Post Palin Prognosis For Political Pop-Star Barack Obama

The presidential race, recently, seems to be all about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin -- but how long this period lasts depends in part on how Barack Obama confronts a phenomenon that can only be described as Obama-like. Image Credit: Associated Press

Post Palin Prognosis For Political Pop-Star Barack Obama

It’s only been a little over a week and a half since the announcement of the running mate for the Republican Party Presidential ticket and about one week since she was able to introduce herself to those who are engaged deeply in our democratic political process.

The impact this is having and the increase in enthusiasm it has generated in having an executive branch headed by Senator John McCain is completely unexpected. Crowds that greeted John McCain and Alaska Governor Sara Palin were almost ten times the size expected for each of the last four stump speech gatherings. The largest gathering was held in a hanger in Colorado Springs, Colorado with a crowd estimated at approaching 20,000 people (only 1,500 were scheduled to arrive).

For Republicans, who have felt that their agenda was going to be diluted by a “maverick” choice of a known friend of Mr. McCain’s were caught off guard when John picked a maverick and proven governmental reformist in Sarah.

While this pick and her acceptance is a good thing for Republicans, the swing in the polls can not be fully explained through one strong choice for Vice-President.

Barack Obama has a large and detailed part to play in the near 20 percentage point swing over the last couple of weeks in some key demographics. With just under sixty day left in a campaign season that has already lasted, well, for Democrats, almost eight years ... the Republicans may be on the verge of winning it all.

"We need to carry Colorado. We need to win!" he told a roaring crowd that spilled out of a hangar at the Colorado Jet Center, on the west side of the Colorado Springs Airport. /// The Colorado Springs Police Department declined to provide an estimate of the crowd size, but a campaign spokesman, Tom Kise, said 13,000 had gone through security checks. Image Credit: Rocky Mountain News

This excerpted and edited from Asia Times -

How Obama lost the election
By Spengler, Asia Times - Sep 3, 2008

DENVER - Senator Barack Obama's acceptance speech last week seemed vastly different from the stands of this city's Invesco Stadium than it did to the 40 million who saw it on television. Melancholy hung like thick smog over the reserved seats where I sat with Democratic Party staffers. The crowd, of course, cheered mechanically at the tag lines, flourished placards, and even rose for the obligatory wave around the stadium. But its mood was sour. The air carried the acrid smell of defeat, and the crowd took shallow breaths. Even the appearance of R&B great Stevie Wonder failed to get the blood pumping.

The speech itself dragged on for three-quarters of an hour. As David S Broder wrote in the Washington Post:

"[Obama's] recital of a long list of domestic promises could have been delivered by any Democratic nominee from Walter Mondale to John Kerry. There was no theme music to the speech and really no phrase or sentence that is likely to linger in the memory of any listener. The thing I never expected did in fact occur: Al Gore, the famously wooden former vice president, gave a more lively and convincing speech than Obama did."

On television, Obama's spectacle might have looked like The Ten Commandments, but inside the stadium it felt like Night of the Living Dead.
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The Democrats were watching the brightest and most articulate presidential candidate they have fielded since John F Kennedy snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And this was before John McCain, in a maneuver worthy of Admiral Chester Nimitz at the Battle of Midway, turned tables on the Democrats' strategy with the choice of Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.
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Obama will spend the rest of his life wondering why he rejected the obvious road to victory, that is, choosing Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential nominee.
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McCain's choice of vice presidential candidate made obvious after the fact what the party professionals felt in their fingertips at the stadium extravaganza yesterday: rejecting Clinton in favor of the colorless, unpopular, tangle-tongued Washington perennial Joe Biden was a statement of weakness. McCain's selection was a statement of strength. America's voters will forgive many things in a politician, including sexual misconduct, but they will not forgive weakness.

That is why McCain will win in November, and by a landslide, barring some unforeseen event. Obama is the most talented and persuasive politician of his generation, the intellectual superior of all his competitors, but a fatally insecure personality. American voters are not intellectual, but they are shrewd, like animals. They can smell insecurity, and the convention stank of it.
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Biden, who won 3% of the popular vote in the Democratic presidential primary in his home state of Delaware, and 1% or less in every other contest he entered, is ballot-box poison. Obama evidently chose him to assuage critics who point to his lack of foreign policy credentials. That was a deadly error, for by appearing to concede the critics' claim that he knows little about foreign policy, Obama raised questions about whether he is qualified to be president in the first place.
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Why didn't Obama choose Hillary? The most credible explanation came from veteran columnist Robert Novak May 10, who reports that Michelle Obama vetoed Hillary's candidacy. "The Democratic front-runner's wife did not comment on other rival candidates for the party's nomination, but she has been sniping at Clinton since last summer. According to Obama sources, those public utterances do not reveal the extent of her hostility," Novak wrote. If that is true, then Obama succumbed to the character weakness I described in a February 26 profile of (Obama's women reveal his secret). His peculiar dependency on an assertive and often rancorous spouse, I argued, made him vulnerable, and predicted that Obama "will destroy himself before he destroys the country".
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Given Obama's defensive, even wimpy selection of a running-mate, McCain's choice was obvious. He picked the available candidate most like himself: a maverick with impeccable reform credentials, a risk-seeking commercial fisherwoman and huntress married to a marathon snowmobile racer who carries a steelworkers union card. The Democratic order of battle was to tie McCain to the Bush administration and attack McCain by attacking Bush. With Palin on the ticket, McCain has re-emerged as the maverick he really is.
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The young Alaskan governor, to be sure, hasn't any business running for vice president of the United States with her thin resume. McCain and his people know this perfectly well, and that is precisely why they put her on the ticket. If Palin is unqualified to be vice president, all the less so is Obama qualified to be president.
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Obama, who styled himself an agent of change, took his image for granted, and attempted to ensure himself victory by doing the cautious thing. He is trapped in a losing position, and there is nothing he can do to get out of it.

Obama, in short, is long on brains and short on guts.
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Obama could have allied with the old guard, through an Obama-Clinton ticket, or he could have rejected the old guard by choosing the closest thing the Democrats had to a Sarah Palin. But fear paralyzed him, and he did neither.

In my February 26 profile, I called Obama "the political equivalent of a sociopath", without any derogatory intent.
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No country's politics depends more openly on friendships than America's, yet Obama has not a single real friend, for he rose so fast that all his acquaintances become rungs on the ladder of his ascent. One human relationship crowds the others out of his life, his marriage to Michelle, a strong, assertive and very angry woman.

If Novak's report is accurate, then Michelle's anger will have lost the election for Obama, as Achilles' anger nearly killed the Greek cause in the Trojan War. But the responsibility rests not with Michelle, but with Obama. Obama's failure of nerve at the cusp of his success is consistent with my profile of the candidate, in which I predicted that he would self-destruct. It's happening faster than I expected. As I wrote last February:

It is conceivable that Barack Obama, if elected, will destroy himself before he destroys the country. Hatred is a toxic diet even for someone with as strong a stomach as Obama ... Both Obama and the American public should be very careful of what they wish for. As the horrible example of Obama's father shows, there is nothing worse for an embittered outsider manipulating the system from within than to achieve his goals.

By all rights, the Democrats should win this election.

They will lose, I predict, because of the flawed character of their candidate.
Reference Here>>

This afternoon, Barack Obama gave a hint into his flawed character when he decided to obliquely refer to the Governor from the state of Alaska Sarah Palin at one of his increasingly, lightly attended hand-picked town hall style media events, as a pig.

Classy.

Obama - No Conflicts? … So, No Military … “that’s the ticket”

Barack Obama struggling to answer a question that was asked by a viewer (who wrote in) of ABC News, 'This Week' on the Sunday interview show (Ctrl-Click to launch video). Image Credit: ABC News website

Obama - No Conflicts? … So, No Military … “that’s the ticket”

The neat thing about listening to Barack Obama speak when he is off-prompter (where a speech is written out for him to read directly from an image projected on to a reflective glass surface), is that it is really easy to tell when he is unprepared to respond to a particular issue or question that is asked – just listen.

He, the junior Senator from Illinois, is usually very smooth in his speaking style – clear, succinct, and directly to the point – especially on subjects he is well versed on and/or he is reading from a Teleprompter. When Barack has to answer a question he hasn’t thought about … and has to come up with an answer that he thinks will “sell” his “everyman” image, he puts a lot of unnecessary I’s, and’s, and ah’s which usually NEVER make it into a transcript of the answer that he gives.

On the Sunday political interview program aired on ABC-TV, ‘This Week’ with George Stephanopoulos, a question came up that illustrates the point quite clearly. The answer is so labored that it almost causes one to think back on the comedy sketch routinely played by Jon Lovitz where he floats an obvious bogus answer to a question posed --- and then mutters to himself, “Ahhh, that’s the ticket!”

This found at ABC News -

Obama’s Full ‘This Week’ Interview
Presidential hopeful chats with George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview.
09/07/2008

Watch FULL Video Here>>
-01:25 from the end

George Stephanopoulos asks, “One of our viewers wrote in, you talk about “Service”, and asks - Brenda Gottfried Bryant - Murietta, Georgia, “Did you ever consider joining our armed services to protect and serve our country, and if not, why?”

“You know, I actually did,” Obama said. “I had to sign up for Selective Service when I graduated from high school. And I was growing up in Hawaii. And I had - (ah) - friends who, whose parents were in the military. There are a lot of Army, (ah) military bases there.

“And (ah) I actually always thought (ah) of the military as (ah) some ennobling (ah) and, and, you know, honorable option. But keep in mind that I (ah) graduated in 1979. (ah) The Vietnam War had come to an end. (ah) We weren't engaged (ah) in an active (ah) (ah) military conflict at that point. (ah) And so, it's not an option that I ever decided to pursue.”

Barack Obama continues to answer on talking points that he has previously thought about and he resumes a smoother delivery in his answer.

We, at MAXINE, wish we could get a dollar for every (ah) that Barack Obama utters on answers to questions that are genuinely out of the socialist/progressive character template that Obama holds.

Just on this last exchange alone, we would get enough money ($13.00) to catch a fish taco lunch at the local Islands café, and have enough left over for a couple of beers!

Add the unecessary "And's" that mostly begin the sentences ($5.00), and one could invite a friend.

Ahhhh, that's the ticket!

Obama's Ethereal Experience Vs. Palin's Reality Of Accomplishment

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Obama's Ethereal Experience Vs. Palin's Reality Of Accomplishment

This election cycle for President of the United States is really fun and is beginning to feel like a ride in a “Bumble Ball” (if riding in a Bumble Ball were possible).

Take the recent media reaction to Senator John McCain’s pick for Vice-President of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin – WOW.

All of the pundits on radio and television (especially cable news television) seem to be making arguments for or against the wisdom of any potential candidacy based upon past “Experience” while the real measure of anyone’s experience actually lies in the value of their “Accomplishment”.

Even Barack Obama doesn’t get it … when confronted with Sarah Palin’s years of experience in chief executive decision making office positions (on the city council as Mayor of a city and then as Governor of the State of Alaska) he sites as a comparison his function as the leader of the Barack Obama campaign for President of the United States.

This excerpted from CNN and the Anderson Cooper 360 show –

Anderson Cooper interviewed Barack Obama Monday
From CNN Political Producer Ed Hornick - September 1, 2008 - Posted: 07:10 PM ET

Barack Obama defended his experience in dealing with natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, and took a swipe at newly minted GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

In an interview on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 Monday night, Obama was asked about whether his experience in the U.S. Senate dealing with weather-related situations compares to Palin’s executive experience running the state of Alaska and as the small town mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.

(YouTube type video of AC360 interview of Barack Obama by Anderson Cooper - Ctrl-Click photo to launch)

“My understanding is that Gov. Palin’s town, Wassilla, has I think 50 employees. We've got 2500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe 12 million dollars a year – we have a budget of about three times that just for the month,” Obama responded.

Our ability to manage large systems and to execute I think has been made clear over the past couple of years and certainly in terms of the legislation I’ve passed in the past couple of years, post-Katrina.”
Reference Here>>

What is truly striking about the response and position that Barack Obama stakes out in his response to Anderson Cooper’s query is the depth of the ignorance that he has about the value of accomplishment in decision making a city manager and/or Mayor has in the lives of the people who actually live in a city or town … let alone a State – ANY State.

Banner graphic from the city of Wasilla website

Let’s examine for a minute the online Budget for 2005 published by and for the city of Wasilla, Alaska (Wasilla – for the Sarmatian god of the same name, see Wasilla (god)) – the city that Sarah Palin served for a period of two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, city council from 1992 to 1996, then won two terms as mayor of Wasilla from 1996 to 2002.

The city hall of Wasilla ... the one that pundit James Carville describes as looking like a "bait shop" in Louisiana. Image Credit: City of Wasilla website

It is not the amount of money that is managed, it is the 256 pages of description, on where the money comes from and how it is used to the betterment of the community this organization is formed to serve, that concerns itself with the issue of accomplishment.

So, where does the money come from and what community does the campaign for President of the United States does the Barack Obama for President organization serve?

Is there any infrastructure upon which people are able to fly an airplane, drive to the city for goods and services, get help in an accident, report a crime, prosecute a criminal, get married, get an education, and have the trash picked up long after decisions are made on how to use the municipalities collected tax money?

A political campaign organization asks for money to be donated so it can be spent on activities promoting the candidate, Barack Obama, himself.

The money is spent on cardboard signs, printed paper with gum/glue on the back so that the paper could be affixed to a car or telephone pole, video production services so that YouTube and Television ads can be made and promotional time can be bought to play them, leased jet airplanes so that the candidate and his staff can be flown anywhere/anytime foe events where the candidate can be heard and seen by people at a gathering … and more.

All of the investment of donated money and the effort it pays for is designed so that the candidate, Barack Obama, can put himself in a place where he can make decisions for the betterment of the community he wants to serve – a place he has never been before as a community organizer in Chicago, a senator in the state government of Illinois, and finally as the junior Senator for the state of Illinois in the United States Senate.

Sarah Palin has been in a place where her decisions resulted into accomplishment for the better part of 10 years in a city community environment and for the state community for two and a half years as she chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004 while also serving as Ethics Supervisor of the commission, and as the governor of Alaska, becoming the first woman and youngest person to hold the office.

Barack Obama really does not know what he doesn’t know and to prove this fact here are a couple of facts about the state of Alaska that Barack Obama would not and could not compare his political campaign to.

Alaska is a fairly large state economically, for example; the state ranks as #6 in Gross Domestic Product Per Capita on the list of all 50 states (behind Delaware, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and ahead of California in #7 – Illinois by comparison ranks #17)

This excerpted from Wikipedia (pretty easy to find) –

Shortly after becoming governor, Palin canceled a contract for the construction of an 11-mile (18 km) gravel road outside Juneau to a mine. This reversed a decision made in the closing days of the Murkowski administration.[70] She also followed through on a campaign promise to sell the Westwind II jet purchased (on a state government credit account, against the wishes of the Legislature) by the Murkowski administration for $2.7 million in 2005. In August 2007, the jet was sold on eBay for $2.1 million.[71]

In June 2007, Palin signed into law a $6.6 billion operating budget—the largest in Alaska's history.[72] At the same time, she used her veto power to make the second-largest cuts of the construction budget in state history. The $237 million in cuts represented over 300 local projects, and reduced the construction budget to nearly $1.6 billion.[73]

In 2007, the Alaska Creamery Board recommended closing Matanuska Maid Dairy, an unprofitable state-owned business. Palin objected, citing concern for dairy farmers and a recent infusion of $600,000 in state money. Palin subsequently replaced the entire membership of the Board of Agriculture and Conservation.[74] The new board reversed the decision to close the dairy. Later in 2007, the unprofitable business was put up for sale. No offers met the minimum bid of $3.35 million,[75][76] and the dairy was closed. In August 2008, the Anchorage plant was purchased for $1.5 million, the new minimum bid. The purchaser plans to convert it into heated storage units.[77]
Reference Here>>

So again, let’s look at the off-the-cuff comment and comparison by Barack Obama while he was interviewed by Anderson Cooper on CNN –

“My understanding is that Gov. Palin’s town, Wassilla, has I think 50 employees. We've got 2500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe 12 million dollars a year – we have a budget of about three times that just for the month,” Obama responded.

As Governor of Alaska for the last year, Sarah Palin ran the going concern that operated on an approved budget of 6.6 billion dollars, was the commander-and-chief Alaska’s National Guard, is aware on a daily basis the politics of Russia and Canada where the State of Alaska shares a border with both countries and the state and municipal government employ a total of 8,500 people to carry out the people’s business.

It is an insult to begin to compare the ethereal nature of experience to the reality of accomplishment an executive position in government begets.

What is even more odd is that the junior Senator from Illinois, who is running for the top executive governmental position in the United States, takes the time to compare himself in background and experience with the competitive choice for the back-up position for the same top executive governmental position.

I guess Sarah Palin said it best in her speech at the RNC Convention in St. Paul, MN when described what the job of a small town mayor was like --- "Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown.

And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities.

I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.

We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco."

The person at the top of the ticket choose right for the good of the country and with the choice of Sara Palin as his running mate, John McCain had this to say in his speech that closed the RNC Convention:

"Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming."

The Democrats are scared folks; they are scared that Barack Obama’s and Joe Biden's “experience” does not stack up to Senator John McCain’s and Governor Sarah Palin’s accomplishments and with good reason.

The New Soviet Russia - Five Principles!

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev lays out the five principles. Image Credit: Image Credit: Voices From Russia - Barbara-Marie Drezhlo (“Vara”)

The New Soviet Russia - Five Principles!

This new position of Russia shows its adherence to the SOVIET principals that made the governance of this country … as President Ronald Reagan put it – “The Evil Empire”.

What the new leadership is trying to do is to re-establish its dominance in the region, strengthen its strategic access to energy and build its military so that it can realize its agenda through force.

The beauty of the positioning is that it will be able to pursue its objectives without a cost of its standing in the world community.

The first evidence of this is its takeover of parts of the sovereign democratic nation of Georgia. (Soviet) Russia, in its pursuit of its new “Principles” has broken international agreements signed as recently as April 2008 and the rest of the free world seems powerless to do anything except issue harsh letters and proclamations.

This disturbing declaration from the Russian leadership and analysis excerpted from the BBC News Europe -

New Russian world order: the five principles
In the aftermath of the Georgian conflict, the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has laid down five principles that he says will guide Russian foreign policy.
By Paul Reynolds - World affairs correspondent BBC News website - 9-1-2008

Going back to the 19th Century?

The principles, with their references to "privileged interests" and the protection of Russian citizens, would probably seem rather obvious to Russian leaders of the 19th Century. They would seem rather mild to Stalin and his successors, who saw the Soviet Union extending communism across the globe.

In some ways, we are going back to the century before last, with a nationalistic Russia very much looking out for its own interests, but open to co-operation with the outside world on issues where it is willing to be flexible.

President Medvedev's principles do not, for example, necessarily exclude Russian agreement to continuing the strong diplomatic stance against Iran. And energy contracts are not necessarily threatened.

Above all, what they tell us is that the Georgia conflict was for Russia, in Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's words, a "long-cherished moment of truth", which has created a new "clarity".

Here are the principles, in the words which President Medvedev used in an interview with the three main Russian TV channels (translated by the BBC Monitoring Service).

1. International law

"Russia recognises the primacy of the basic principles of international law, which define relations between civilised nations. It is in the framework of these principles, of this concept of international law, that we will develop our relations with other states."

2. Multi-polar world

"The world should be multi-polar. Unipolarity is unacceptable, domination is impermissible. We cannot accept a world order in which all decisions are taken by one country, even such a serious and authoritative country as the United States of America. This kind of world is unstable and fraught with conflict."

3. No isolation

"Russia does not want confrontation with any country; Russia has no intention of isolating itself. We will develop, as far as possible, friendly relations both with Europe and with the United State of America, as well as with other countries of the world."

4. Protect citizens

"Our unquestionable priority is to protect the life and dignity of our citizens, wherever they are. We will also proceed from this in pursuing our foreign policy. We will also protect the interest of our business community abroad. And it should be clear to everyone that if someone makes aggressive forays, he will get a response."

5. Spheres of influence

"Russia, just like other countries in the world, has regions where it has its privileged interests. In these regions, there are countries with which we have traditionally had friendly cordial relations, historically special relations. We will work very attentively in these regions and develop these friendly relations with these states, with our close neighbours."

Asked if these "priority regions" were those that bordered on Russia he replied: "Certainly the regions bordering [on Russia], but not only them."

And he stated: "As regards the future, it depends not just on us. It also depends on our friends, our partners in the international community. They have a choice."

The implications

Those therefore are the stated principles. What implications do they have?

To take them in the order he presented them:

The primacy of International Law: This on the face of it sounds encouraging. But Russia signed up to Security Council resolution 1808 in April this year, which reaffirmed "the commitment of all Member States to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Georgia... " - and has since abandoned that position.

It argues that a Georgian attack on South Ossetia on 7/8 August invalidated its commitment and required that it defend its citizens there. But it perhaps cannot proclaim its faith in international law and at the same time take unilateral action.

This principle therefore has to be seen as rather vague.

The world is multi-polar: This means that Russia will not accept the primacy of the United States (or a combination of the US and its allies) in determining world policy. It will require that its own interests are taken into account.

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hinted at what this really means. "There is a feeling that Nato again needs frontline states to justify its existence," he said in a speech. He was putting down another marker against the extension of Nato membership to Ukraine and Georgia.

Russia does not seek confrontation: Again this sounds hopeful but it based on the requirement that Russia's needs are met first. If the world agrees to its demands, then it is happy to be friends. But if not... therein lies the warning.

Protecting its citizens: The key phrase here is "wherever they are". This was the basis on which Russia went to war in South Ossetia and it contains within it the potential for future interventions - over Crimea, for example, populated by a majority Russian-background population yet owned by Ukraine only since 1954. If Ukraine looked set to join Nato, would Russia claim the protection of its "citizens" there?

Privileged interests: In this principle President Medvedev was getting down to the heart of the matter. Russia is demanding its own spheres of influence, especially, but not only, over states on its borders. This has the potential for further conflict if those "interests" are ignored.
Reference Here>>

“Big Dog” McCain Picks "Husky" To Run On Republican Ticket

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin on June 2, 2007. Sara Palin's nickname in high school was "Sara Baracuda". Image Credit: Tricia Ward

“Big Dog” McCain Picks "Husky" To Run On Republican Ticket

Let’s review the headlines from Google this morning:

Russia: G7 Condemnation over Georgia Shows 'Bias'

Zimbabwe poll crisis talks resume

Oil Rises in New York as Gustav Threatens US Gulf Platforms

Thai protesters, police scuffle as turmoil escalates

Ready for the fight: Obama blasts McCain, details vision for change

Texas Leads US In Number Of Uninsured Residents

… and the Senior Senator from Arizona, John McCain, from the “Nutter Center” (no, we did not make this up) decides on a cynical and calculating choice for Vice-President a standing 18 month Governor from Alaska.

Sara Palin, a woman in her mid-forties with minimal international experience and name recognition and former Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, is a cynical pick in that, if one were going to pick the strongest replacement for himself - if he, John McCain were to die or become disabled in office … by all standards, in the Republican Party, that person would be Mitt Romney.

Although not due until May 18th, the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, gave birth to her fifth child today, Friday, April 18th, at 6:30 am. Trig Paxson Van Palin weighed in at 6 lbs, 2 oz when he was born at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. Trig is a Norse word meaning "true" and "brave victory." The name is in honor of his great uncle, a Bristol Bay fisherman, while the name Paxson comes from the well-known snowmobiling area in Alaska, which Sarah and husband Todd Palin love. Image Credit: People Magazine – Celebrity Babies Blog

The cynical case for Governor Sara Palin:

Well, she is a women – given the disrespect and pass-over by Barack Obama for Vice President Hillary Clinton, and her 18 million voters, received from the Democrat Party over these last couple of months McCain believes he could pick up conservative Democrat support.

Palin is for drilling and developing our access to oil – She served as Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

High approval ratings – In July 2007, Palin had an approval rating often in the 90s. A poll published by Hays Research on July 28, 2008 showed Palin's approval rating at 80%. /// Fred Barnes (Editor of The Weekly Standard) praised Palin as a "politician of eye-popping integrity" and referred to her rise as "a great (and rare) story of how adherence to principle—especially to transparency and accountability in government—can produce political success."

Palin is pro-life – This would be consistent with John McCain’s political record of supporting the rights of the unborn.

(Palin interview begins at 4:20)

This excerpted and edited from Wikipedia -

On August 29, 2008, Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends reported that Palin's family departed hastily from Anchorage, Alaska, aboard a Gulfstream jet that landed near Dayton, Ohio, site of McCain's planned vice presidential announcement. They cited the website Change&Experience.com, which also had correctly leaked travel details for Senator Joseph Biden to Springfield, Illinois, for Barack Obama's announcement. [62]. The report cited two men, a woman and two teenage boys, were seen departing the plane, in "the most secretive flight we have ever had" at this particular airport.

Palin has been rumored as a candidate for the vice-presidency with Republican presumptive nominee Senator John McCain in the 2008 election.[55][56] Due to her gender, youth, background in government reform, pro-life stance, fiscal and social conservatism, and an approval rating in Alaska generally in the range of 80 to 90 percent, Palin could become the second female vice-presidential nominee of a major party, following Geraldine Ferraro as Democratic nominee in 1984. Palin is supported by a community of online groups.[57][57][58][59][60][61]
Reference Here>>

On the face, this pick would appear to be cynical but could actually become a swing for the fences to counteract the celebrity of Barack Obama and lack of executive experience that the nominees for the Democrat Party actually has - THAT WOULD BE NONE.

Oh, and did anyone happen to notice that one of the issues that is always front and center to any Alaskn Politician - Russian Politics?!

Additional Reactions>>

It's Official - Obama Is The Democrat Party Candidate

Can you spell F-I-A-S-C-O (with Obama for President logo), I knew you could. Graphic Credit: Edmund Jenks (MAXINE) 2008

It's Official - Obama Is The Democrat Party Candidate

A month ago, Barack Obama held a 15 point lead in the national polls while he was the "presumptive nominee" for the Democrat Political Party to be their candidate for President of the United States.

This afternoon, with Barack Obama and running-mate Joseph Biden holding down a 2 point deficit (that is a 17 point downturn) in the national polls made history while they became the official nominees for the Democrat Political Party to be their candidates for President, and Vice-President of the United States.

Hillary Clinton put an end to the roll-call vote procedure by having the process move to make the junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, be made the nominee by Acclamation!

This from NowPublic -

Obama is NOMINATED! By Acclamation!
by politisite August 27, 2008 at 03:24 pm

Obama is NOMINATED! By Acclamation! Obama will accept publicly Thursday.

Video - Barack Obama Nominated by Acclamation

This is History, Many folks are being interviewed who suffered as people of color are in tears and never thought a moment like this would occur in their lifetime. An African-American has been nominated to a major Democratic party. I must note here that Cynthia McKinney, an African-American woman was nominated to the Green party earlier. 2008 will be remembered as a historical date in the history books.

Update: 5:30 pm ET - Hillary Clinton has just been put into nomination and seconded. They then went on to Nominate Barack Obama by using a Iraq War Veteran Republican Medic who said that he wants a President that will consult with his enemies.

Update: 5:35 pm ET - Ken Salazar of Colorado has risen to Second the motion to nominate Barack Obama for President, says that Bush has truned his back on America and McCain will do the same.

Update 5:39 pm ET - Congresswoman Rep. Wasserman-Schultz of FL seconds the second. Says not to believe McCains ads. He will continue the failed policies of Bush. She reminds delegates that McCain wants to overturn Row v. Wade and who voted against the Equal Pay for woman (note he votes against any bill that has earmarks)

Update 5:44 pm ET- US Rep. Artur Davis of Alabama seconds, the seconds, second tp place Obama nomination.

Update 5:48 pm ET - Pelosi: "We will now proceed to the roll call of the states." Roll call will continue untill they have a nominee.

Update 5:50 o ET Alabama - 48 Obama 5 Clinton

Alaska 3 Clinton 15 Obama

American Somoa - 9 votes Obama

Arizona - 40 Obama, 27 Clinton

Arkansas - 47 Obama

California- Passes

Colorado - 55 Obama, 15 Clinton

CT - 38 Obama, 21 Clinton

DE-23 votes Obama

Abroad 2/12 votes for Clinton, 8 1/2 Obama

Note: the reason that California passed is that it did not want Clinton to lead Obama at any time and thus they passed so that would not occur

DC - Wants equal representation, 33 Obama, 7 Clinton

FL - 136 Obama, Clinton 51, 1 abstain

Barack Obama has currently a total of 452.5 votes (Clinton has 131.5). A total of 2,210 are needed for the nomination.

GA- 18 Clinton, 82 Obama

GUAM 4 Obama, 3 Clinton

HI - 26 Obama, 1 Clinton

ID - 3 Clinton, 20 Obama

IL- Passes - probably to be the last to push Obama over the needed delegates

IN- 75 Obama, Clinton 6

IA - 48 Obama, 9 Clinton

KS - 6 Clinton, 34 Obama

KY- 24 Clinton, 36 Obama

LA- 43 Obama, 7 Clinton

ME- 24 Obama, 7 Clinton

Barack Obama has currently a total of 844.5 votes (Clinton has 216.5). A total of 2,210 are needed for the nomination.

MD- 94 Obama, 6 Clinton

MA- 52 Clinton, 65 Obama

MI- 27 Clinton, 125 Obama

MN - 8 Clinton, 78 Obama

MS- 8 Clinton, 33 Obama

MO- 6 Clinton, 82 Obama

Barack Obama has currently a total of 1,321.5 votes (Clinton has 323.5). A total of 2,210 are needed for the nomination

MT- 7 Clinton, 18 Obama

NB- 31 votes 3 Clinton 28

NV - 8 Clinton, 25 Obama

NH- 30 Obama

NJ-127 Obama

NM- Yelded to IL

IL- Yelded to NY

NY- Clinton is on the floor will motion to end the vote, there needs to be a second, and an I vote, Obama is nomintated! by Acclimation.

Obama has accepted the nomination and will give his acceptance speech Thursday.
Hillary really moved the audience to tears and cheers. She concluded this in such a classy manner. It appears that it will bring the party together as they concluded in a great way.

The first African American EVER nominated by a Major party.
Reference Here>>

This all happened on a day that news about the connection of Barack Obama to the American Terrorist William Ayers was beginning to come out.

This on a day when pictures of the stage that Barack Obama plans to make his acception speech tomorrow at Invesco Field in front of an estimated 70,000 people. The backdrop features a larger than life Greek Architecture Acropolis type of structure and it causes a pause to many who see it ... is it over the top?

"The Barapolis" - Obama Stage Setup At Invesco To Resemble An Ancient Greek Temple - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s big speech on Thursday night will be delivered from an elaborate columned stage resembling a miniature Greek temple. /// The stage, similar to structures used for rock concerts, has been set up at the 50-yard-line, the midpoint of Invesco Field, the stadium where the Denver Broncos’ National Football League team plays. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (MAXINE) 2008

Will this type of event have Obama and Biden connect with the middle America fly-over conservative Democrats or will this venue have the same effect as Barack Obama's trip to Europe which caused much of the decline of his popularity in the polls?

Here, at Mr. Obama's neighborhood in the Democrat Party ... Can you spell F-I-A-S-C-O?

... we knew you could!

Face Plant At The DNC In Denver

The podium stage of the Democratic National Convention at the Pepsi Center basketball arena in Denver. Image Credit: DNC

Face Plant At The DNC In Denver

The first night of the Democratic National Convention being held at the Pepsi Center in Denver, where the Democrat Party faithful gather to pick a candidate team and form an action platform to run on in the election of the leader of our nation come November, did little to put forward a clear message of what changes to our present situation they plan to pursue.

Very little substance on the current policies was discussed very little mention of the campaign they will be competing in against, and very little in the way of issues confronted or defined by those who took to the podium to address the gathered crowd.

What did happen was that several people who were not on the presidential ticket gained a bunch of facetime during a primetime broadcast moment. The biggest highlights of the evening came upon the appearances by Senator Ted Kennedy, who is suffering from and battling case of brain cancer, and Michelle Obama, who suffers from a perception of a series of speeches that left the impression that she did not like life in America.

Both appearances were successful in that they helped to pull at the emotions of the people who were in the hall and those viewing on broadcast television and the major cable news outlets.

Senator Edward Kennedy speaks at the Democratic National Convention on August 25, 2008. Image Credit: Jackson Solway

Senator Ted Kennedy at, 76, has been at every Democratic convention but two in the past 48 years, was introduced by his niece, Carolyn Kennedy Schlossberg who gave in her introduction a video tribute to the life and accomplishments of her uncle and brother to the late John F. Kennedy. The video tribute was well produced but it always puzzles us, here at MAXINE, why anything associated with Ted Kennedy always tend to feature backgrounds and scenes of water.

The Senator mentioned his work on healthcare and reviewed other legislative agendas he was involved in over his years while serving in the Senate … he reaffirmed his support of Barack Obama, but to be truthful, little was accomplished to affirm the specifics of the “Change” and “Hope” the Democrat Party appears to be putting forward as their campaign message. There was no message.

Michelle Obama, wife of the presumptive candidate of the Democrat Party for President of the United States also appeared at the podium and after her presentation, was later joined on stage with her two daughters and via video feed, Barack Obama himself. All very touching.

Barack Obama greets his family via on stage at the Democratic National Convention after Michelle Obama addressed delegates August 25, 2008. Image Credit: DemConvention

By all accounts, Barack’s wife gave an awfully good speech at the Democratic National Convention here Monday night. While Senator Obama can sometimes soar off into the clouds, Michelle tended to keep things down to earth. She still has some trouble convincing those who have listened to her speeches that she loves America as it is.

Michelle said, “Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about "The world as it is" and "The world as it should be." And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and settle for the world as it is — even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations.”

What values and aspirations are those? Are they the values put forth in the founding documents of our country, or are they values and aspirations of a different archtypes found elsewhere in the world?

Michelle went on, “But he reminded us that we know what our world should look like. We know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves — to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn't that the great American story?

It's the story of men and women gathered in churches and union halls, in town squares and high school gyms — people who stood up and marched and risked everything they had — refusing to settle, determined to mold our future into the shape of our ideals.”

To be truthful, they were fighting for American ideals laid out in the Constitution back then … but what are the ideals you (and Barack) wanting to mold America into now?

“And as I tuck that little girl and her little sister into bed at night, I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they — and your sons and daughters — will tell their own children about what we did together in this election.
----
How this time, in this great country — where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House — we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be.”
Reference Here>>

What ... an angry socialist paradise?

The first of four nights of the Democrat National Convention was a parade of faces in the review of a Cult-Of-Personality.

If the George Soros led wing of the Democrat Party were trying to frame the party platform, brush up and polish the political brand as one that we should vote for, they failed.

Basically, what the Democrat Party was able to pull off last night was a primetime “Face Plant!” ... and we all thought the Beijing Olympics were over.

America's Mountain High Marathon Hope - Ryan Hall

The Big Bear Grizzly front page declaring support to Ryan Hall in his pursuit of Olympic competition. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (MAXINE) 2008

America's Mountain High Marathon Hope - Ryan Hall

It was right there in the headline of the local paper here in Big Bear Lake – "Run Ryan Run To Beijing". The Grizzly, a paper published for those interested in the San Bernardino mountain village of Big Bear Lake, California, and the surrounding Big Bear Valley communities, was calling attention to the fact that Ryan Hall is going to be given a proper community send-off as America’s best hope running in the iconic event of the Olympics to be held in Beijing, China which begins with the opening ceremonies August 8, 2008.

There have been other residents who have blessed this mountain area with notoriety (cartoon voice artist, Mel Blanc, the acting and television couple of Shirley Jones and Marty Ingles, famed Olympic and professional boxer Oscar De La Hoya to mention a few) located about 100 miles East of downtown Los Angeles but none were born, raised and educated here.

Ryan Hall as he enters the area on the North Shore formally known as "Moon Camp". Image Credit: CBN 700 Club Video

Ryan's story is as simple as the environment in which he was raised – a place that, for Southern California, uniquely boasts four seasons.

At the age of fourteen, he thought to himself, "what a magnificent challenge it would be to run, without stopping, all of the way around Big Bear Lake". The lake is situated at about 6,800 feet of elevation in the San Bernardino National Forest and lays out roughly in an east-to-west fashion and measures seven miles long and about one mile wide at its widest point. The run around the lake is approximately 15 miles … a good challenge for anyone, especially a fourteen year old.

One might wonder how one moves himself from just musing about a decent running challenge to representing the United States in the iconic athletic event of the modern day Olympics.

The Faith of Olympic Runner Ryan Hall - CBN.com

This excerpted and edited from transcripts published by the 700 Club – Olympic Runner Ryan Hall (a 700 Club interview)

Ryan's been running since he was 14 years old. Time has taught him that seeking to please God is the ultimate goal.
By Will Dawson, The700 Club – July 29, 2008

Ryan Hall represents the United States in this year’s summer games in Beijing in the marathon event.

In the words of Ryan Hall:

Ryan says his desire to run comes from God. “God kind of grabbed my heart just one day when I was driving around this lake right here and he really just put it on my heart to run around it. It’s 15 miles around the lake and I was 14-years-old. It’s not something that most 14-year-olds try and do or have a desire to do. He really put it on my heart to give it a shot and it was that day that I decided I wanted to act on this vision that God had given me. That’s what hooked me and I’ve been running ever since.”

Athleticism runs in the Hall family. Ryan’s dad, Mickey, played minor league baseball and his younger brother, Chad, won the cross-country national championship his senior year in high school.

Ryan Hall training on the North Shore of Big Bear Lake with the solar Observatory in the background. Image Credit: CBN 700 Club Video

Ryan’s senior season proved successful as well, as he took home the California state track title in both the two-mile and 1600-meter events. While his performance earned him a scholarship at Stanford, Ryan says the Olympics was always his goal.

"Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to be an Olympian. What does it take to be an Olympian? I was dreaming about the Olympics. I was dreaming about competing against the best guys in the world. I was just a dreamer. I had big aspirations going into college.”
-----
Ryan’s run toward Olympic gold hasn’t always been paved with promise. While at Stanford, Ryan suffered leg injuries which hampered his performance. “I was really frustrated with the way running was going. My identity had kind of been caught up in my running. I remember I’d wake up in the morning and the first thing I’d think about was, ‘how’s my running going?’ I’d be like, ‘oh it’s not going well,’ and the rest of my day wouldn’t be very enjoyable
----
“I’m sitting there in church and the guy who is speaking calls me up, tells me to stand up and gives me this Bible verse. It comes from Psalms 20 and it says that He will give you the desires of your heart and that we will sing for joy about your victory and that we will wave our banners high. So he’s giving me this prophecy at the very worst moment in my running and my training. It’s hard to have the faith to believe that was actually going to happen.”

Ryan Hall returns to run at Stanford University. Image Credit: CBN 700 Club Video

Ryan returned to Stanford and competed well in his junior and senior seasons. This time, he focused on his relationship with God.
----
Three years later, in 2007, came Ryan’s crowning achievement. He set an American trials record at the New York City Olympic time trials. That made him the fastest American-born marathon runner in history. And yes, that qualified him for his first Olympic games.

Ryan Hall setting the record as the fastest American-born marathoner in history at the November 3, 2007 New York City Olympic time trials. Image Credit: CBN 700 Club Video

“What unfolded on November third at the Olympic trials blew my mind away. I just felt amazing during that race. I just felt like I was floating out there. The best way for me to describe it is when David danced before the Lord with all his might - unashamedly.

That’s kind of what I was doing out there. I was just praising God. It was a very special moment for me; one that I’ll always remember. More so because I know what God took me through to get me to that time.”
----
“I know that I can live without a gold medal, but at the same time it would be very exciting to win the gold medal and my goal is simply to praise God with every step I take. God says my grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in your weakness.”

“What I’ve experienced is that He gives me enough strength to get me through each and every race I’ve competed in and to get me through those tough moments when you’re hurting. One of my favorite verses comes from Proverbs. It says, ‘though a righteous man falls seven times he rises again.’

That describes my journey, just falling and getting back up. It’s a big part of marathon running. It’s a big part of our spiritual walk. It’s a big part of life - just learning to get back up.”
Reference Here>>

Tomorrow evening, August 4, Big Bear Lake (and the United States) gathers to give a send-off to Ryan Hall as he leaves to represent our country in the Beijing Olympics.

Ryan Hall London Marathon Workout - Big Bear Lake – Olympian

This excerpted from The Grizzly –

The Community Send-off is Monday, Aug. 4, at Big Bear Middle School. The event is a collaborative effort between The Lighthouse Project, Bear Valley Unified School District and the city of Big Bear Lake.

There is no charge to attend and provides everyone in the community the opportunity to cheer on Ryan as well as local students who have logged miles for the campaign. It will be a brief, upbeat and historic opportunity for the community to come together for such a great cause.

Born, raised, and educated "one mile closer to heaven's door" in Big Bear Lake, Ryan Hall looks to his inspiration as he sets a record time for any American-born citizen in the 26 miles of the iconic event of the Olympic movement - The Marathon. Image Credit: CBN 700 Club Video

Gates open at 4:30 p.m. and the event starts at 5:30 p.m. Parking at the facility is extremely limited, so MARTA has agreed to provide special trolley service to get people to and from the event easily. The trolley leaves from the Bartlett Parking Lot stop in the Village at 4 p.m. and drops riders at the middle school. The trolley then makes a stop near Vons at 4:20 p.m. and drops the riders back at the school. It will make the loop again at Bartlett and Vons, with the last pickup at Vons at 5 p.m.

The trolley makes all scheduled stops between the parking lots and middle school. The fare is $1 each way, seniors 60 and older ride for half price and children under 6 ride free. “We really hope the whole community will come out and enjoy this special event."
Reference Here>>

UPDATE - August 4, 2008:

Ryan Hall takes a second lap around the Minder Field track that surrounds the football field where the Big Bear Bears compete in the fall season. Ryan, in the middle of the frame, is being photographed by news crews while carrying an Olympic flag. Members of his family surround him while wearing blue shirts and red "Run, Ryan Run" ball caps. His wife, Sara, also in blue and no cap, is tracking along his side in the right of the frame. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (MAXINE) 2008

And the whole community did just that ... about 2,000 people showed up (a total of approximately 6,000 residents live in the Big Bear Valley) along with camera crews from some of the major broadcast media outlets in Los Angeles (KNBC 4 comes to mind), students from the local schools (today was the first day of the fall semester), citizens, and vacationeers from around Southern California.

One of the featured moments was when Ryan Hall's father, Mickey Hall led the gathering in a heartfelt prayer to ask for God's blessing for the travel to China and the events to come.

UPDATE - August 22, 2008:

The Bear in Beijing! KBHR's Rick Herrick will be bringing you live updates on the Summer Olympics from Beijing--so be sure to keep your radio tuned to KBHR 93.3 FM through the weekend. Image Credit: KBHR 93.3 FM

This notice found at the KBHR 93.3 FM website -

Ryan Hall Readies for Olympic Marathon; Community Viewing Party at the Convention Center on Saturday

We've received word from Ryan Hall, who says that training for the Olympic marathon in Beijing has been going really well. The 25-year-old runner reports his days since arriving have been filled with training, icing, stretching and therapy as he prepares for Sunday morning's marathon race which, again, airs in Big Bear on Saturday, with NBC television coverage on the Olympic marathon starting at 6:30pm.

Ryan and Sara Hall on their final lap of Minder Field before departing for Beijing, China for the Olympics. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (MAXINE) 2008

The community viewing party to cheer on our local Olympian takes place at the Big Bear Convention Center, and doors open at 2pm for the free event, which will also include children's activities, live entertainment, and food and drinks for purchase. All proceeds from this event on Saturday afternoon will benefit the Big Bear High School athletics department, so there's one more reason to join your friends and neighbors to cheer “run Ryan run!”

And while watching coverage of the Olympic marathon, be sure to look for the Run Ryan Run banners, including the million mile one that the Lighthouse Project presented to Hall during the August 4 community send-off, which has since been signed by members of our community and traveled to Beijing with Hall's parents Mickey and Susie.

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (MAXINE) 2008

UPDATE August 23, 2008:

What air problem? Marathon runners ready to go
By LISA DILLMAN Tribune Olympic Bureau - 6:44 PM CDT, August 22, 2008 BEIJING

Forget disturbing weather forecasts and pollution-index numbers.

That's so yesterday.

The choked, clogged air of Week 1 seemed like a distant memory on the eve of the men's Olympic marathon. Blue skies and sun have been the norm in the latter stages of the Olympic Games, and the forecast is for the low 70s when the race starts at 7:30 a.m. (Beijing time) at Tiananmen Square on Sunday.

The view from the hall window next to Phil Hersh's Beijing hotel room at 12:30 p.m. Aug. 23. Phil says, "Hot, very humid with a pale blue sky." Image Credit: Phil Hersh, Chicago Tribune / August 23, 2008
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Lel and his countryman Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya would be considered favorites based on their credentials, but the Olympic marathon is often wildly unpredictable.

Four years ago in Athens, Vanderlei de Lima of Brazil was leading about four miles from the finish when a protester, who was wearing a kilt and a beret, inexplicably attacked him and pushed him to the side of the course. Stefano Baldini of Italy ended up winning and Meb Keflezighi of the United States took the silver and the luckless de Lima the bronze.

The U.S. entrants are trials winner and first-time Olympian Ryan Hall, who grew up in Big Bear and trains at Mammoth Lakes, Brian Sell of Rochester Hills, Mich., and Dathan Ritzenhein of Rockford, Mich. Hall, whose personal best of 2:06.17 came this year in the London Marathon, arrived in China a couple of weeks early to get adjusted and detailed taking his first run in Beijing.

"I have never sweat so much in my entire life," Hall wrote in his own blog. "By the end of the 30-minute easy run I was dripping in sweat. I was glad that I was there 2 ½ weeks early to get used to the humidity.

"I had practiced in warm temperatures and over-dressed in practice, but there was nothing I could have done to totally prepare for this level of humidity besides getting over here early to make the adjustment."
Reference Here>>

Final UPDATE - Sunday, August 24, 2008:

Top Mettle: Ryan Hall Places 10th in His Olympic Marathon Debut!
Story By KBHR 93.3 FM

Next Stops: Spain, Chicago, Zambia With his family including wife Sara with him in China, Ryan Hall made his Olympic debut in the August 24 Olympic marathon in Beijing--while, back home in Big Bear, red hats and cheers of “Run Ryan Run!” filled the packed Convention Center for the community viewing party to watch 2001 Big Bear High School graduate Hall compete in only his fourth marathon ever.

Hall received much media coverage during the televised event, including a profile piece (which also featured dad and coach Mickey training with Ryan here in Big Bear), as the 25-year-old runner ran the 26.2 mile race, working his way up from 30something to 10 in a field of over 90 runners. Hall ultimately placed an impressive 10th at 2:12:33 in the Olympic marathon, just six minutes and a second behind gold medal winner Samuel Wansiru of Kenya, who set a new Olympic record with his time of 2:06:32.

So what's next for Hall, now that he has realized his personal dream of competing in the Olympics? Prior to leaving for Beijing, Hall said that he plans to accompany his wife to a running competition in Spain before the two attend the Chicago marathon, on behalf of Team World Vision, on October 12.

Though Ryan has said, “I really love my life and there's nothing I'd rather do than train hard and keep focused,” the Halls are planning an October visit to Zambia as well. There, they will participate in a community water project using proceeds from the Chicago marathon. Adds Hall, “Sara and I, our goal is to feed God's children.”

Empty Suit Embraces Gas Bag To Form Democrat Ticket!

CNN is reporting through a source which CNN says that they can not reveal that Joseph Biden was offered the Vice-President slot on the ticket by Barack Obama and that he, Biden accepted. Image Credit: Richards/Getty

Empty Suit Embraces Gas Bag To Form Democrat Ticket!

Was there ever a better Democrat Party marriage made in heaven?

What a ticket – Barack Obama who was against going into Iraq as a front on the war on terror when HE had nothing on the line (he had NO vote and no position of power on the issue) has picked as a Vice Presidential partner,

a longtime Senator (35 years) who argued and voted for our involvement in Iraq,

was in complete agreement with his Senator friend, John McCain, on pursuing a Surge strategy in order to put down the build up of al Qaida terrorist forces and former Baathists in Iraq,

and even stated that he would make a good VP choice for the presumptive Republican Party nominee for President, Senator John McCain if Senator McCain wanted to cross political parties for a dramatic choice to fill out the ticket!

That person is the very senior Senator from Delaware (near Pennsylvania) – Joe Biden.

So now we will all be treated to a doubling down of the Gaffe factor what with an inexperienced junior Senator from Illinois who should be saying less away from a teleprompter is teamed up with a speech plagiarizing (1988) egomaniac who should talk less when he is asked a question … Biden is the type of person who, when asked “what time is it?” is inclined to tell you how to build the watch, how he helped with some of the original watch makers on construct of their designs, how he made a suggestion on the type font used to form the numbers on the face of the watch, that there should be many types of watches like ones for a pocket, a broach, put a strap on one so that it can be worn on a wrist, make watches that would appeal to different genders, and call it a timepiece – all very helpful stuff. Joe Biden has NEVER held an executive, leadership position … he has always been a legislator.

Sound the gun, ring the bell, and let the alarm begin the Democrat race for President of the United States and let us hear how we can become citizens of the world out of the mouths of;

1.) an empty suit with little in the way of accomplishment at the top of the ticket and,

2.) a world champion policy wonk, gas bag at the bottom of the ticket.

Let the Gaffe war, begin.

The Audacity Of Liberal Defeatist Attitudes

By March or April 2008, the 6000 gold, silver and bronze medals for Beijing 2008 were ready. China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation in Shanghai, China, was the maker of the medals. /// The raw materials for creating the medals came from BHP’s mines in Chile and Australia. Escondida mine in Chile provides the copper concentrate which contains gold for the gold medals. Spence mining operation, also in Chile, supplies copper cathode which can turn into bronze medals. Cannington mine in Queensland, Australia, supplies silver and lead for crafting silver medals. Image Credit: beijingolympicsfan.com

The Audacity Of Liberal Defeatist Attitudes

In an op-ed piece written by New York Times columnist, Nicholas D. Kristof, we are treated to a world view of praise for the potential growth of China as a country that will own the successes found in the advancement of humanity for the 21st Century.

He sites as part of his arguments … the flexibility of this centralized, totalitarian rule which by its very nature, is inflexible.

Ask the people who traveled to Beijing to see the Olympics … who hold their faith and the book that helps to inform them of their faith in high regard, how flexible the Government of China is after the flexible Government of China stripped them of their Bibles.

He goes on to extol the virtues of a winning China in the Olympics and then lectures us Americans to “Get Used To It”!

The trouble Mr. Kristof has with his analogies and trek through the history of man and his societies is the recognition of the power of the very real flexibility of a government system based on human rights and personal freedom.

Further, he ignores the conservative and competitive spirit of Americans who never assume that they are in the game … any game, to play for Bronze, or Silver – we all play for Gold.

We, at MAXINE just love it when we are lectured by liberals to just accept a future world view that does not have the United States continuing to win … and win big.

"Tank man" blocks a column of tanks heading east on Beijing's Chang'an Boulevard (Avenue of Eternal Peace) near Tiananmen Square during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Image Credit: Jeff Widener - 1989 (The Associated Press)

This excerpted and edited from the New York Times -

China’s Rise Goes Beyond Gold Medals
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF - Published: August 20, 2008

China is on track to displace the United States as the winner of the most Olympic gold medals this year. Get used to it.

Today, it’s the athletic surge that dazzles us, but China will leave a similar outsize footprint in the arts, in business, in science, in education.

The world we are familiar with, dominated by America and Europe, is a historical anomaly. Until the 1400s, the largest economies in the world were China and India, and forecasters then might have assumed that they would be the ones to colonize the Americas — meaning that by all rights this newspaper should be printed in Chinese or perhaps Hindi.
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Now the world is reverting to its normal state — a powerful Asia — and we will have to adjust. Just as many Americans know their red wines and easily distinguish a Manet from a Monet, our children will become connoisseurs of pu-er tea and will know the difference between guanxi and Guangxi, the Qin and the Qing. When angry, they may even insult each other as “turtle’s eggs.”
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This transition to Chinese dominance will be a difficult process for the entire international community, made more so by China’s prickly nationalism. China still sees the world through the prism of guochi, or national humiliation, and among some young Chinese success sometimes seems to have produced not so much national self-confidence as cockiness.

China’s intelligence agencies are becoming more aggressive in targeting America, including corporate secrets, and the Chinese military is busily funding new efforts to poke holes in American military pre-eminence.
----
Mr. Bush should have spoken out more forcefully on behalf of human rights, including urging Beijing to stop shipping the weapons used for genocide in Darfur.

It’s a difficult balance to get right, but China’s determination to top the gold medal charts — bespeaks a larger desire for international respect and legitimacy. We can use that desire also to shame and coax better behavior out of China’s leaders.

When the Chinese government sentences two frail women in their late 70s to labor camp because they applied to hold a legal protest during the Olympics, as it just has, then that is an outrage to be addressed not by “silent diplomacy” but by pointing it out.
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On this visit, I dropped by the home of Bao Tong, a former senior Communist Party official who spent seven years in prison for challenging the hard-liners during the Tiananmen democracy movement. The guards who monitor him 24/7 let me through when I showed my Olympic press credentials.

Mr. Bao noted that Communist leaders used to actually believe in Communism; now they simply believe in Communist Party rule. He recalled that hard-liners used to fret about the danger of “peaceful evolution,” meaning a gradual shift to a Western-style political and economic system. “Now, in fact, what we have is peaceful evolution,” he noted.

That flexibility is one of China’s great strengths, and it’s one reason that the most important thing going on in the world today is the rise of China — in the Olympics and in almost every other facet of life.
Reference Here>>

It is funny how being able to show “guards who monitor him 24/7 let me through when I showed my Olympic press credentials” as being a sign of Communist flexibility when this Communist (Bao Tong) Mr. Kristof is visiting is still under guard (house arrest) in his own country for speaking out about the lack of freedom and the adoption of Western style democracy and human-rights since 1989!

The economic base of China may be shifting to one more closely based on Capitalism (this does not mean we'll be seeing a similar outsize footprint in the arts, in science, in education) but the Government is still a central-rule Communist government where basic human-rights do not exist ... where is the outsized argument/demand for this "flexibility"?

What does this have to do with a possible second term of the Carter Administration? Barack Obama believes that China has a "vastly superior" infrastructure than does the United States.