Rebirth

What I'm trying to do is, not write about Penn State....

So I went looking for inspiration and in the process chilled my hands, which adds to my cooled disposition.

Its getting cold outside, finally. Snow tomorrow? We'll see.

 I came across a small piece on Real Clear Politics.com on the latest hit Diane Sawyer put on Sarah Palin. Pun intended? or does Sawyer go too far herself?

I'm still not passionate yet today. But I did get to thinking about something that Newt is doing that Palin may already of thought about. Something Dan Quayle did not achieve.

Resurrection.

Obviously, politically speaking, Sarah Palin is an ego that is bloodied, beaten, and withdrawn. That she is still targeted by Diane Sawyer provides fresh wounds that may or may not heal, and indicates the mood of the media establishment toward her.

But its not significant anymore, these attacks in the short run. Palin is too damaged to be anything more than a T.V. star for now. Not that its insignificant to be a T.V. star, but its a long way from the White House. 

She may of been closer when she was living in Alaska and the Campaign of 2008 wasn't yet a butterfly in her stomach.

But she's still there, lurking, taking more hits, but giving hits out too. Just like Newt did after he left the House of Representatives.

Obviously its not a complete analogy, Newt Gingrich is a heavier political body than Sarah. His accomplishment in the House had already secured his survival, but not without considerable efforts by the opposition to totally neuter him.

Today, more than a decade later, Gingrich is a front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination. Who would of thought that was possible back when he was slinking out the back door after his unsuccessful attempt to convict Bill Clinton of high crimes and misdemeanors.


A better analogy may be with Dan Quayle, the former Veep under George H.W. Bush.  Up to this point.

Here's what I can believe, cause I think she is that smart, I think she wants to have that second life on the grand National stage that Newt is now living. I believe she has done the political calculations and knows that she has to slow down and recover, not be ambitious, but still show ambition.

I don't know what happened to Dan Quayle. I mean, did he quietly disappear with the intent to never come back? I don't think so, I read his memoir at the time, and though that was twenty years ago, I don't recall him portraying his career as over.  Still he hardly ever resurfaced, and will certainly not now.

Newt Gingrich never gave me the impression he was going away, just that he was slowing down for a bit. Rethinking his brand, as is chic to say now a days.

I think Sarah is smart enough to learn the lesson from these two men.  That's why she isn't going away, and why the likes of Diane Sawyer still take shots at her.

I don't think however, that I'm smart enough to know what she is thinking, like I don't think I'm smart enough to know what Obama is thinking, but I was just thinking none the less.

The Best We Have

Some disparate and desperate thoughts from watching the Debate on Saturday night.

How is it that in my lifetime, the candidates are always smarter than the President. Yet its always one of those candidates that gets the job and then promptly looses all of his smarts.

Statistically, we are going to eventually elect a President capable of retaining all those bright ideas past that magical Tuesday after the first Monday is November. Just don't hold your breath that its gonna happen anytime soon.

But it might, because there were some really good ideas put forth last night, not the least of which is that quadrennial favorite, "I'm going to surround my self with the right people." Not at all like the President himself, who typically seems to surround himself with the wrong people. Coincidentally, this selection process begins sometime on or after the Wednesday after the first Monday in November.

I thought there might be something to this approach when Mr. Santorum promised to surround himself also with like minded people. Right and like minded. How could I fault that promise?

Not to be outdone, Governor Perry promised extraordinary people.

With these bold and game changing ideas, I'm cautiously optimistic that we, our nation, can walk that tight rope we find ourselves on in any number of issues.

I was asking my lovely wife, hypothectically of course, how is it we always elect the best candidate, the most promising option, the oracle of truth, only to find ourselves with so many problems and so long in the making, that could sink our everything. Our Everything.

Newt had a terrific idea, his plan for dealing with Iran would include a multitude of covert actions to massage the attitudes of the radical leadership. Of course the current President isn't doing any such thing.

It seems that we come to the point where we even expect the Commander in Chief incapable of grasping the concept of covertness. He'd tell us if he were, duh.

I thought the most efficient user of his 89 seconds was Ron Paul. He made a lot more sense than Huntsman, who I think got about 3 seconds more.

Am I alone on an island here when I say I wanted to hear the former Ambassador to China for more than thirty seconds on his views and approach to our complex relationship with the rising force in the East?

Instead we got more time from Romney and Perry.

Don't ever wonder why I can't be impressed with many of these news men and women.

Romney seemed the most polished, like many successful candidates before him. Bully you Mitt, bully you. Which is about what I expect if he'd win. Another bullied President, ineffectual and unintellectual.

Which brings me back to Newt. Again, he demonstrated a superiority in many facets, amusingly evident when he out wits the press.

I'm still with Newt, but If I can't have him, then, well if I am going to get screwed, as the critics of the GOP contend I will be as a working man, then it may as well be by a woman.

Judging by her minute and a half, Michelle Bachman seems quite capable of that. More than some of those men up there.

Not My Type

I've been compiling a mental list of how many types of people there are in the world, and its more than two.

I'm letting you in on one of my own personal inner dialogues. Have you ever heard the expression, "There are two types of people in the world, those that...and those that..." Truth is I have a hard time finding just one schism where there are only two sides. There are always more than just two types of people.

But maybe I've encountered, finally, a divide where there are only two sides. You're either with Joe Paterno or you are against Joe Paterno.

That's it, there are just two types of people in the world, for or against Joe Pa.

Let me tell you, so that there is no ambiguity, if you are inclined to pal around, hire, protect, enable, or otherwise allow in your life a pedophile serial rapist, then don't count on me to be in your corner.

I wouldn't want to associate or even be seen in the same room with such creatures, and yes I would judge my friends and acquaintances in accords with my views.

So if you are with Joe Pa, and you're o.k. with the quality of friends and associates he keeps, then you and I are at odds in a singular way, there are just two types of people in the world, and I am absolutely not that type of person.

Adjustments

Its been a while since I last wrote, and for that I must apologize.

There are a few reasons, I left one job and started another. School and after school activities rose above normal. I read a book by Tom Friedman.

I read, That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back, which is where I left of with this blog over a month ago. While it didn't take me all of a month to read the book, it did take longer than usual to finish it.

Frankly, it's a book that no one would like.

No American that is, surely our enemies would love the narrative of the broken system our proud nations is mired in.

I found it energy draining. Until the end, when Tom and I found common ground again, and that was in his suggestion that we vote third party. The idea would be that by voting this way, we affect the thinking of the major parties. We in effect splash the cold water of reality in their monopolistic faces.

Friedman cites a few examples of it happening in the past, Teddy Roosevelt and Ross Perot both ran as third party candidates and effectively moved their opponents off the party reservation.

Personally, I've been liberal before and I have liberal ideas, although nothing too important, for example I can't see any reason why the national government should be involved in marriage, but I am not liberal en mass anymore.

Reading this book, I was beginning to wonder about my conservatism, whether the idealogues and candidates today who profess conservative views are as smart as I thought they were. Have they been adjusting to the times? Have their ideas moved in any manor to adapt to the realities of today?

This is natural and healthy skepticism. I've read many liberal books over the years, and been influenced by the them all, but not one has stirred such second thought in my mind as this book.

I don't doubt much of what Friedman writes, although he positioned Obama as much wiser than I give the president credit for. I do doubt that government is capable of solving many of these problems we face with more government.

Which brings me to Newt Gingrich. I watched my first debate last night. Many of my readers know I am a proponent of the former Speaker of the House. There is no one, not one candidate for president( the current occupier included ) who is as articulate, thoughtful, and accomplished as Newt. He created the surplus at the end the Nineties, he reformed welfare, he created the impetus to end the era of big government.

And he, again, provided me with the optimism and confidence that there are conservatives out there, running for high office, who get it. Who understand the world we live in today, and have contemporary ideas on how to fix our problems with minimal government growth, in fact with negative government growth.

I'll give Newt and any conservative who can inspire me with their ideals seven times seventy opportunities to fix the mess we are in before I'd pull the level for a liberal candidate who would rather place more trust in government than individuals in making the right decisions for themselves.