The Pursuit

Gen. Wesley Clark correct that being shot down does not qualify one for the presidency. Just as conducting an air strike campaign over Kosovo does not. Nor does a few years in the Illinois legislature.

Clark’s barb was brainless not so much because it insulted McCain, but because it was a weak criticism in the light of who Clark is supporting. It would be one thing to criticize McCain if his opponent were, say, Dwight Eisenhower. Then one MIGHT be able to argue that McCain’s “executive experience” (by the way, thanks Rudy for that phrase. Now everyone must be held to the standard of being a mayor) was not on par with his opponent. But he’s running against Obama - who has hardly faced the kind of foreign affairs issues that McCain has led on. It’s especially an odd criticism coming from Clark, whose major justification for running for president was his record as a U.S. general - which was not exactly perfect.

So Clark is going to argue McCain lacks experience when he has endorsed Obama, a freshman U.S. Senator?  What next - McCain should have spent more time in the run down parts of Phoenix taking on slum lords to have gained better leadership skills? It’s another mindless Washington barb from a politician with an agenda.

Perhaps the knocks against McCain’s age and temper have failed to stick. So Team Obama has moved on to other arguments; his five years in the Hanoi Hilton don’t qualify him, he didn’t lead a large enough squadron, he should have avoided that missile that shot him down, etc.

Expect the barrage to continue. As more try to get a piece of Obama, they will look to do it by digging into McCain. Fortunately those years as a POW that didn’t qualify him to be president strengthened him to handle empty rhetoric.

Thanks to Ryan Weber at Radiant Photography for creating the new favicon you now see in the address bar. If you need photo or graphic arts services, he’s the guy.

If you’re an avid web surfer (as I am), then it’s likely you’ve downloaded Firefox 3. But if you run Vista, you may be experiencing the frequent crashes I have.  I found a solution, which so far has stopped the irritation:

An add-on {972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd}:3.0 is causing the crash. Go to C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\extensions and find a folder {972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd} with a install.rdf file inside. Delete the folder.

No crashes yet. Good luck!

The Washington post editorializes today that Obama should accept McCain’s offer to hold a series of joint town-hall meetings where the two could face questions from voters.

Given the seriousness of the war in Iraq, the economy, the energy crisis, and the multitude of issues facing the candidates this is exactly the kind of conversation that Americans need. This format, while vastly different from past debates, could invigorate both voters and the candidates, freeing them from the meaningless, scripted 30-second answers they give in typical debates. At a recent Town Hall meeting McCain gave thoughtful, poignant, and witty responses to voters all over the political map - even letting them follow up to their questions.

Unfortunately, I would be shocked if Obama would accept. I guess this isn’t the kind of change he has in mind.

Fresno State’s run to the College World Series title is phenomenal for many reasons. The team RPI entering the postseason of 89 is the lowest of any NCAA champion for any sport. The Bulldogs had what would be the equivalent of a 13 seed if this was March Madness. Their loss total, 31, is the highest of any college baseball champion. In order to guarantee their entry into the NCAA regionals they had to win the WAC tournament. They’re being called the “most imporbable championship team in NCAA history.”

There are a multitude of similar stats to describe just how amazing this championship is. But what matters most about this unprecedented victory is less the stats than the character of the players, especially considering some of the unsavory characters who have passed through the coaching, administrative, and playing ranks at the university. Read more »

Boy George denied U.S. visa

When it comes to working a crowd, there is none better than Sen. John McCain. During his appearance for a town hall meeting at Fresno State, he took unscripted questions from both supporters and opponents which made for an informative and, at times, entertaining event.

One of the attendees wore a Peace Fresno shirt and asked a “question” that was more of an anti-war statement demanding troops be brought home. McCain was respectful in his disagreement, garnering applause when he said, “this is what this country about” when telling the woman she has the right to her opinion and he respected their differing views.

For all the talk of McCain’s temper and age it was amazing to see in person how amiable, personable, and mobile he was. See McCain in person for five minutes, and any concerns about his age should melt away. He handled people shouting out of turn and adversarial questions with grace and humor.

At a luncheon later in the afternoon he was just as congenial, taking time to shake hands and take pictures with supporters. And there was no better way to finish off the day for me than to get a signature, “Thank you, my friend” from the Senator as he signed an autograph for me.

This video is of McCain’s talk on energy. His forward thinking proposals offer the correct balance between environmental protection and using American ingenuity and industry to improve our energy use.

Read more »

The following from CNN’s web page:

A T.V. exclusive! Christina Aguilera rocks the vote and talks about her new baby with Larry King! Wednesday, 9 p.m. EDT

I’m sure Aguilera appreciates the sentiment.

Sen. John McCain will be holding a town hall meeting at Fresno State’s Sattelite Student Union on Monday, June. at 10 a.m. Doors open at 8 a.m. I would recommend getting there early! Hope to see you there.

Sen. Barack Obama is backing off his previous pledge to take public money for the presidential campaign. If you follow Obama closely, this should not be a surprise. His whole campaign is one of bait-and-switch. He’s a candidate with “change you can believe in” but surrounds himself with some unsavory characters.

And now this. His excuse is that McCain has numerous 527 groups that are circumventing the system. And Obama doesn’t have moveon.org, George Soros, and tons of other high-dollar backers? Obama is a fundraising machine. While he will claim this move is to get away from a “broken system,” it is really a power move. Perhaps “Change, if you can believe it” would more accurately describe this campaign.