A Babbling Stream of Semi-Consciousness
I was struck by this line from John McCain’s Tuesday speech:
America has seen tough times before. We’ve always known how to get through them.
Yeah, I’m thinking of the Great Depression. World War II. Tough times. We got through them by electing a Democrat.
Thanks for reminding us, Sen. McCain.
John McCain, last night before Clinton or Obama spoke:
Hillary Clinton spoke next:
The Obama video was posted earlier.
The Democrats seem to have an enthusiasm advantage, if nothing else.
(Update: Boiled down and pre-digested by pundits.)
It may seem silly, but one of John McCain’s challenges in the campaign ahead is to prevent Republican true believers at rallies — and particularly at the Convention — from breaking into that old GOP chant, “Four more years! Four more years!”
McCain’s in trouble if voters think he’s running for Bush’s third term, but Republicans love that chant. The Republican loyalists know that even though John McCain isn’t George W. Bush, any Republican administration is going to give thousands of powerful government jobs to the same legion of party stalwarts who enabled Bush and Cheney. They’ll carry on the revolution, even if McCain flip-flops from his primary election positions, and starts claiming he’s unenthusiastic about parts of Bush and Cheney’s legacy.
Somewhere, some devious Democrats are plotting dirty tricks right now — send a dozen or so provocateurs to some McCain rallies, and when says he won’t withdraw from Iraq, start chanting “Four more years! Four more years!” The Republican faithful in the crowd will feel compelled to join the chant, of course, and Obama will have another TV ad where he can stick that picture of McCain hugging Bush.
Oh, Democrats are sneaky.
I saw some angry Hillary Clinton supporters on TV, declaring that they’ll vote for John McCain in November if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee.
Yeah, let McCain name the next two or three Supreme Court justices, replacing aging moderates. That’ll certainly advance women’s rights.
George W. Bush discussing a global warming bill on Monday:
I urge the Congress to be very careful about running up enormous costs for future generations of Americans.
Really — does this guy ever listen to himself?
Bo Jackson was a professional baseball player and a professional football player, and he was pretty good at both jobs. But, according to this 1989 Nike commercial, he couldn’t play guitar.
Bo Diddley, rest in peace.
Dit dit dit, dah dah dah, dit dit dit…
It took ESPN five days to fire this guy:
Mark Madden, who made his reputation with bold, outlandish attacks on famous people, has been permanently removed from the air by ESPN.
His dismissal, which came down from ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., came five days after he made a scurrilous remark about U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on his 1250 ESPN talk show, which ran from 3 to 7 p.m. weekdays.
…
At the opening of his show last Wednesday, Madden said this about Sen. Kennedy, who days earlier had been diagnosed with brain cancer:
“I’m very disappointed to hear that Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts is near death because of a brain tumor. I always hoped Senator Kennedy would live long enough to be assassinated.
“I wonder if he got a card from the Kopechnes.”
At the urging of station general manager Mike Thompson, Madden apologized over the air for his remarks about two hours later.
After initially reviewing the situation on a local level, Madden was neither reprimanded nor suspended. When asked if there would be some form of punishment, Thompson said, “No. The fact is we took action right away. Frankly, it was a comment that was stupid. He admitted that. I don’t think it requires any such thing as [discipline].”
ESPN had a change of heart, and it came from the corporate level in Bristol.
You know, I don’t think Madden’s going to have any trouble getting another job. On radio and some cable TV channels, outrageous hate speech is a career move these days. Who knows — CNN Headline News, perhaps?
The same orbiting camera that captured yesterday’s photo of the Earth and the Moon from Mars got this photo of the Phoenix spacecraft descending toward Mars under its 30-foot wide parachute. That’s the Martian surface in the background.
The Washington Post has faces of the fallen from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial is online.
Of course, there are many other wars, many other fallen soldiers, many other memorials.
Happy Memorial Day.
Via Stranger Fruit, the planet Earth and its Moon, as seen from Mars. To the naked eye, Earth would be nothing more than a bright blue point of light in the Martian night sky. This photo was taken by a very high-resolution camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, like looking through a powerful telescope.
Today’s a big day for Earth-Mars relations. The Phoenix lander is scheduled to touch down in the far north at 7:53 PM EDT tonight. Scientists believe there is water ice under the surface there, and Phoenix is equipped to dig for it. (Speculation that Phoenix will bring the ice back to earth to counteract global warming is a pretty good joke, I think.)
If you are a space nut, Space Nut Central (better known as The Planetary Society) suggests places where you can follow the landing live.
Update: Photos from the Phoenix lander.
It sounded like Hillary Clinton was explaining to her most rabid followers that she still had a path to the nomination, if only one of them would take the hint:
“My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right?” she continued. “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.”
Her advisers quickly explained that Clinton merely intended to note that this was not the first primary campaign to stretch into the summer, not to suggest that Obama might be assassinated. Clinton later apologized to the Kennedy family while speaking to reporters, saying she did not mean to offend anyone.
So it was really just about the fact that primaries run until June, that’s all.
Open Letter:
Dear Ohio Obama Delegate:
Because I voted for Barack Obama in the Ohio primary, I’m happy to say I contributed, in my small way, to your selection as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Therefore, I’ll make bold to ask a favor of you. I would ask the same of all Obama delegates, if I could.
Please: if something happens to Sen. Obama before the Convention ends — if some unlucky accident should befall him, if he’s swallowed up in an earthquake, or if a meteor hits him, or if he’s struck by a bolt of lightning — then please support John Edwards at the Convention.
Thank you for your attention and consideration.
I don’t think Sen. Clinton would listen to my advice, if I offered it. Even though it would give her a lot more leisure time.
Update: A little more perspective from a New York Times reporter traveling with the Clinton campaign.
Via Daring Fireball, Mac Mother Ship has a gallery of Apple advertisements and brochures. I bought my first computer — an Apple //e — twenty-five years ago, and this didn’t bring back memories for me until well down on the second page.
This John McCain ad reminds me of Hillary Clinton’s Christmas gift ad:
McCain does seem to be trying to distance himself from Bush. Why, this ad promises to reverse almost everything done by Bush and Cheney.
To be fair, if you had videotape of everything I’d ever said in my life, you might be able to put together something to create the impression that I wasn’t presidential timber, either.
