PLAYTIME'S OVER

So Hillary (and co-presidential candidate Bill) Clinton got beaten in SC--beaten badly, as it turns out. Barrack Obama, we are told, is the next JFK. Even Senator Teddy boy is set to endorse him. And kids love him. Yeah, even the white ones.

So what's next for Hillary on her journey to coronation? Expect to see her reinvent herself...again. And expect to see Bill shoved into the background. As it turns out, even Democrats are sick of blow-hard Bill.

But what happens if the polls--and you know Hill and Bill will be watching the polls--leading up to Super Tuesday show Obama in the lead? I don't know about you, but I'm thinking that that's when the gloves will come off. Oh, Hillary will still be sweet as pie. And Bill will stay silent, if they can keep him under control. But the surrogates will hit the streets in force. Those dedicated Clinton loyalists who were deployed to save Bill's bacon during his impeachment will show up on the TV news shows to reveal what the Clinton Secret Police have dug up on Obama. And it won't be pretty.

The question is this: How will the voters react? Will they be disgusted, but vote for Hillary anyway? Or will they finally punish the "politics of personal destruction" at the ballot box?

McCain and the GOP Base

I saw this story linked over at The Drudge Report. Apparently John McCain's mother Roberta was on C-SPAN recently where she expressed the opinion that her son was not getting support from the base of the Republican Party. Gee Mrs. McCain, why do you think that is? Could it be because he compromised with filibustering Democrats who were blocking votes on federal judicial nominees? Could it be because he co-sponsored McCain-Feingold, a bill designed to limit political speech? Could it be that he's been consistently weak on border security and supports amnesty for illegal aliens?

Mrs. McCain appears to be bewildered by the lack of support.

Well, everything they’ve done and said. … Now I’m really popping off, but he worked like a dog to get Bush re-elected. …He’s backed Bush in everything except Rumsfeld. Have you heard other senators and congressmen backing Bush over eight years? Find me it–give me a name. I’ve not seen any public recognition of the work that he’s done for the Republican party.

(A transcript of the interview is available here.)

He backed "Bush." Which Bush would that be? Would that be the Bush who didn't appear to have the stomach to fight for his judicial nominees? Would that be the Bush who is weak on border security and favors a "guest worker" program that amounts to amnesty for illegal aliens? Would that be the Bush who signed the McCain-Feingold bill into law?

If John McCain wants the support of the Republican base, he's going to have to show some support for the Republican base. It's a two-way street, and he'd better figure that out before he crashes.

2008: HOBSON'S CHOICE

In a post on the recent demise of Fred Thompson's presidential campaign, Phoenix, of Villains Vanquished, bemoans the apparent lack of choice in the coming election.

Honestly, the entire field of candidates remaining are unsatisfactory. They are all fucking liberals. Even the Republicans!

I wouldn't go so far as to call them all liberals, but I can't deny that the conservative credentials of all of the GOP candidates are less than stellar. McCain has been too soft on border security and illegal aliens; and he sponsored that horrific campaign finance reform free speech control bill. Giuliani has been too anti-gun. Romney is just too slick by half--maybe three quarters. He's also a flip-flopper on abortion, which will turn off much of the Republican base. And the Mormon issue will hurt him too. I know, it shouldn't; but it will. And Ron Paul? I pretty much see him as the Republican Dennis Kucinich. And his views on foreign policy are too in line with traditional libertarian thinking, which has its roots in the 19th century--where it might have worked, but not today. Isolationism won't work in the 21st century.

So the question is this: Who should a true-blue conservative vote for? Would said true-blue conservative be better off sitting this one out? Ultimately, we all have to make that decision for ourselves. As for me, I will not sit this one out. This election is about damage control. It's about choosing the lesser of two evils. The country is in a crisis situation. Ask any survival expert how to handle a crisis situation, and they'll tell you the following:

1. Keep cool. Don't let your emotions take over.

2. NEVER ask "why me." Keep focused on the job at hand. Reflection and recrimination are for when the crisis has passed.

3. Figure out what you have to do, then do it. Make it happen, and keep moving.

If you're stranded in the wilderness and there's no food available, you eat bugs if you have to. You don't starve yourself to protest the lack of menu selection. You do what you have to in order to survive. When you get back to civilization, you can have a filet mignon and an icy cold brew (or whatever you were craving while you were lost in the woods). But first you have to survive.

This is a time of crisis, and I've resigned myself to eating bugs in November. That's not a particularly appetizing prospect, but it's better than eating shit.

"SUPPORTING" THE TROOPS

There are those who claim to "support the troops, but not the war." I have no doubt that many people opposed to the war do support the troops, but, as far as I'm concerned, this guy is not one of them.

College football season is officially over now. I hope Ohio State didn't ruin your office pool. Man, I should have known better than to pick a Big X team. What was I thinking?

Anyhow, now that all of our office football pools are over, let's start a new one. As of this writing we have had 3,911 soldiers killed in Iraq. On what date do you think we'll hit 4,000?

You can read the rest of this bovine by-product here. You can even leave a comment, if you're so inclined. I'm not going to bother; waste of time.

I'm sure that this guy, Mark Flandersberry, thinks he's doing the troops a favor by calling for their withdrawal from Iraq. But he's doing it by making light of their deaths. And that just makes him a cruel asshole, plain and simple. Support like this the troops don't need.