what if?

Lights - Camera -

Action!

Does $150,000 for clothes sound like a lot to you?  Sure does to me. Still, I'm someone who wears turtlenecks and slacks that I purchased (marked down substantially, of course) when Bush the Elder was still in office.  Lacking sartorial splendor, perhaps I'm not the best judge of what it takes to achieve that nirvana.

If, however, $150K for some snazzy duds from Saks and Bloomingdale's seems excessive - how does $700,000 for a few minutes of lights, camera and action when Senator Obama addressed . . . Germans?

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama paid a German company nearly $700,000 for staging, sound and lighting services when he delivered a speech this summer in which he declared himself a “citizen” of both the U.S. and the world…

For days, we've seen thousands of news articles bemoaning a frivolous expenditure for Governor Palin - even though Palin claims both that the cost was not this high, and that all of the clothing purchased for her will be donated to charity following the election.

How many news articles are there about the Obama campaign spending almost three quarter of a million bucks for a few minutes of staging for The One on another continent?  Let's see . . . How.  About. 

One?

Yep. 

Is it sexism, this incredible discrepency, as Allahpundit muses?  Or just more stacking the deck by our dedicated MSM?  Perhaps a dash of both.

Dive, Dive!

Suddenly, the (selfish) "rich" are those making above $120,000.

Tomorrow, the "rich" could be you.

The Fourth Estate

The power of the press.  What does it mean?  Centuries ago, Edmund Burke recognized its might.  Looking up at the Press Gallery in the House of Commons, Burke said:

Yonder sits the Sourth Estate, and they are more important than them all.

With the almost infinite scope and reach of the press, their power is perhaps greater today than ever before.  Their reports can shape minds, alter elections, sway sentiment and far, far more. Yet, with greater power should come more responsibility.  And - how does some of the fourth estate handle this power?

Not so well.

How Selfish Are You?

Silly me.  I thought that the American dream was to prosper, then be able to use your accumulated assets as you saw fit:  purchase a home, take your family on a vacation, donate to the charities of your choice, save for retirement.

Little did I know that I and all the other Americans who engaged in such activities were nothing more than selfish!

“The point is, though, that — and it’s not just charity, it’s not just that I want to help the middle class and working people who are trying to get in the middle class — it’s that when we actually make sure that everybody’s got a shot – when young people can all go to college, when everybody’s got decent health care, when everybody’s got a little more money at the end of the month – then guess what? Everybody starts spending that money, they decide maybe I can afford a new car, maybe I can afford a computer for my child. They can buy the products and services that businesses are selling and everybody is better off. All boats rise. That’s what happened in the 1990s, that’s what we need to restore. And that’s what I’m gonna do as president of the United States of America.

“John McCain and Sarah Palin they call this socialistic,” Obama continued. “You know I don’t know when, when they decided they wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness.”

Should our nation provide good schools, safe neighborhoods, a fair judicial system and infrastructure so that all who live here have a shot at the American dream?  You bet.  And I am happy to work and pay taxes so this can occur.

At some point, however, hard work and diligence means reaching goals we set for ourselves and the freedom to chose what we wish to do with what we have achieved.  Competition and striving for the sky isn't selfish; it's what made our nation great.

Beginning of the End?

It's a free country.  (At least, that's true today.)  So, if a candidate wishes to kick journalists off his plane if they're from news outlets that endorsed his competitor, then he can do it.  What, however, are we to make of a presidential candidate who finds any non-glowing reporting anathema?  What will this portend for the future?

Well, as I often say, predicting the future is impossible.  Nevertheless, we can look at the past and then give a best guess.  So far, we have seen Senator Obama:

• Have all his (Democratic!) competitors removed from the ticket on a technicality when running for the Illinois senate
• File suit to have ads removed he dislikes
• Fail to disclose the identities of millions of small donors
• Get his attorneys to threaten news outlets that have shown criticism about himself

Now, it's surely possible that a President Obama will turn a new leaf from candidate Obama.  Perhaps he will usher in a new spirit of openness and bipartisan efforts... kinda like Senator McCain has been doing all his career!

I, however, do not want to bet on the come.  I will be voting for the fellow who has sponsored many bills with guys from the other party, the guy who repeatedly demands that we work across the aisle.  Openness and free speech are some of the most precious rights known to man.  I will do what I can to try to preserve them.

What You See Is What You Get

As a young woman, I remember contemplating men I would date.  One might be charming and fun - but irresponsible.  Another might be intelligent and witty - yet not treat me very well.  A third could have a fabulous personality - though not share some of the same "life goals" that I did. 

But when I was young, I wouldn't think:  "Which do I prefer?  Would my life be superior with Tom, Dick or Harry?"  No.  I'd say to myself "I'll change him."  As our relationship became permanent, I'd "train" him to be more responsible.  Or improve his care for me.  Or alter his personal goals.

It never works that way, though, does it?  Oh, I'm not saying that people can't change.  They can - and they do.  They do it, however, because they decide that they wish to change.  Not because someone else has judged that they should transform.

And so we come to this election and our two candidates.  Fouad Ajami, a Johns Hopkins professor and a child of the Middle East, examines the nature of the crowds that gather to hear Senator Obama speak.

Dan the Neighbor

Yes, Virginia.  No matter what your political beliefs may be, believe this.  Voting for McCain does not mean that you are a racist.

Promises to Keep

Knowing if a candidate will live up to their campaign promises is impossible.  We can only find out after the election is over.

Yet we can know about their words and acts prior to the election.  Here is Campbell Brown's view on a promise about campaign financing.

You may have heard that Wednesday night Barack Obama will be on five different TV networks speaking directly to the American people.

He bought 30 minutes of airtime from the different networks, a very expensive purchase. But hey, he can afford it. Barack Obama is loaded, way more loaded than John McCain, way more loaded than any presidential candidate has ever been at this stage of the campaign.

Just to throw a number out: He has raised well over $600 million since the start of his campaign, close to what George Bush and John Kerry raised combined in 2004.

Without question, Obama has set the bar at new height with a truly staggering sum of cash. And that is why as we approach this November, it is worth reminding ourselves what Barack Obama said last November.

One year ago, he made a promise. He pledged to accept public financing and to work with the Republican nominee to ensure that they both operated within those limits.

Then it became clear to Sen. Obama and his campaign that he was going to be able to raise on his own far more cash than he would get with public financing. So Obama went back on his word.

Policies in Pictures

 

Revolution

The Beatles knew enough to reject the violence and destruction of a "revolution."

But Bill Ayers and the Weathermen?  Hear from Larry Grathwohl, an FBI informant.

The Brainiac

What does a former Ms Magazine editor and Democrat think about Sarah Palin?

This.

Sarah Palin is very smart.

I'm a Democrat, but I've worked as a consultant with the McCain campaign since shortly after Palin's nomination. Last week, there was the thought that as a former editor-in-chief of Ms. magazine as well as a feminist activist in my pre-journalism days, I might be helpful in contributing to a speech that Palin had long wanted to give on women's rights.

Now by “smart,” I don't refer to a person who is wily or calculating or nimble in the way of certain talented athletes who we admire but suspect don't really have serious brains in their skulls. I mean, instead, a mind that is thoughtful, curious, with a discernable pattern of associative thinking and insight. Palin asks questions, and probes linkages and logic that bring to mind a quirky law professor I once had. Palin is more than a “quick study”; I'd heard rumors around the campaign of her photographic memory and, frankly, I watched it in action. She sees. She processes. She questions, and only then, she acts. What is often called her “confidence” is actually a rarity in national politics: I saw a woman who knows exactly who she is.

 

Au Revoir

One of my liberal friends sends out alerts every few days about how many big city newspapers have endorsed Obama.  He is correct that the numbers are overwhelmingly in favor of Obama over McCain.

On the other hand, the editors endorsing Obama seem to be the same folks who are going out of business.  I'm sure there's a message there; just not exactly certain what it is.

Here is one reader's personal story.  Karen Avrech, PhD. and wife of screenwriter Robert Avrech, both Orthodox Jews, finally says "enough" to the New York Times.

I have subscribed to your newspaper for many years but I can no longer trust your news reportage as unbiased since your radical leftist politics permeate every aspect of your newspaper from fashion to book reviews. The final straw was the slanderous, mean spirited, front page article on Cindy McCain. Every day I open your paper to the so-called "corrections" which are really more apologies for sloppy journalism that has omitted or distorted information to suit the viewpoint of your arch leftist reporters.

I just can't read your newspaper with good conscious anymore. You distort science articles on global warming, justify Islamic terror, libel the State of Israel, glorify the death cult society of the Palestinians, and resort to character assassination in the current election. I can no longer subscribe to your paper so please cancel my subscription.

Some of you may think, "Heh.  What does the New York Times care about one biased, right-wing religious Jew?" 

Well.  These days, it's looking as if the Times can use every reader they can get.

Standing Up for Freedom

One of the miracles of America is our diversity as a people.  Go to France, Russia or Japan, and - most of the people are of, uh . . . French, Russian or Japanese origin.  Here?  We are from everywhere.  We're German, Irish, English, Italian and Polish. We're Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban.  We're Brazilian, Jamaican, Haitian, Somalian, Ethiopian and Nigerian.  We're Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian and Japanese. We're native Americans.

Our recent immigrants and our ancestors came here for the freedoms that our nation offered.  They brought their own cultures and histories, weaving them together with the opportunities available. 

One of those immigrants so proud to be an American is Tito Munoz - "Tito the Builder," if you will.  Tito introduced Sarah Palin on the stump today in Virginia. 

“I have so much things to say about this great country, I have so much things that I want to say about free enterprise and hard work,” Munoz said. “Everything we stand for is in danger by higher taxes and less freedom. Everything we stand for is made stronger by people like you, like John McCain and Sarah Palin.  This country has given me so much, but I have not been given much time to do my job. My job today is to stand before you, to stand up for freedom,”

Please play the video at the link, with Tito's short introduction. See what continues to make our nation truly one of a kind in the world.  Listen to why Tito wants to preserve our values and our freedoms.

You, too, can stand up for freedom.

"Spooky Art"

One man's "spooky art" is another man's hate crime.

“I know if we had done it with Barack Obama, people would’ve probably thrown things through our windows,” Morrisette said.

Gee, you think?  Instead, when it’s a Republican woman getting lynched in effigy, it suddenly becomes art and good, clean fun.  Maybe we should start talking about the latent misogyny of the Left, and the drooling bigots of their enclaves.  After all, if this had been an effigy of Obama in, say, Alabama, we’d certainly not be hearing about Halloween and spooky art, but instead how racist Obama’s opponents are.

Looney Law

Did you have any idea that if you decline Medicare benefits, you lose Social Security benefits?  Or vice versa?

Neither did I.

The Atlantic; RIP

For many years, The Atlantic was my favorite magazine.  I touted it to all my friends, left and right, irrespective of interests.  I told everyone that The Atlantic covered a wide range of topics, that the writing was top-notch, and that the viewpoints were terrifically diverse.  Every month, at least one article - and often several - educated, enlightened, amused and delighted me. 

I still recall reading this article by Mark Bowden about Saddam Hussein:  "Tales of the Tyrant."  What tales they were.  When our country balanced on the decision as to whether war with Iraq was the correct course or not, Bowden's reporting remained in my mind.  Ultimately, I believed that, no matter what else, taking out this tyrant would aid the world.

My copy of that month's Atlantic remains on a shelf in my bedroom.

Somehow, someway, however - something happened at the magazine.  It changed.

I Do

I do believe that this should be available for all consenting adults.

Who Will Lose in This Election?

Helen McCaffrey, the director of Women's Watch Inc., a nonprofit women's advocacy group based in Cape May, tells us:  women.

Plain English

Do you have difficulty at times sorting out what economists are trying to convey?  I sure do.  Graphs, charts, equations and references to theories of which I have only a slim understanding . . . .  Sometimes I feel as if I come away more confused than when I arrived.

Professor Greg Mankiw is a Harvard economist.  He'd probably get drummed out of the trade if he didn't offer an array of charts and technical computations within his discussion of tax plans.  Still, Professor Mankiw realizes that we, the uninitiated (that would be yours truly) look at all this like Plato's Republic in the original Greek.

Thus, Mankiw kindly explains in plain English what varying tax plans mean in his life.  (Well; as close to "plain English as a Harvard economist can get!)

Not Enough Government?

Or - too much?

Please read today's column by Holman Jenkins, Jr., editorial board member of the Wall Street Journal.