What To Do, What To Do- Part II

Its been about a week now since the exhilirating news hit that we're stuck with McCain, that is, we're between Iraq and a hard place. It was so sweet to think that payback was coming for all the times he poked his conservative brethen in the eye. Well, you can't always get what you wa-ant, can you Mick? Not only is McCain escaping payback, he's the new Prom King.

I've settled down somewhat from the last post, and while I don't think it's going to be a good day for conservatism anytime soon, I also don't think I'll be casting any votes for a Democrat either. Ann Coulter's calculus leads to a Reductio Ad Absurdum, and so I think we can safely reject the premise as flawed, that is, that it would be a good idea to hasten Armageddon by voting for Clinton or Obama. The thought of one of them throwing away what we've accomplished so far in both Iraq and Afghanistan is absolutely unbearable. I don't think Hilliary would do it as quickly as Obama. Did you see the pics of the Che Guevara flags hanging in Obama's Houston campaign office?

You might as well know that about me since you'll likely be considering me for President in 2020. I may be ideologically conservative, in fact I am slightly to the right of Fred Thompson, but I'm not doctrinaire. I've absorbed the initial impact of what was unthinkable not more than just a few weeks ago, that the Non-straight-talking, Non-conservative, backstabbing, Non-teamplayer McCain will be the nominee. We've taken the rotten apples life sometimes hands you and figured out how to make apple butter. We can do it again. It's still early in the fight, we've taken some body shots, but our knees are holding up and we still might win this on points.

I'm rambling, aren't I?

I had a point to make and its probably this. There will come a point when we can make some sense of all this and gain sufficient perspective to plot a new course. That time is probably months away. There will likely be a lot more that disorients us, but in the long run we'll emerge from the fog and figure out the way to go. We've got to keep trying to keep the forces of disintegration at bay. We've got to fight the good fight on the homefront so the men and women in uniform on the battlefront have someone back here they can be proud of.

Maybe that's not much of a point but its all I've got today. There's hardly any political figures opinion I value more than John Bolton's (he would be my Sec of State if I were the Pres today). Here's the surprising thing he had to say about McCain. Of all the endorsements I've heard so far, this is the one I'm the least cynical about:

"A McCain endorsement worth paying attention to -
Not all political endorsements are created equal. Over the weekend, John McCain received an endorsement that is more equal than most others. It came from John Bolton, former ambassador to the United Nations. Ambassador Bolton stated:

John McCain was very active and supportive during my confirmation hearings to be the U.S. Ambassador to the UN. His belief in me at that time was a testament to his courage to fight the liberals in the Senate and vigorously advance American interests at the UN.

I whole-heartedly endorse John McCain for President because when he takes office in January 2009 he will be prepared immediately to lead us. John will not need on the job training. American conservatives will have a President they can be proud of in John McCain.

Although Bolton's final statement can be debated, there's no doubt that McCain is vastly preferable to Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton on issues of national security, a subject that should be foremost in our thinking. McCain's strong support for Bolton during the latter's extremely contentious confirmation battle should remind conservatives that McCain is a conviction politician, with mostly sound convictions about how to defend this country, not someone out to score points with the liberal MSM. "

[The words between the quote marks are Paul Mirengoff's from Powerline. Bolton's are in italics.]

I regard that as high praise for McCain, indeed. Now I just need to make sense of it all.

Correction

I went to my source, a coffee-table book on The Masters, and found the guy's name. It was Bobby Cruickshank who bet $500 on Bobby Jones to win the Grand Slam of golf in 1930, which at that time consisted of the U.S. Open & Amateur and the British Open & Amateur. He won $60,000 (or so the story goes).

Its important I get this straight because now that Vox Veterana is linking to me, my readership will soon be vast. We certainly don't want to proliferate ignorance, do we?

What To Do, What To Do?

Kudos to Dr. Horsefeathers who called it back on Jan 4. That is, he said then that it would be McCain vs Obama in November. He's got half of the bifecta now. I hope he put some money on it. (Which reminds me of a guy, his name escapes me, who put $500 on Bobby Jones to win the grand slam and won $30,000. That was pretty serious money in 1930).

As I see it, there are 3 options for conservatives.

1) Do an instantaneous turnaround, ala Hugh Hewitt, and take your will captive to the idea that John McCain is actually a pretty great guy to carry the GOP banner in 2008.

2) Take the Michelle Malkin middle ground, which is actually more "grown up" than those in the first option, in my opinion, and work your butt off to support all the true conservatives in the GOP that are still struggling to find a place in our body politic. Her view is that things often happen quickly in politics (e.g. Obama was a nobody in the Illinois state legislature just 4 years ago) and the best thing we can do is find and promote as quickly as possible the next generation of conservative Republicans. I don't know that she says this, but I assume tacit in this position is to cast a vote for McCain in the fall.

3) Then there's Ann.

I love Ann. I never read her without thinking she is far and away, the sharpest knife in the political drawer. Here's what she says-

If Hillary is elected president, we'll have a four-year disaster, with Republicans ferociously opposing her, followed by Republicans zooming back into power, as we did in 1980 and 1994, and 2000. (I also predict more Oval Office incidents with female interns.)

If McCain is elected president, we'll have a four-year disaster, with the Republicans in Congress co-opted by "our" president, followed by 30 years of Democratic rule.

There's your choice, America.

COPYRIGHT 2008 ANN COULTER

So, what do I propose?

It seems to me that McCain is not the problem. Nor is Huckabee. The problem is how far the people that have voted for them have fallen, in terms of their political intelligence. How do we account for this?

Since the GOP doesn't send us to indoctrination school, how do we form our opinions? Family, school, media and our own ability to think. If you're lucky enough to have a decent family and the ability to think rationally (in contrast to emotionally) about issues, then the struggle is between family/reason versus academia/media. If you have any hope for changing the dynamics that have brought us McCain and Huckabee, the battle must be fought to neutralize the extent to which we allow the media and the universities (not to mention our pathetic churches) to shape our thoughts.

The blogosphere has made real inroads toward loosening the media's grip on America. Consider the exposure of Dan Rather for the buffoon he is by the 'right' side of the blogosphere. Or the unmasking of the NYT, AP, New Republic, etc. There has been a lot of progress made. Likewise, Horowitz and Students for Academic Freedom are waging a good fight to liberate students from the Indoctrinati (hey, did I just make up a word? ...... No, I just googled it and got 9,320 hits. Oh, well-) . I hope and pray these fights pick up steam and warriors.

I don't see any reason to be hopeful that America will wise up anytime soon on the basis of these battlefronts. So how can we expedite the wisening up of America?

I can't escape the conclusion that Ann Coulter is right! If the American people can go thru 9-11 and witness the strategic invasion that occurs daily across our southern border, and still vote for idiots who think "waterboarding" and the fabricated crisis of global warming are bigger deals, then the only hope for them is to give them what they want! We woke up briefly after 9-11, but quickly went back to sleep. We couldn't even bring ourselves to profile Muslim-looking males at airports! Apparently 9-11 was big enough to awaken the Bush Administration (barely) but hardly enough to do the same for the American people.

Sometimes you just give people what they want when they're too stupid to know what's good for them. There are plenty of examples of this in the Bible. The first that comes to mind is the clamoring of the people for a king. God told them he didn't appreciate their dissatisfaction with the covenental arrangement he had with them, and he told them that having a king would bring consequences they were overlooking, but they insisted. So God gave them what they wanted, and everything he told them came to pass.

Look, we've survived as a nation thru some pretty crappy Presidents. We can survive Hillary, or even Obama. We can't survive for long, since we're a democracy, this downward spiral of amnesia and ignorance. I think Ann has crunched the numbers pretty astutely. We've brought ourselves to a place where we've got to pay a short term price for any hope of long term results.

Does that mean I'm pulling the lever for Obama or Clinton? Frankly, I don't think it matters.

Great Minds

The best pundits in the business for my money, are the guys at Powerline. Like me, they look at McCain and see knees to the groin. Astute analysis, as always, and good advice for both electorate and electees. Read it here.

I can't tell you how disappointed I am in Rudy's endorsement of McCain. Are these guys' principles even 1 inch deep? I want the $50 back I gave Rudy! Dumbass Yankee fan (him, not me). I should have seen that coming.

Charles Schulz (for you youngsters- the creator of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, et al) once said in response to a question about how optimistic he was for the future of America, that he had faith in the collective wisdom of the American people. I wish I had his faith.

Folks, wake up.

It Must Be "Kick Your Friend In the Nuts Day"

Well, well, well. Who'd a thunk it? President John McCain. Won't this be fun? (Someone tell me how to write "fun" so that it drips with sarcasm.)

There is a long way to go before his GOP nomination is a done deal. But it looks very much like the scenario I described in my inaugural post- that 2020 rolls around and there's nothing but dipshit candidates on the horizon- is being preceded by the time, our time, when the dipshits are the electorate.

The Clinton machine is going to savage and ravage their "good friend" John McCain. Bush's experience of getting his fingers bit off whenever he extended the right hand of fellowship to the Dems is going to look like a light snack. "He who doesn't learn from history is doomed to repeat it". Someone said that, I think.

Not that McCain will deserve better than that. He has after all, perfected the art of LOVE YOUR ENEMIES AND TREAT YOUR FRIENDS LIKE CRAP. Let's see- Be kind to the North Vietnamese, defend traitors like John Kerry, team up with those that oppose your team, let the bad guys out of Gitmo (right before you burn it to the ground), use only kind and gentle forms of interrogation, give lawbreakers social security and don't offend the Mexicans with a fence. In between all these activities, disparage conservatives. Its just not as much fun if you forget the disparagement step.

Note to Rudy- you too can play this wonderful game by endorsing McCain. Let me stand just so. There. Ready. Go ahead and kick me Rudy. Make it swift, centered and high.

Mitt, keep plugging. It ain't over til its over!

Please, NOT McCain

There are many reasons for a self-respecting conservative to not vote for McCain. See Hugh Hewitt for the most complete list of those reasons. (Hugh is the self-appointed antimccain. He's also the chief Romneyite. Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

What's been driving me nuts, since McCain has been getting so many caucus/primary votes, is that no one has explored what to me is the supreme reason for never voting for him. I mentioned this several posts ago- that McCain hates the Swift Boat Vets. I understand why anyone who loves Kerry would feel that way- the Dems, the NYT, academia, communists, serial gigolos, windsailing perverts, etc- but I'll never understand how a vietnam veteran, especially one so intimately familiar with the brutality of communists, could side with Kerry over the men who saved America from Kerry. McCain left no doubt of the disdain with which he holds John O'Neil and Colonel Bud Day and all the rest of the Swift Boat Vets and POWs for Truth. He has no compunction against using "swiftboat" as a verb meaning 'to smear'.

As is often the case when America seems poised to take the next great step toward national suicide, it's left to two women to do what the men seem so incapable of. You won't find a more knockdown argument for voting for AnybodyButMcCain than this one on Jan 23 by Ann Coulter or this one by Michelle Malkin.

It seems so regrettable to me that we have to be negative about someone who ought to be an American hero, pure and simple. He acquited himself with absolute honor and courage as a Naval aviator and POW. But such is life, that to begin well does not assure an end that is equally good. He may think that he is America's most straight-talker, but he seems to me to suffer as much as anyone from Beltway Myopia. In fact, were he a gambler instead of a legislator, a fortune could be made by betting the opposite from him, all the time.

Please folks, now that Fred's out of the picture, give us Rudy or Romney.

For those that haven't figured out that Rudy is indeed a conservative, despite his apparent softness on abortion and gun control, read Prince of the City, by Fred Siegel. If you want someone who can turn a city (a nation) around, and has to do it within the constraints of a liberal power structure, Rudy's the one. Not that Romney couldn't do it. I know its a little tiring hearing Rudy beat that drum, but the drum is real.

Shut Up And Talk Golf

This whole nonsense about the words Kelly Tilghman used to deliver the punchline to Nick Faldo's joke is making me crazy(er). That The Golf Channel has chosen to kiss Al Sharpton's big behind and hand Kelly over to the Political Corrections Dept is infuriating.

This morning I read a piece by Scoop Jackson on espn.com. He's blasting Tiger for not making a big stink about this. I'm sure Scoop never said anything that would fail the standard for political correctness. Of course, when he's writing, he's got a backspace key, not that he ever needs it- being perfect and all.

This really is under my skin. It probably goes a long way back, probably at least to high school. I went to school with one of the great black athletes of our time, Archie Griffin. He had a great father, like Earl Woods, and every one of his kids that I knew (Larry, Darryl and Archie- the younger ones- Ray, Keith & Duncan came after my time) were guys you'd love to have for a friend. There were others though, particularly those whose older brothers had gotten into the Black Panthers (not uncommon in my town at that time) that took offense if you dared to look at them. They were punks and bullies and it took standing up to them to create a relatively safe and peaceful school.

I imagine you'd want to be careful how you looked at Scoop Jackson if you worked at ESPN headquarters.

What's in the water over there anyway? You got your famous ESPN alumni Keith Olberman- this years poster child for Bush Derangement Syndrome. I've heard Dan Patrick and Colin Cowherd get political, and they sound like little Olbermans.

I think the biggest reason this bothers me so much though, is that it reminds me of some of the ridiculous rules of engagement that our soldiers and marines have been under. Not a few have had to defend themselves in military courts for taking actions they deemed necessary to protect their men. My son was in charge of a convoy security gun truck on his second deployment to Iraq, and was "fired" because they fired at a threat without going through the protocol of "shine, shout, shove, show, shoot".

Kelly got her two week suspension. Sgt TF Boggs had another incident where his punishment was to write a 2,000 word essay on Anger Management, complete with PowerPoint presentation. I kid you not! In the midst of a frikkin war; in theater.

Which brings me to Tiger. Tiger, we love you and could hardly have more respect for you. Great opportunity here to be a Man, and a Gentleman, and tell the frat boys running The Golf Channel that what Kelly said was not a big deal, that you forgive her even though you don't think there's anything there to forgive, and as a favor to you, you'd like them to rescind their suspension. And while they're at it, give her a raise. And also, please pull their lips off Sharpton's butt. And to tell their friends at ESPN to stick to sports and leave their left-wing social politics to the universities.

Ollie Agrees (I Think)

Check Colonel North's take here

He doesn't make the point quite as chickenhawkishly as I do, but then he's a Navy man. I on the other hand, am an Air Force veteran. Discuss among yourselves.

All 4 of the serious candidates in last night's debate (which excludes the Huckster and Crazy Uncle Paul) gave the same answer to Brit Hume's question whether the Naval Commander made the right call. All 4 said they were confident he did.

I would have answered differently. I would have said something along these lines-

"I'm not a highly trained career military commander. We are extremely fortunate to have a very capable military with competent leadership. Therefore, I would, in an instance such as this, defer to their judgment. I would, however, argue like hell with them as to why blasting those buggers out of the water is not the best thing to do. If they argued, as my fellow candidates here have, that the safety of their people was the primary consideration, I would want them to speculate as to the opinion they would be held in by all the brave men and women who have died defending our great nation.

Churchill called World War II the most preventable war in the history of mankind. Nothing comes close to explaining the cause of that war more than the misguided attempts to preserve peace through appeasement. Iran's leaders, AchmedtheWhackJob and the Mullahs, are cut from the same cloth as Hitler. They have no regard for anything but strength. The sooner they see the futility of their games, the better."

NTSITB #2

I am no fan of Ralph Peters (more on this another time), but I couldn't agree more with what he writes on Frontpage here. This was obviously an Iranian dry run for something nefarious to follow. How does any potential value from "restraint" compare with the bad consequences that follow when we allow these Islamofascists to learn they can poke us in the eye and get away with it. Did no one in the White House/Pentagon watch Dirty Harry movies growing up?

I'm going to give a freebie here to our enemies for when I've been elected President. When I tell our foreign minister to tell their foreign minister to tell their dictator-for-life that Pres. Steve has begun his COUNT TO TEN, what that means is this- somewhere between 3 and 5 your sh#t's getting blown up. (Don't worry, they won't remember this by 2020)

I can remember back to the PLO days. I remember them kidnapping a Soviet agent. Inside of 24 hours, ten PLO types were in Soviet hands. Actually nine because one was delivered dead to the doorstep of PLO headquarters with a note in his pocket that they were getting the other nine back in similar condition, one a day, until the Soviet agent was released unharmed. The PLO types are not as stupid as they want us to think- they saw the light immediately.

Our ground forces are as sharp as they are because they're battle-hardened. C'mon Navy, catch up!