Far From In the Bag

Americans are beginning to notice Obama's elevated opinion of himself.
~ Charles Krauthammer

If people aren't comfortable with idea of Barack Obama as commander in chief it can definitely prevent his election.
~ Larry Hugick, pollster for Princetone Survey Research Associates


There's plenty of food for thought in a couple of meaty pieces on Obama's lean credentials: Charles Krauthammer's, "The Audacity of Vanity" and Michael Hirsh's "Ich bin ein Commander." I'm ready to make some popcorn and watch the pratfalls on the Barack-star's premature victory lap around Europe.

By the time it's over, it might be Eur-OOPS!

Earrings Earnings

You're getting $600 - what can you do with that?...you buy a pair of earrings

~ Michelle Obama, dismissing the value of the economic stimulus tax rebate

Evidently, Michelle Obama hasn't shopped at Target lately. I doubt she's been to the grocery store for the family's weekly stock-up in quite some time. And I don't think she's pumped her own gas in a while, either.

Yes, it's easy to drop $600 in a flash at a jewelry store, a posh hotel, or an upscale restaurant. But I think most Americans were heading in other directions when they received their checks. Like to the food store, the gas station, maybe the savings bank.

MO goes on to state, regarding the inconsequential economic stimulus checks, "not to be ungrateful or anything" (perish the thought), "but it doesn't pay down every bill every month."

Whoa! Is that what the government is supposed to be doing? Paying down all of our bills? In the long, imaginative history of campaign rhetoric, that one takes the prize. And throw in a pair of $600 earrings for the budget-minded lady.

Marital Issues

So Californians will have the chance--again--to vote upon whether or not same-sex couples should be allowed to wed in our state. Deja vu all over again.

I clearly remember being among the 61% who voted for upholding the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman in 2000. However, four people in black robes decided they knew better and deemed that majority vote ''unconstitutional." So here we go again, giving the "gay marriage" issue another spin this November as Proposition 8, the California Marriage Protection Act.

I like to respect people's way of life, so long as they are not inflicting harm. But when a completely legal vote is overturned on a judge's whim, I feel violated. My right to have a say in my government has been usurped. It's unfair and unjust. And besides, judicial say-so doesn't magically make same-sex marriage valid.

Suppose I decide I want to be Ukranian. I have no Ukranian blood in me (that I know of), but I want this to be true badly enough to go to court and have myself declared Ukranian. Everyone must now recognize me as a Ukranian national, whether they like it or not.

Fine, good for me. I won my case and my piece of paper. But I'm still not Ukranian.

Same-sex couples are entitled to their rights, of course. Domestic partnership, civil unioin, whatever they would like to term their partnerships to obtain legal protection. But marriage, the basic unit of civilization, is between a man and a woman. Two different human sexes, joining together to form a dynamic familyunit capable of continuing society through offspring of their union. This is our human nature, our history, and our future. Judges should be more careful with so many thousands of years of precedent.

I'll be voting the same as I did in 2000. Who knows how much has changed in eight years. Voters in favor of Prop 8 may find themselves blown all the way to...Ukraine.

Over the Top

Unfortunately, Monday morning’s oped calls into question Sen. Obama’s willingness to objectively review the situation on the ground and make decisions based on what’s best for our nation’s security, rather than what’s best for his candidacy.
~ Pete Hegseth, Vets for Freedom


A good question is posed in this NRO article. Why would Sen. Obama lay out his "Plan for Iraq" before he visits rather than after? Apparently, nothing the commanders on the ground can say will be worth enough to give the Great One pause.

And they say G.W. doesn't listen.

Meanwhile, there is word that the Obama campaign had chosen the Brandenburg Gate as the setting for his speech in Germany later this month. This is traditionally where visiting heads of state address the German people. It's where John F. Kennedy delivered his stirring Ich bin ein Berliner speech, and it's where Ronald Reagan admonished Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."

Well, of course, the Obamessiah should speak there--isn't that obvious? Not to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who objects to the implied endorsement of Obama. Never mind that 72% of Germans want Obama for president. (Fortunately, they aren't voting.) Although she leans to Obama, Merkel doesn't want to appear to be meddling in U.S. politics--and good for her.

But to Obama, everything is about Obama and his candidacy. I doubt Chancellor Merkel's opinion about where the Great One will speak can hold much sway over His Lordship's decision.

After all, a "seismic change" is coming. Time will be measured "Before Obama" and "After Obama"--and Spike Lee is serious. I wonder how enthusiastic Lee will feel about measuring time when he gets the bill for being in Obama's top tax bracket.

Then again, it's hard to tell what Obama means and does not mean. His words change with the prevailing winds. His "aahhhs" and "uummms" become more plentiful the more piercing the question. Will we allow ourselves to become his grand national experiment?

I vote "Nobama."

Tony Snow: 1955 - 2008

I always knew where it was going, Tony Snow's illness.

Oh, he was cavalier, he was upbeat and gallant about his situation, he fought hard and he fought well. But I have seen rampant cancer doing its wretched job, upfront and personal. Cancer works overtime, never quits, has no mercy. And it is indifferent to those left behind.

Snow died Saturday, July 12, at the age of 53. If you compare photos of Tony Snow before his diagnosis and as he left the White House, you can see the marks of battle upon him. Cancer erodes, strips, wastes, and lays bare. It is like a runaway internal wild fire racing through flesh, leaving a ravaged, fragile whisper of the person that once was. The end, when it comes, is a blessed release for the cancer victim.

The struggle is over for Tony Snow, yet it just begins for his family. His wife and children are the cancer victims now. They must learn to reconcile the pain of his loss with the comfort of his peace. That is a long, wrenching journey comprised of a different kind of fight, no less daunting, against a raging storm of emotions.

Two and a half years after I watched my husband die of cancer, I see no end to my own emotional struggle. Yet I find I am consistently grateful each day that cancer can never make Pete suffer again. It's not much, but it's a start, and I cling to it as a life raft. I send the Snow family my prayer that they will find their own life raft, emerging somewhere up ahead through the crashing waves of their grief.

First Language First

All weez can say is "merci beaucoup"
~ the highly articulate Barack Obama, 7/8/08

Good grief. Give the man back his teleprompter. Pronto, por favor.

Shadow Man

Will the real Barack Obama please stand up?

Charles Krauthammer's blistering indictment of what I call "the Obama shuffle" is definitely required reading. There is absolutely no telling what this candidate really believes or what he would do if he becomes president.

Read "A Man of Seasonal Principles" and you'll have copious examples of Obama's unreliability on any given issue.

I'm dubious enough of America's future under a President Obama (shudder) that I find myself cruising the internet, looking into foreign jobs and real estate. It is a constant source of amazement to me that more Americans are not skeptical of this man's motives.

The complete infatuation of MSM with Obama is an outright disgrace. Chris Matthews, especially, please seek professional counseling.

Bill Clinton did not scare me anywhere near this much. At least Clinton stuck to his lies, for the most part, once he chose them.

Words to Ponder

There is nothing wrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence and energy of her citizens cannot cure.

~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

34th president of US 1953-1961 (1890 - 1969)

Happy Birthday "Melanie"

Every child comes with the promise that God is not yet discouraged of men.
~ Anonymous

That's a photo of Gone With the Wind's Melanie Wilkes, aka the Oscar-winning actress Olivia de Havilland. I didn't think they allowed such skin-filled publicity shots in the 1930s, but there you have it. Wowza.

I've always admired de Havilland as an actress, starting with her role as Melanie in GWTW--one of my favorite books and movies of all time.

My brother was an Errol Flynn fan, so I also saw de Havilland co-star with Flynn in Robin Hood on TV reruns of classic movies during the olden days of my youth. In later years she made the campy films Lady in a Cage and Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte. But to me, she'll always be Melanie.

It's an odd irony of Hollywood history that Olivia de Havilland, the one principal cast member whose character dies in the final scenes of GWTW, has long outlived her fellow actors in that classic film. Leslie Howard died on a military air mission during WWII. Clark Gable died in 1960, and Vivien Leigh died in 1967. Yet tomorrow, July 1, Olivia de Havilland celebrates her 92nd birthday.

Another note of interest to me is the fact that she was born on the same day as my father. In world events on July 1, 1916, the Battle of the Somme commenced on the Western front. The battle raged for months, into November, with over one million total casualities. The Somme was called ‘The most gigantic, tenacious, grim, futile and bloody fight ever waged in the history of war’. To this day, July 1, 1916 holds the tragic distinction of being the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army.

A very somber day, yet also a day that brought at least two special souls into the world. Happy Birthday, Melanie. You're a classic.

Happy John's Day

In summer, the song sings itself.

~ William Carlos Williams

Today, June 24, is the feast of St. John the Baptist, cousin of Our Lord and the courageous voice crying in the wilderness. John is a major heavyweight on the A-team of saints, right up there with Sts. Peter and Paul. Coincidentally or not, Peter and Paul share a feast day next Sunday, June 29.

All of these major league saints having feast days so close together has perpetuated the ancient custom of Midsummer celebrations throughout the ages. June 24 tends to be an international festival day right up to the present. There are all-night bonfires in many cultural celebrations around the world, including Latvia. June 24 is known as "Janis Dien"--John's Day.

I once read many years ago that one quarter of the world's male population is named some variation of the name John. I don't know if that still holds true today, although both my father and grandfather were named John. I have an Uncle John, a nephew John, and assorted cousins of various degrees, all named John. There could be some validity to that 25% theory.

I learned about John's Day early in my marriage. Pete's boss was a hyperkinetic Latvian named Janis who threw a wild party at his home every year on his name day. (My regular readers will remember that "name days" are far more important in the Latvian tradition than birthdays.) There was always unlimited vodka, lobster, caviar, and tons of other delicious food that I would be hard pressed to remember--after all, there was also unlimited drinking, dancing, and singing to be done.

To celebrate the longest day of the year, the John's Day party continued all night, ending with a breakfast feast. We never lasted quite that long, but many of John's guests did. In honor of the old midsummer night bonfires, Janis' house had torches burning outside the garage. It's a wonder any of us, let alone John's house, survived.

So enjoy yourself this midsummer's evening. Pop a cold one, light the patio firepit, and toast the season of long, warm sunny days. Laimigs Janis Dien--Happy John's Day.