September 2008

This morning the Nashville Scene slanders Drew Johnson, head of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.  His crime is apparently being a successful conservative.

Johnson has lead the TCPR in a number of succussful investigations of various government scandals in TN.  You would think that a newspaper would appreciate this sort of digging around. You would be wrong. Apparently digging up government corruption is only newsworthy if the Nashville Scene can catch a conservative doing something wrong.  Or in Drew Johnson’s case, something right.

For the record, Johnson and the TCPR filed the ethics complaint that lead to a $120,000 fine against former Sen. Jerry Cooper.  This was a major factor in his resignation. Now we have a competitive race in the 14th district for the first time in decades.

For more details see Blue Collar Muse.

I don’t think we’re going to get out of this thing. I’m going to have to go out on faith.

On September 11, 2001 my wife, my 3 year old daugher and I were home enjoying the arrival of our new adopted son who was three weeks old at the time. Only a week before my wife had made the return flight home from Florida and my daughter and I had flown home the previous week.  Our biggest concern had been the normal summer turbulence over the deep south.

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Todd Beamer had a wife and children and a baby on the way. Thankfully, they were not with him on Flight 93 when it was hijacked by Muslim extremists. And thanks to the actions of Todd Beamer and others with him, there were a few less widows and orphans on that terrible day. Beamer and his associates discovered that day what all of us should understand.  That at any moment, we may be called upon to stand up and face down evil.

Thanks to Todd Beamer for answering the call. And may America always have such fine men and women to stand up for the innocent.

Just wow.

Last night Gov. Sarah Palin delivered an amazing acceptance speech at the RNC. Amazing because she was just thrust into the limelight a few days ago, has been beat up in the press, and has never given a speech in a crowded convention hall with the entire country watching.  Within a few minutes, she hit her stride, got the feel of the crowd and just nailed the entire speech. She made it look easy.

Palin introduced her family and her story. The plot line was simple. We are typical small-town Americans and we understand you.

The suprising part of the speech was the effectiveness with which she skewered Barack Obama. Palin killed him with humorous mockery as did Giuliani earlier.  It will be interesting to see if the Obama campaign responds to the provocation. I think that may be exactly what McCain wants.  Will Barack Obama feel forced to explain just what a “community organizer” actually does?

One thing is for sure. The party base is now united and excited. This morning, no one is talking about Barack Obama. It’s all Sarah, all the time.

Now that Gustav has had his shot at the Gulf Coast we can turn our attention back to politics and the Republican National Convention.  I was able to watch both Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman last night.

Fred did an excellent job as I expected he would.  He put in plain English some of the problems with the Democratic view that we can raise taxes on businesses and the rich without affecting everyone else.  “They are going to take water out of the bucket, but they are not going to take water out of your side of the bucket, they are only going to take water out of the other side of the bucket.”

The most powerful section of his presentation was his description of John McCain’s time as a POW.  My wife was shocked to hear in detail what McCain had suffered.  If you or someone you know is not familiar with McCain’s POW experience, please watch Fred’s speech on youtube.

I was travelling over the Labor Day holiday when the VP announcement broke.  I was very excited to hear that Sarah Palin was the pick.  I’ve been watching her for about six months.  I always thought she would be the best female choice, but I didn’t really think he would do it. This pick sucked all the attention away from Obama and to the McCain campaign.  I don’t have a lot to say about the situation with her daughter except that I have two young daughters and I hope I never find out what that’s like.   Blue Collar Muse has an excellent post on this topic.

I’m looking forward to the VP speech tonight. I’ll post some thoughts after it’s over.