Random Thoughts

Sarah Palin

Palin hasn't stolen the spotlight from John McCain as some suggest. She is shielding McCain from the spotlight. She is doing exactly what the Republicans wanted. We are not focused on problems & issues; but Palin's eyeglasses, hairstyle and inexperience. What a strategy ... or was that a tactic?

With Wall Street CEO's and other banking and insurance executives being paid millions for their "hard work", the $150K spent to spruce up Palin is chump change. Do I really care if the RNC spent $150K on Palin? NO, I don't care. Is the fact that the alleged Walmart Mom got a new wardrobe from Neiman Marcus hypocritical -- of course; but so much of what the McCain/Palin road show says and does is hypocrital.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. In less than 2 weeks this exceedingly long, tedious, monotonous, yet at times, humorous mini series will soon be over. And then we can focus our attention on some real issues rather than the cost of Palin's wardrobe.

The Economy

To finance our efforts in WW II the US government sold War Bonds or maybe they were called Liberty Bonds. It was the patriotic thing to do (buy bonds) for everyday citizens to support the war effort. Maybe it is time for another round of bond sales. As opposed to the current "solution" at least with bonds the common citizen got something back. With depositors withdrawing money in the billions from banks and S&L's there is money out there. Would this work?

Anderson Cooper

Anderson Cooper is an entertainer not a reporter. He would be better suited with FOX news. He likes to make news or work on stories, certainly not report the news. It was entertaining to see him standing in the middle of a flooded street in Texas with water up to his waist holding a wired mic. Isn't he Geraldo Rivera in disguise ?

John McCain

As a senior member of the Senate John McCain was respected. His choice (or was it his advisors choice) of Palin for VP shows serious flaws in decision making. Of course the Republicans have a history of strange VP candidates: Nixon, Agnew, Quayle and of course Cheney. Scarier still is that all four of these candidates became VP and one actually became President. Could it happen again?

CNN

For the Presidential Debates viewers were able to watch the reactions of Democrats, Republicans and Independents as McCain and Obama spoke. For the VP debate the reaction graph was tied to gender. Would it have been better to keep the reaction groups similar so comparisons could be made between the presidential debate and the VP debate? Was CNN reporting news or attempting to make news?

The Big Spenders

We keep hearing that the leaders of the US Senate had to add (earmarks)$150 billion to the $700 billion dollar bail out/rescue (merit pay?) plan in order to achieve passage. It would be most interesting to have the names of individual Senators listed and publicized as the individuals responsible for this additional $150 billion. Basically, the list would show what each Senator's "YES" vote costs. Since 74 Senators voted "YES", then it is obvious that some of these "YES" votes were very, very, very expensive. But hey, its not their money.

Colin Powell

Colin Powell is an honorable man. During his tenure as Secretary of State he basically took orders from Bush (The Commander-in-Chief) who was greatly influenced by the super hawk, Rumsfeld, then Secretary of Defense. Powell believed the twisted, doctored and distorted information from Bush and Rumsfeld and provided by both NSA and The CIA that "proved" Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. He took the Bush/Rumsfeld lie to the UN to convince the world of the presence of WMD.

Later, when Powell finally realized that Bush had used him to sell the WMD story to the world he resigned. Now, watching the McCain-Obama battle for the Presidency and realizing that McCain believes we belong in Iraq Powell chose to endorse Obama. Call it pay back or getting even for being used by the Bush administration, none-the-less Powell's eloquent denunciation of McCain and support for Obama was a stunning and well deserved blow to the Republicans.