Just some thoughts before I go (to sleep)

Well, this was intended to be more of a "real" posting, but I got caught up watching United 93. Like you, I am surprised that I haven't seen it before. But there you go. (I do think, still, that it was shot down and they revised the records once they realised that people on the ground had phone recordings of them going after the hijakers. Given the confusion of that day, it would be understandable, but Bush's White House couldn't let any shades of gray enter the conversation.)

But anyway . . .

So, I don't think that the Democratic candidate will be decided tomorrow (Super Tuesday), but the Republican will be. Given his performance in telling people unpopular truths, I was ok with John McCain (and relative to the other Republicans, I still am), but then Lola hipped me to this site where it compares candidates positions on Global Poverty. Frankly, it doesn't look like those issues have even occurred to him or anyone in his campaign. And if you don't deal with them, then you're creating a strong likelihood that we'll be fighting this war (on terror?) forever.

I should also amend my earlier comment that I wouldn't vote for Hillary even if she was the Democratic nominee. From a position standpoint, I agree with many of her stands. My disagreements are in the margins (and more closely aligned with Obama's stated positions.) So, if shes the candidate, I will vote for her.

Now, brother Mike says he intends to write in and tell me why Barak is" not, in fact, a diety." I have never said that he was. I do say that Hillary's "experience" will lead her down the path of "fighting the last war" (in this I am not being literal). By that I mean, I believe that her experience is that she can only get things done by operating in contrast to someone else. Bill struggled mightily for the first 2 years of his presidency (Gays in the military was a dumb first thing to take on. If Health Care was so central, why not start with that? If you fail, you've at least failed greatly.) It wasn't until he was met with a Republican congress that the image of President Clinton started to coalesce.

And while I really did like Bill Clinton as president, I can also distinguish between historical and purposeful. The peace and prosperity during his 8 years were not really the result of any policy. Rather, it was the interregnum after the fall of the Soviet Union and before China's muscle flexing. And it was the result of low oil prices and the rise of the internet. None of these things had anything to do with Bill.

That being said, he didn't screw it up.

Anyway, Hillary's not my first choice for reasons I've said before. Obama is because, whatever faults he may have (oh, and the latest is that Hillary's more electable because all her dirty secrets are out, unlike Obama), he has shown, I think, the ability to raise the tone of the national discourse, to get more people involved in the process and to challenge people to be more than millionaires.

Finally, some observations:

Lola's been keeping track of the Palo Alto sign wars. First came the Obama signs, usually on corner lots. (Some Romney, no McCain, but I've seen at least 1 Ron Paul.) Then Friday, a slew of Hiliary signs, usually clumped (at nicer looking houses). Then Monday, the Obama signs came back to surround the Hillary signs (literally, you'll see an Obama sign after almost every Clinton sign.)

We went to go see David Mamet's "Speed the Plow" in the city on Saturday (Christmas present). We dropped of the boys and went to the farmer's market first. The farmer's market was not packed (because it was raining pretty nastily), but there were dozens of Obama supporters out (mainly young, High School-looking), passing out pins and bumper stickers.

So, we took a couple of pins and went walking toward the theater.

Literally, people were stopping in the streets and we heard them saying to each other "Look, they're supporting Obama." At the restaurant, at the next table the woman turned around and asked us what our thinking was (her husband's voting for Obama, her daughter works for Hillary, she's undecided.)

I suppose I shouldn't have worn the button on my zipper.

Anyway, the point is, tomorrow will be very exciting. And, for the first time that I can recall, people actually seem to care.

For that, we should be grateful to Hillary and Barak.

If it keeps up like this, I may be able to take all those maple leaf patches off my jackets the next time I go to Europe.


PS - "Speed the Plow" was excellent, if short.