SNAKE OIL SALESMAN

When this campaign started, I expected Little John Edwards to stay in the background, being the “positive” face of the campaign, telling stupid, folksy stories of his childhood growing up in South and North Carolina. And up until recently, I was correct. But the past week or so has shown Little John to be the crazy one.

Last week, My man Drudge splashed across his page this comment Little John made in Iowa:

''If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to get up out of that wheelchair and walk again"

Sigh. First of all, it’s a stupid comment. It’s in the same vein as Jesse Jackson’s comment that if John Kerry were to be elected, Ray Charles would play again. I guess it shows one of two possibilities, either the Democratic leadership thinks American’s are so stupid, they will believe John Kerry can raise the dead and make the lame walk or they themselves are stupid enough to believe it.

First of all again, I waited, without much hope, for Big Media to pick it up and show the outrage the comment deserved. It was a good thing I hadn’t much hope, because they only coverage was about the Republican’s sputtering outrage, not outrage at the story itself.

Fortunately, there are some conservative voices in Big Media and one of the best (with one of the best names) is Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post. Paralyzed for most of his life, he assails Little John Edwards for offering false hope to people with spinal cord injuries. Do yourself a favor, read Krauthammer.

"I THINK I LOVE YOU, SO WHAT AM I SO AFRAID OF.."

I have to admit, I didn’t watch the debate last night. I have this superstitious belief that if I watch the president, he does poorly. True to form, I watched the first debate and he stunk. I watched half of the second debate and he did better. I skipped the whole thing last night and he knocked it out of the park. Interestingly, this doesn’t hold true the Vice-Presidential debates, I watched that whole thing and Cheney ruled.

Anyway, my point is that both of the John’s wrote furiously on their notepads as soon as Bush or Cheney would begin to talk, yet they never seem to look back on what they wrote. My theory is someone told them they would look smart if the wrote a lot during the debate, like they were preparing retorts and noting inconsistencies. I think, if anyone ever saw those pads, it was either just scribbles or maybe lyrics to Partridge Family songs, but nothing to do with what was actually being said.

Like I said, it’s just a theory.

DISTURBING

I may be the only one, but I find Terry Kerry’s pet name for her miscarried children, “pinkies”, unsettling. It doesn’t make her a bad person, I’m not saying she is some kind of freak, but the name makes my skin crawl. Even the crew at NRO has no problem with it, I really think I’m the only one.

JONAH'S NO LONGER GOING TO SUFFER FOOLS

Jonah Goldberg is probably my favorite of today’s writers, kind of an inspiration to slugs like me who think we can write. His pieces are always insightful and make a clear point with humor interspersed through out the piece. I was once asked, “If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?” and I picked Jonah immediately. He seems like a super-intelligent, easy going guy who would be such a great neighbor.

Well, today you get to see Jonah at his most frustrated. This excellent (as if there was doubt) essay is full of pent up frustration and impatience. I think he speaks for all of us conservatives who see the liberals getting away with inconsistent, opposing and often asinine positions on Iraq without having to deal with the reality of the situation.

JUST WONDERFUL

I sometimes think I am a good writer; all witty and insightful, a pleasure to read. At these points, I find someone who truly IS insightful, witty and a pleasure to read, like one Gersh Kuntzman I discovered today. This little ditty is a fun read and definitely put me back in my place as an under-talented blogger. The link is to his website, because Newsweek online keeps their stories up for about a minute and then they are taken down. He copied the Newsweek webpage, but doesn't have any of the graphics, so the page looks terrible - just scroll down about halfway and you'll hit the story. If you want to try the Newsweek page, it's here from MSNBC (don't blame me if the link is dead)

STEM CELL KERRY

You know why I haven’t written much lately? I’m always “politicked”-out about this point in an election. It’s true, your FAVORITE political wonk isn’t completely political. Anyway, I got an email that inspired me to write again, so here I am.

Big John Kerry-Edwards was in New Hampshire today espousing the joys of stem cell research. Along for the ride was Alex P. Keaton, I mean Michael J. Fox, calling for more federal funding for stem cell research beyond the current levels. What? The Federal government funds stem cell research? You thought George Bush had cast his evil wand and made stem cell research illegal? Of course you do, you get your news from Main Stream Media. Let’s just see what the President REALLY said three years ago,

“As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse stem cell lines already exist. They were created from embryos that have already been destroyed, and they have the ability to regenerate themselves indefinitely, creating ongoing opportunities for research. I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these existing stem cell lines, where the life and death decision has already been made.

Leading scientists tell me research on these 60 lines has great promise that could lead to breakthrough therapies and cures. This allows us to explore the promise and potential of stem cell research without crossing a fundamental moral line, by providing taxpayer funding that would sanction or encourage further destruction of human embryos that have at least the potential for life.

I also believe that great scientific progress can be made through aggressive federal funding of research on umbilical cord placenta, adult and animal stem cells which do not involve the same moral dilemma. This year, your government will spend $250 million on this important research.”

$250 million dollars? Not something you’re hearing from MSM and Jean Francois Kerry.

Aside from ignoring the facts on what the Federal government already does, we get this from JFK,

"President Bush just doesn't get it. Faced with the facts, he just turns away," Kerry said. "Time and again, he's proven that he's stubborn, out of touch, unwilling to change, unwilling to change course."

Lets look at this two ways. Firstly, Kerry says Bush is “unwilling to change”. It was just two weeks ago that the Kerry campaign and their willing executioners in the media said Bush “changed” i.e., flip-flopped, too much,

"When it comes to shifting positions, he can shift with the best," Kerry spokesman Joe Lockhart said of Bush. "We are prosecuting a different case. We are not arguing that he's a flip-flopper -- he is -- but that the policy choices he has taken have failed miserably."

Secondly, and what the Kerry campaign can’t understand, is that we in the real world APPRECIATE someone who is unwilling to change, who doesn’t blow in the wind. This is the money quote from today - John Kerry thinks someone who goes back and forth, who flip flops, who blows with the wind, like Louie Renault in Casablanca,

“I have no conviction, if that's what you mean. I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy.”

is the wrong man to be President.

Wrong.