crucifixion specifically, we need to be careful as we choose what we tell preschoolers about Easter.”

So they offer up an alternative G-Rated ending to keep those wussy preschoolers from being traumatized by that whole nasty 39 lashes and Crucifixion deal. Evidently these kids are supposed to think Jesus eats a nice meal of Mac-n-Cheese with his friends and then settles in to watch a movie. 

“Well, isn’t that special,” as the Church Lady would say.

I was taught the life and death of Jesus from a very early age.  Virtually all Christian children are taught this from a very early age.  I wasn’t traumatized from learning about it.  I doubt any kids have ever been nor ever will be traumatized by it.  It is the basis of our faith. 

Leaving it out, even from preschoolers, especially from preschoolers, makes no sense at all.

If I were shopping for Sunday school curriculum I would be looking elsewhere.

Marines In Berkeley

A Daily Show video skewering the anti-war nut group, Code Pink, and its moronic and pathetic attacks on Marine recruiters in Berkeley. I can’t get it to embed, but it is absolutely hilarious.  Go see it, you will not be disappointed.

Best interchange between the disguised Marine Reservist/Daily Show Correspondent and a Code Pick dimwit who is spouting-off about their free speech rights:

Disguised Marine: “If only there was an organization that was sworn to protect free speech? ”  

Totally Clueless Code Pink Dimwit: “Wouldn’t that be great.”

Disguised Marine:  “That would be outstanding. Righttt?”

Ten Things

1. Welcome to the preview of a Democratic president and congress and say hello to higher taxes. But the money will be for the children, right?

2. Welcome to the world of the Pastor of Barack Hussein and Michelle Obama, a man who  is Obama’s acknowledged “spiritual mentor” for 20 years, married the couple, baptized their kids and who’s sermon titled “Audacity of Hope” was the inspiration for Obama’s book of the same name:

• “The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, God damn America, that’s in the Bible for killing innocent people,” he said in a 2003 sermon. “God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.”
• “We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye,” Rev. Wright said in a sermon on Sept. 16, 2001.
• “We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost,” he told his congregation.
• “We started the AIDS virus . . . We are only able to maintain our level of living by making sure that Third World people live in grinding poverty. . . .”

Nope, he’s not Obama, but you know darn well that people don’t belong to churches for decades unless they believe what the pastor and the rest of the congregation believes.  If they don’t, they leave for other churches. It’s science (not to get into a whole faith/science debate here).   And by the way.  He raised his kids in this church listening to this crap.  What kind of people do that?   How good is his raved-about judgement if he does that?  And to make things worse - he simply will not dump the guy.  He downplays it and says he doesn’t agree but then makes excuses for this racist while at the same time playing the race card on anyone who criticises him about anything.  This isn’t the way a man who is supposed to be a “race healer, not a race warrior” should act.

3. Speaking of science - sort of anyway - the founder of the Weather Channel is suing Al Gore for fraud over scam that is global warming.  Sweet.

4.  Anti-war reporting is helping Iraqi insurgents. Well, duhhh. This war has without a doubt been more difficult, costly, and lasted longer due to the main stream media’s concentration on bad news and anti-war rhetoric rather than good news (of which there has been plenty), pro-American stories, and tales of our many heroes over there. There are so many people here in America who should be ashamed for supporting out enemies this way.  Despite this bombardment of bad news, it appears that only 18 percent of Americans think we should withdraw immediately from Iraq. Wow. Americans really do prefer winning over losing.

5.  The Tennessee flying saucer house. I’ve seen it in person. It’s pretty cool.

6. Man celebrates his 100th birthday at Hooters. Viva Viagra!

7.  More Obama news. Seems he got $1,000,000 in earmarks for the Chicago hospital where his wife is Vice President of Community Affairs. At a sweet salary of $316,962 which is an increase from $121,910 just before her husband was elected to the Senate. Coincidence, I am sure.  I’m also sure they are she is worth every penny.

8.  And what about that Al Quaeda - Saddam connection?  You know the one that Democrats say never existed and Republicans say did, but have been hard-pressed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt?  Well, it looks like there was one after all.

Captured Iraqi documents have uncovered evidence that links the regime of Saddam Hussein to regional and global terrorism, including a variety of revolutionary, liberation, nationalist and Islamic terrorist organizations. While these documents do not reveal direct coordination and assistance between the Saddam regime and the al Qaeda network, they do indicate that Saddam was willing to use, albeit cautiously, operatives affiliated with al Qaeda as long as Saddam could have these terrorist-operatives monitored closely. Because Saddam’s security organizations and Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network operated with similar aims (at least in the short term), considerable overlap was inevitable when monitoring, contacting, financing, and training the same outside groups. This created both the appearance of and, in some way, a “de facto” link between the organizations. At times, these organizations would work together in pursuit of shared goals but still maintain their autonomy and independence because of innate caution and mutual distrust. Though the execution of Iraqi terror plots was not always successful, evidence shows that Saddam’s use of terrorist tactics and his support for terrorist groups remained strong up until the collapse of the regime.

There’s no “smoking gun” in this report, but as a criminal and counterintelligence investigator with 24 years experience I can tell you that most cases are made with circumstantial evidence not smoking guns. This is good stuff. There was a connection. Not that any Democrat is ever going to believe it, but there was a connection.

9. It keeps coming back to Obama. This time he voted against his own tax and spending bill. You know, the one he keeps campaigning on. Makes your head spin, I tell ya.

10.  I don’t care who she is, no way I would pay this unless I get to play with those hooters.  She would also have to promise not to talk all evening.

UPDATE:

To Number 2 above:  Obama has now called Wright’s statements “inflammatory and appalling” and adds:

“Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy,” he said in the statement. “I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.”

Took him long enough. And I suppose I should take him at his word, but to be truthful I don’t believe him at all. He had to do this after all the race-cards he had been throwing at Hillary or he wouldn’t be able to throw anymore. Still, politically it lets the MSM off the hook as they can now call the incident over and move on to other things. They hated covering it, the little they did, and this means they concentrate on Hillary and McCain again.

Plus, his statement isn’t all it seems to be. Okay, maybe they are over-analyzing it, but hey, it’s not like he’s the only candidate that has been subject to analyzing.  Then again, his distancing himself from Wright was predicted by the parties involved.

I’m Not Muslim. Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That!

Unless you were living in a cave over the past couple of decades, you will recognize this title as a take-off on the old Seinfeld episode where Jerry and George are mistakenly pegged as being gay by a reporter and their subsequent unsuccessful attempts to correct this misconception.  The back-story to that episode is that Seinfeld and his writers wanted to do a show on this subject, but couldn’t think of a way to do it without being seen as anti-gay.  That is until they added in the famous catch-phrase, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”  It worked – making the denial both harmless and funny – and resulting in one of the most memorable Seinfeld episodes.

So with that in mind it seems the perfect way to discuss Obama’s “Muslim” issue. It’s been floating around for some time now. You know. That rumor that he is secretly a Muslim. Or was a Muslim at some time in his life. Buzzing around like an annoying gnat along with other small gnats in the form of photos of him in ethnic Somali – read Muslim – garb, his controversial middle name of Hussein, and slightly larger gnats in the form of his support from the racist Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and Obama’s own minister who allegedly holds similar beliefs as Farrakhan.

So these gnats keep floating around him, none particularly important by itself, but as they grow in number becoming a constant distraction that could keep him from talking about the important things like his specific policies and plans for America.

Oh yes, he doesn’t really have any of those.

But I digress.

And it is a problem, make no mistake.

Now, I don’t believe Obama was officially a Muslim at any time in his life.  And I don’t believe he is one now.  Not that there would be anything wrong with that if he was.

But what I find interesting is why he feels he has to deny it at all if there is nothing wrong with being Muslim. If America and the rest of the western world has nothing to fear from Islam, then why does he or anyone else feel the need to deny that belief at all.  Now, I know the answer to that question. You do as well. We are not at war with Islam of course, but we are definately at war with an extremely large violent subset of that religion.  Radical Islam.  Islamic Fascism. Whatever you want to call it. 

And because we are at war with these people, Obama, a man with a strong personal connection to that religion whether he acknowledges it or not, has some special baggage he must deal with, if not in quest for the Democratic nomination, certainly in the general election.

Now, his likely opponent in that election, John McCain, is not going to bring up this baggage.  In fact, McCain has already taken the high-road on one recent incident of the “politics of personal destruction” and kudos to him for doing so.  But it’s going to brought up by someone.  McCain can only control himself and his own campaign, not all the people who want Obama to lose and who see this as a weakness to be taken advantage of.

So Obama has to figure out a way to fight this avenue of attack while at the same time not becoming obsessed with it.

Tricky, but doable.  If the gnats down grow in number, that is.

As an aside, have you noticed the high-road that McCain and the vast majority of Republicans are taking concerning this issue.  It’s admirable, and no doubt a sincere attempt by an honorable man, McCain, to keep the election about issues and not gnats.  

Now, I mentioned in just a paragraph or so earlier that McCain was taking the high-road over this Muslim stuff.  As well he should.  But while I was writing this I noticed over at Althouse they are discussing the connection between McCain and John Hagee, a nutty Catholic-hating Christian minister.  The thrust of the conversation is that McCain should be ashamed for accepting the endorsement of this bigot, especially in light of how Obama rejected the support of another bigot, Louis Farrakhan. 

It’s hard to argue with that really.  What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and if it’s wrong for Obama to accept the support of nuts like Farrakhan, then it is certainly wrong for McCain to do the same with nuts like Hagee.  

The difference, politically anyway, is Hagee is little known and Farrakhan is pretty much a national brand for radical racist Islam here in the USA.  One is bigger news than the other.

What’s more important though is that this connection is being discussed. And if you read the comments, those on the left are making a big deal out of it, saying it shows McCain is a bigot, too.

So does that mean the gloves are off now?  If the left can slam McCain for accepting the endorsement of an anti-Catholic protestant minister can the right slam Obama for his so-so rejection of Farrakhan?  Can we point out his own minister’s radical views? 

Without being called bigots, that is.

The ruling on that PC question is still out. 

UPDATE:

Great Washington Post article about Obama’s opponents having to walk on eggshells because of his race. Yep, the ruling is still out alright.

But I Thought The Burka Took Care Of That

Harvard boots male students out of the gym to keep them from ogling Muslim women.

Harvard University has moved to make Muslim women more comfortable in the gym by instituting women-only access times six hours a week to accommodate religious customs that make it difficult for some students to work out in the presence of men.Men have not been allowed to enter the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center during certain times since Jan. 28, after members of the Harvard Islamic Society and the Harvard Women’s Center petitioned the university for a more comfortable environment for women.

Harvard Islamic Society’s Islamic Knowledge Committee officer Ola Aljawhary, a junior, said the women-only hours are being tested on a trial basis. The special gym hours will be analyzed over Spring Break to determine if they will continue, she said. Aljawhary said that she does not believe that the women-only gym hours discriminate against men. “These hours are necessary because there is a segment of the Harvard female population that is not found in gyms not because they don’t want to work out, but because for them working out in a co-ed gym is uncomfortable, awkward or problematic in some way,” she said.

Though the policy was in part initiated by the school’s Islamic group, Aljawhary said women-only hours are not a case of “minority rights trumping majority preference” and said women of different faiths have showed interest in the hours.

“We live together in one community, it only makes sense for everyone to compromise slightly in order for everyone to live happily,” she said. “This matter is simple: Can’t we just display basic decency and show tolerance and inclusion for people not a part of the mainstream majority?”

If this were a Christian group asking for special rights feminists and the rest of the left would be all over this. In fact, Harvard would never had even listened to the group much less institute such a discriminatory policy.

But, hey, this is the Religion of Peace so all bets are off.

Seriously, if Harvard men let this stand they have bigger vaginas than any woman alive.

It Left Me Hungry

I found this blog called Stuff White People Like. It’s one of WordPress’ most popular blogs and with over a million hits in only two months I can see why.

I think it supposed to be funny, but nothing in it really made me do more than crack a very, very small smile.

And it’s not funny because it’s not very accurate, since most of the things that white people are supposed to like I don’t even remotely enjoy, like Indie music, Sara Silverman, public radio, plays, wine, hating my parents, or sushi.  And if these things that white people allegedly like dont apply to all, or most anyway, white people then where’s the stereotype to laugh at?

It’s also not at all edgy.  There’s no bite to it.  It’s like drinking a vanilla malt without even the malt.

Really though, I think what these people should have called this is “What White Liberal Guilt-Ridden New York Yuppies Like” because that seems to be who they are describing.  

No doubt the writers fall squarely within that dynamic so they know them every well, although I suppose they might have a token minority in their little group because they are, of course, guilt-ridden New York yuppies who need that kind of thing to make them feel, well, less guilt-ridden.

I did a Google and found some people who say it is racist and I guess they have a point.  While it doesn’t bother me one iota, one does have to wonder how the blog would be received if it were titled “Stuff Black People Like.”

Not that such a site would be original.  There are plenty of racist sites that do crap already.

But at least it would have been more provoking than the white bread served-up by these guys.

BTW, just in case my little blog gets reviewed in response to this post, eh, I know it sucks.  But I do like Southern fried chicken so I got that going for me as a white guy.

Election Rambling

Well, after these latest primaries it seems obvious to me that it will be Obama versus McCain.  Hillary could still be a spoiler, but with every loss that becomes less and less a possibility.   Still a possibility though so don’t count her nasty, evil ass out.  The woman will do whatever it takes to win, make no mistake about it.

McCain is the guy.  Huckabee is just hanging in because he is stubborn. 

So where does that leave us.  Well, in a head to head match-up, without a VP nominee, I would give the advantage slightly to Obama, but only slightly.

McCain will get the conservatives. Yeah, yeah they will bitch and moan, but in the end they will pull the lever for him, especially since the option is one of the most liberal senators ever, and one who is woefully unqualified for the job to boot.  And McCain would get plenty of independents because of his maverick status and some conservative Democrats both because of Obama’s liberalism/inexperience and some reluctance to vote for a black man.

Yep, that is what I said.  Some - I don’t know how many - will be reluctant to vote for a black man.  Especially a very liberal black man.  And if they have McCain as the alternative, who has a ton of experience, is a war hero, and who is again the maverick, then I see them voting for him, not Obama.

So in a head to head, while I would give the slight advantage to Obama simply because of his “inspiration” factor, since he has nothing else, I would say McCain could still win, and maybe win big, if he is successful in pointing out that Obama is nothing but inspiration.

Obama’s policies - weak on defense, ignorant on foreign policy, higher taxes, too liberal on domestic matters - can be successfully attacked by McCain, if he does it carefully.  And by careful I mean he has to do it without appearing to be picking on the black guy.

You think I am wrong or bad or politically incorrect by talking about him being black?

Puhlease, this election is about many things but one of them is definitely race.

Obama is black and that is one - one I said - of the reasons he is doing so well now in the Dem race.  But it is also one of the reasons he could do less-well in the general election. 

And if it happens, don’t blame it on racist conservatives.  Conservatives are not going to vote for Obama because he is a liberal.  No other reason is needed.  That is enough. 

No, if anyone votes against him because of his race it will be Democrats.  Bet on that.  But enough to make a difference?  Who knows.

Anyway, that would be in a head to head match-up.

You still have to consider their VP choices.  McCain has to pick a popular conservative to fill his ticket. Someone younger than him, but not so young as to look Dan Qualye-ish and not so conservative to scare off independents and conservative Democrats, while at the same time helping him with real conservatives.

Quite a trick, but doable.

Obama? I don’t think it will be Hillary.  Too much anger there and nothing in it really for her.  Or for him really.

So I have no clue who he could pick.  Not a woman I think.  Not another minority.  Some liberal white guy who has some experience. But how much?   Could he be older than Obama? I don’t think so.  That would be too Dick Cheney-ish.  (Yes, I used “ish” twice in this post - sue me.)

So I have no clue who it might be, but I do know his pick may be harder and mean more to his campaign than McCain’s.  It could win or lose it for him. 

I can’t wait to find out who it might be.

Anyway, to sum up.  I think it is Obama against McCain and if it were held today Obama could win by a slight margin.  Might win.

But after a few months of hammering him on his policies that should change. 

If, again, McCain can do it without picking on the black guy.

Not an easy thing to do since the Dems will say that is exactly what he is doing every moment of every day.

So it will be a challenge for McCain to beat the new Messiah.

Here’s hoping he can pull it off.

UPDATE:

Here’s an interesting take from a guy who actually knows politics unlike me.

No one can quite decide (the polls favor Obama) whether Clinton or Obama is the tougher opponent for McCain. Contrary to popular wisdom, I think Obama is the weaker candidate in the general election for a number of reasons: One, there is less chance that Hillary would accept the VP and unify the party (Obama just might accept a VP to get the requisite experience and stature for the next run);Two, so far his repertoire is limited to the brilliant set “change” speech and repartee in debates, but we have no idea how he will sound when asked for specifics in ex tempore occasions;

Three, his high-profile wife Michelle, being bright, educated, confident, but completely without experience in reacting to criticism or counter-argument, is a loose cannon, and so are some of his staunchest supporters (who wants a Moveon.org (”General Betray Us”) endorsement? or the support of his “black value system” church?);

Four, moderates and independents are surprised that the non-race candidate has been winning overwhelming block racial support. One might have expected Obama, in a race against the liberal wife of the first ‘black’ President to garner 50 percent or 60 percent of the African-American vote, but not 80 percent. That disparity might in itself prompt a like counter-reaction among whites, Latinos, and Asians that legitimizes voters taking into consideration race — as Hillary’s surrogate Gov. Rendell, in perfect Clintonian fashion, has just “suggested.”

He does talk about that “black” thing I mentioned, though, doesn’t he?