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‘Oh My!’ indeed.  Does anyone think North Korea’s successful test of a nuclear weapon and the subsequent launch of several short, medium, and long range missile systems is something to pay attention to?  I am not talking about the kind of attention where we go running to the UN with the misguided impression that they’ll actually do something about it, I mean the kind of attention where America decides to stand up and do what needs to be done.

This is how the recent history of the world has played out every time:

European nations sit around and talk about the power of negotiations.
The effectiveness of sanctions.
The need to resolve things peacefully.

Those all sound great on paper, but in the real world things don’t always work out like they do in the movies.  Somehow that point is lost on most of the world.  Sure, we all live on the same planet, but some of us have a, shall we say more rosy view of how things work.

The Bloviator is concerned about what North Korea is doing.  I would suggest that you think for yourself rather than listening to what you hear in the media every day.  There is reason to be worried here.  There is cause to pay attention.  This is more important than whoever won that damn ‘American Idol’ contest this year.  While I am concerned for the 30k+ troops we have in South Korea waiting to apply the beat-down if necessary, I am more concerned about the possibility that North Korea will sell this technology to more dangerous nations.

The Bloviator thinks this week has been one big sales demonstration.

Kim Jong Il is the leader/dictator of a poor and isolated nation that desperately wants to make it in the big leagues.  What better way than to make some noise, blast off some firecrackers (potentially capable of carrying a nuclear warhead) and show nations like Iran what’s on the market.

I sincerely hope that our president is paying attention and doing something behind the scenes.  If we continue to waste our time with the UN we will get nowhere, while North Korea continues to develop their weapons systems and potentially starts to sell them to even more dangerous nations.  Perhaps this is the “test” that Vice President Big Mouth mentioned on the campaign trail last fall.  Let us all hope that we are doing the right thing.

America, up to now, has had a proud tradition of stepping up and acting to do the right thing, even when such actions are not popular to the rest of the world.  America is supposed to stand up for freedom and prosperity, and not apologize for doing so afterwards.

The Bloviator, for one, would rather be safe and proud of what his country has done than be ‘liked’ by the rest of the world.  America acts first and asks for forgiveness, not permission, when the stakes are this high.

Ok – I’ll try and be delicate in how I phrase this, as I am, and have been, an avid fan of NatGeo’s programming for years now. I am an amateur astronomer and avid science, physics, and space geek. This being said, it is understandable that I’ve spent many waking hours either watching educational specials on TV and many more hours actually looking at the cosmos through my own telescopes.

I have been excited about the “Journey to the Edge of the Universe” for weeks now, my TiVo has been waiting many, many days to record this special. To my glee, I found it was a 2 hour program. Jackpot, right? Two hours of great National Geographic programming about my favorite topic, the cosmos.

Less than five minutes into the show, however, I am sitting dumbstruck by how, well, bad, this program is. Maybe “bad” is the wrong word, as I see lots of positive comments by other posters here, but at the very least, I am disappointed. Weeks of anticipation have culminated in Alec Baldwin’s poor attempt to recreate what the great Carl Sagan did decades ago on his own program “Cosmos.”

I am glad so many people seem to have gotten some pleasure out of this program, and I hope a lot of people have learned something from it, however at only 38 minutes in I have concluded that there is nothing new this “Journey” has to offer.

I hope not to offend anyone who thinks this was a great program. I hope your eyes have been opened to the vastness of the universe and what we know…what we think we know…and what we don’t know about it, but I promise you, there are scores of better produced, more educational, and less trite and non-patronizing programs out there.

To National Geographic: If you think of this program as a “gateway,” an attempt to get those not proficient in the lore of space interested in the cosmos, good for you. I only wish you would have billed the program as such and I could have saved some time on my TiVo’s hard drive. However, if you see this program as your triumphant gift of education, knowledge, and wonder to the world, then you should truly be ashamed.

 
Okay everyone – The Bloviator has to formally apologize for the utter failure to post, well, anything on the blog here.  I could use the excuses of being busy, visiting some family, traveling on business – which are all true – but really, The Bloviator has been tired.  Tired of the election, tired of where it seems that our nation is heading, and utterly tired of hearing about Barack Obama.

One quick comment, and then hopefully I can resume the normal posting schedule of at least an article every other day or so, including resuming the normal Weekly Wrap-Up schedule tomorrow.

The quick comment – what the hell is with Obama standing in front of signs stating “The Office of the President Elect?”  Yes, he won the election, but it didn’t take very long for Mr. Presumptuous to start milking the “I’m the f-ing President” angle, did it?  And did you notice, his Presidential seal is back on those placards?  

Here’s an image to illustrate the point – and again, more to follow in tomorrow’s Weekly Wrap-Up…

Earlier this week Senator and Vice-Presidential nominee Joe Biden said of Barack Obama:  “Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. . . . I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate. And he’s gonna need help.”  Biden even added that the Democratic base “would have to stand with them because it wouldn’t be apparent that Senator Obama would have the right response.”  Too bad they cannot seem to give the same benefit of the doubt to President Bush and the Iraq war, which now seems to be headed towards victory when everyone wrote the effort off as a lost cause more than a year ago.

Biden was trying to speak about the world testing an Obama presidency in some way, however whatever his intention was the words just did not come out right, and since then John McCain and Sarah Palin have been pounding the Obama campaign for it.  Biden’s comments seem to fit right into McCain’s claim that Senator Obama is simply not ready to lead, and that the American people should not elect someone who will need on the job training during such a crisis as Biden seems to be promising us.

One would assume such a statement would be big news, but assuming that would also require an assumption that the mainstream media was not already in the tank for Barack Obama.

The NY Times buried Biden’s quote in an article on page A18 under the headline “Obama Briefly Leaving Trail to See Ill Grandmother.”  Similarly, NBC and MSNBC News both have refused to run the full text of Senator Biden’s quote.  If there were any remaining doubt that these organizations were not in the tank for Obama this act should resolve those questions.

The Bloviator finds himself agreeing with Sean Hannity in that 2008 is truly the year that journalism died.  My last remaining hope is that once Obama is elected…and that is the way things are headed right now…the media will turn on him and start to report on the issues of the day again rather than spending their time covering up their candidate’s mistakes.  Who does the press think they are, anyway, to decide what the American people should and should not know about?  Their job is to tell us everything – it is our job to decide what is important and what is not.

So much has happened again this week, so much that it’s been hard for The Bloviator to keep up with things.  Obama’s ads popped up in XBox games, we had the third and final Presidential debate – starring Joe the Plumber, the New York Times trashed Cindy McCain, the Supreme Court upheld a decision making it easier for voter fraud to occur in Ohio, and Sarah Palin makes an, albeit short, appearance on SNL.  Topping all of that, The Bloviator has been busy in his real life too (you know – the Clark Kent stuff), so there have not been that many posts this past week.  So, let’s get to the Wrap-Up…

Presidential Debate #3 and ‘Joe the Plumber’

First things first, The Bloviator wants to know where the John McCain we saw on Wednesday night has been for the last few months.  Senator McCain was fired up and, while he could have hit Obama harder on topics like his tax-cut that isn’t really a tax-cut, McCain did a pretty good job of hitting Obama where it counted.  For the first 45 minutes of the debate it looked as if McCain had Obama on the defensive, hitting him over and over again on taxes and even scoring a great hit when he told Senator Obama that if he “wanted to run against President Bush” he “should have run 4 years ago.”  That was a good line, but it may be coming at a point too late in the race to matter.  With under 20 days until election now most voters have already made up their minds…and those who were still undecided will likely pull that lever for Obama out of nothing more than pure hatred for President Bush.

Senator McCain pushed Senator Obama on his response to ‘Joe the Plumber’ earlier in the week where Obama said, among other things, that he wanted to “spread the wealth around” in his administration.  That sounds a lot like socialism to The Bloviator, and McCain attacked that as nothing more than a welfare program.  McCain brought up Joe more than 20 times through the course of the debate, and at this late point in the game, if anything is going to resurrect McCain’s campaign it is Joe the Plumber – or more appropriately Obama’s response to his question.

Aside from from pointed questions and responses about the negativity in both campaigns, and McCain’s constant attacks using Joe the Plumber as a “Joe six-pack” metaphor, the rest of the debate was pretty much just the same old talking points we’ve heard from the candidates for the past many months now.  While McCain came out strong and kept on hitting, Senator Obama more or less kept his cool and just let McCain punch himself out.  By the end of the debate Obama was back on his game and just spouting the same old lines we’ve heard from him for over a year now.

Can we no longer ask candidates tough questions?

If you’ve heard any newscast since Senator Obama dropped the “spread the wealth around” response on Joe Wurzelbacher, you’ve likely been subjected to the smears of this ordinary America.  Joe, whose real name is Samual Joseph Wurzelbacher, did not go out of his way to see Senator Obama.  He did not seek to crash a campaign rally or anything of the sort.  Senator Obama was in Joe’s neighborhood so he decided to ask him a question…and it was a good question.  In fact, as Senator McCain said recently, Joe managed to get more honesty out of Senator Obama than all the mainstream media and press have been able to for the last 20 months.

It is because of this honest question, and the honest answer Obama gave him, that the media have systematically scoured through Joe’s personal life.  They have uncovered that Joe is really named Samuel (Joe is his middle name…big deal), that he is not actually licensed as a plumber (he currently works under someone else’s license…call the FBI), he owes around $1,200 in back taxes, the list just goes on.  In 48 hours the liberal media managed to uncover more about Joe the Plumber than they have found about Barack Obama in 20 months.  This is a scary thing to The Bloviator.  All Joe did was ask a simple question, and he got a simple answer.

Senator Obama’s answer reeks of socialism, and for that the media attacks and attempts to discredit Joe rather than asking Obama about his position.  The moral of this story seems to be that if you intend to ask Obama a question that makes him look bad you’d better make sure there is nothing in your past that can be used against you, because Obama’s Gestapo will be coming for you in the night.

Colin Powell Endorses Obama

In a move that is no big surprise for anyone in politics, former Bush Secretary of State and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell announced on Sunday morning that he is endorsing Senator Obama for President.

The Bloviator really could care less who endorses who for what, as I do not think endorsements mean anything and policies and track records mean everything, however I feel I must ask a simple question.  Powell was for the Iraq war in a way that almost no one else was back in 2003.  It can be argued that without his testimony in front of the UN holding that vial he claimed was filled with WMD agents from Iraq, the US would have never gone into that war.  On the contrary, Senator Obama claims to have opposed the war from the start.  Do you think you’re going to hear Obama come out and denounce Colin Powell for his role in bringing the US into this war?  The Bloviator isn’t holding his breath.

Now, I should also say that I admire and respect Gen. Powell a great deal, but in his press conference this morning he claimed that the recent negativity from the McCain campaign was part of his reason for deciding to support Obama.  Powell went so far as to say that McCain had called Obama a muslim.  I feel I must point out this could not be further from the truth, and in fact Senator McCain stopped to chastise someone at a recent rally for suggesting that fact.  One would think that Gen. Powell could have at least had his facts straight.

Sarah Palin Appears on SNL

This Saturday evening there were two Sarah Palins on Saturday Night Live, the character played by Tina Fey and the real deal, Governor Palin herself.  I should preface that I have not paid one bit of attention to SNL for many years now as it has been many moons since that show was anything close to funny.  However, it still gets Tivo’d in my house, so I happened to see the two short skits the Governor was in this week.

I have only one comment about the appearance.  What was the point again?  Governor Palin did herself no service by appearing on the show, except perhaps to look Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels in the face behind the scenes.  Her skits were not funny, and she had about 60 seconds of total speaking time.  The only thing of note Palin managed to accomplish was to deliver the “live from New York, it’s Saturday night” line.  Perhaps I’m just biased against SNL as I truly hate that show now, but I just do not see what Governor Palin gets out of a deal where she in turn validates the jack-asses on SNL by proxy of her presence.

Security Clearance Shopping Season Starts Earlier and Earlier

It was announced on Sunday morning the the government has approached both Senators McCain and Obama to determine who will have potential seats in their respective cabinets so they can begin the initial research portion of the security clearance process.  This is reported as a needed step due to potential terrorist activity immediately following the election, however The Bloviator wonders if this is actually a move to vette some of Senator Obama’s potential cabinet members before he has a chance to take office as President (as it does look more and more like Obama is going to the White House).  No, I am not a subscriber to the “right-wing conspiracy” mentality, but seeing as how Obama would not even qualify for security clearance in his own administration this may be a prudent step to take while the government still has the power to do so.  More on this story as it develops over the coming days…

In the interest of time…

Other events of note this week included the fundraising Al Smith dinner at which the candidates both appeared and gave very funny speeches, the roller-coaster that is the Dow, and the horrible article in the New York Times attacking Cindy McCain, however The Bloviator is out of time in this week’s Wrap-Up, so analysis of those items will be forthcoming in the next few days.

 
Oh what stupid things the candidates sometimes say.  Barack Obama told the New York Times this week that he is “convinced that if there were no Fox News, I [Obama] might be two or three points higher in the polls.”

He continued to say “If I were watching Fox News, I wouldn’t vote for me, right? Because the way I’m portrayed 24/7 is as a freak! I am the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal. Who wants somebody like that?”  

Pardon The Bloviator’s French, but what the hell is that?  Obama tries to clarify the point he was making was that “there is an entire industry now, an entire apparatus, designed to perpetuate this cultural schism, and it’s powerful.”

Boo-hoo, Senator Obama.  Have you been so spoiled by the mainstream media’s coddling and failure to ask you any tough questions or challenge you on any of your policies that you honestly believe that Fox News is out to get you?  Is this the powerful right-wing conspiracy striking again?  The Bloviator thinks not.

Do American’s really want a President that whines about a little tough questioning?  Wouldn’t it be so easy if there were just no Fox News, no one to ask tough questions, no one to actually look into a candidate’s background, and no one to provide fair, balanced interviews on topics that actually matter to the American public?

If that is all true, if we should just not ask tough or hard-hitting questions, then by the same logic could we just wish Iran away by telling the NY Times ‘the world would be a much safer place if there were no Iran developing nuclear weapons?’

The Bloviator thinks that Senator Obama had better toughen up.  He has exhibited this type of behavior before, whether it be his preemptively playing the “race card” with that ‘Presidents on the dollar bills’ comment or his constant attempts to label anything unfavorable to his campaign as a “distraction.”  

If Senator Obama wants to lead the United States, and by proxy the free world, he had better learn to deal with tough questions and, yes…maybe even a person or two who does not share his perfect vision of the world.  Obama may be getting a pass from the media during the campaign, but does he really expect that to last after the election?

 
Jermoe Corsi, the author of the bestselling book “The Obama Nation,” was detained by Kenyan authorities last week just before he was supposed to hold a press conference to discuss Barack Obama and links to the Kenyan government.  Corsi, who also authored “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” surrounding the 2004 Presidential election, was also intending to give a $1,000 check to Obama’s half-brother George Obama, who currently lives in a Nairobi slum.

Corsi’s claim, which is now published on World Net Daily, is that Barack Obama has been providing direct support for Raila Odinga’s failed 2007 presidential campaign in Kenya.  Odinga’s loss was followed by chaos and deadly violence in Kenya that, according to emails collected by Corsi while in Kenya, damaged hundreds of Christian churches.  

Dr. Corsi was intercepted by Kenyan authorities in Nairobi just a few minutes before he was to hold a press conference to announce his findings.  The Kenyan government has several different accounts of the event, ranging from Corsi being held to “answer some questions” to his not having a work permit for his activities. 

According to a Times Online story, “a source at Nyayo House, where Dr Corsi was being held, said the author had been detained for references made to Raila Odinga, the Kenyan prime minister, and allegations that his Muslim supporters had engaged in a wave of violence that rocked the country after December’s disputed elections.”

Obama’s father is well known as an economist and widely admired in Kenya, offering potential motivation for Barack Obama to have campaigned for Odinga.  Odinga is seen by many in Kenya to have been cheated out of the presidency in the 2007 election.  Barack Obama is very popular and was met by thousands of supporters in his last trip to Kenya in 2006.  Obama’s image appears on buttons, t-shirts, and buses throughout Kenya, where the locals are following the US Presidential election closely.

Corsi was held until just before his return flight to London was to depart and was then allowed to leave.  You can read additional details and first-hand accounts of Corsi’s detention at World Net Daily’s website.

In an interesting note today, Fox News is reporting that Senator and Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama is advertising on billboards…on the XBox 360.

Gamers playing the online version of ”Burnout Paradise” are now seeing virtual billboards along the side of the virtual roads reporting that “early voting has begun” along with the website voteforchange.com.

The game is produced by EA Games, who claims that they do not support any political candidate and would offer advertising to John McCain should he inquire.  According to EA spokesperson Holly Rockwood, EA Games, “like most television, radio and print outlets…accept[s] advertising from credible political candidates.” Ms. Rockwood emphasizes that “these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams.”

The Bloviator sees nothing wrong with this, it really is no different than television or print advertising in my opinion, however it does make me cringe a bit anyway.  What happened to the days when video games were an escape from reality?  Now there is no place sacred from political campaigns.

Perhaps it would not be quite so creepy if there were virtual Obama and McCain sprites walking the streets of Liberty City in “Grand Theft Auto,” at least then we could have a little fun with them.

Image courtesy Foxnews.com

 
This past week was a doozy, including lots of fireworks from each presidential campaign, a 20% drop in the Dow and other markets, accusations of voter fraud, a boring debate, and an OJ Simpson conviction.

“Nuts” to ACORN

As I discuss at length in my post, Something’s Rotten at ACORN, there are accusations of voter fraud by the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now, or ACORN, in at least 12 states across the country.  Barack Obama is doing his best to distance himself from the group, even though his campaign paid one of their proxy groups more than $800,000 to help register voters on behalf of the Obama campaign.  Obama has…sort of…condemned any illegal actions ACORN may be involved with, but when asked about the group and their links to Senator Obama, his campaign tries to change the subject to Republican “voter suppression.”

The reality is that voter fraud and suppression, by either side or by neutral groups, is completely unacceptable.  Actions such as those of ACORN, should they prove true as the many, many investigations shake out, amount to stealing the election from the American people.  The Bloviator does not quite understand why such actions would be necessary from the left as their candidate is supposed to be the second coming and should not need any help from us mere mortals.

North Korea Tests Missiles, Removed from US Terrorism List

North Korea tested medium to long range missiles earlier this week after moving several missile launchers to the coast at the beginning of the week.  We are told the tests were successful, however in today’s day and age we must take everything North Korea claims with a grain of salt.  Remember their “successful” underground test of a nuclear weapon in 2007 that turned out to be, at least according to US officials, a failed test?  I have also heard reports that Kim Jong Il has resurfaced at a sports event after he was presumed to have a severe stroke, although no pictures of the Korean leader have been circulated.  

In a classic example of bad timing on the part of the US State Department, North Korea was removed from the State Department’s list of terrorist-sponsoring nations this Saturday.  This move the the US government was actually our part of a deal reached between the US and N. Korea months ago in return for their destruction of key nuclear facilities and allowing UN weapons inspectors to return to the nation.  Recently, though, in a series of saber-rattling moves by N. Korea, they have begun to reassemble some of these dismantled facilities, have kicked-out the UN inspectors, and have requested the IAEA remove the seals placed on their reactors.

So…while the removal of N. Korea from the terrorism list was our part of the deal we have now given the appearance that we are soft on this issue and will give in to foreign dictator’s demands if pushed enough.  The Bloviator thinks this was a bad call, or at least bad timing, on the part of the State Department.

Dow goes down, down, down…is it Obama’s fault?

The roller-coaster ride in US and world markets continued this week as the Dow and other key indexes were down another 20% in the first 8 days of trading in October.  It now seems that every day either President Bush or Secretary Paulson will make a “don’t panic” speech timed with the daily opening of the markets, which is promptly followed by a several hundred point loss during the course of the day’s trading.  Given the track record of the past week The Bloviator wishes that the President and the Treasury Secretary would just shut the hell up.  Telling American’s not to panic is a recipe for disaster, and we need to stop the panic selling before there are no markets left.

On top of the daily “don’t panic” speeches from Bush & Paulson, I wonder how much of the recent selling has to do with the recent polling in the Presidential election.  With just 23 days remaining before the election time is short, and as the economy continues to dive into the tank it looks more and more like Barack Obama is going to be the next President of the United States.  Obama makes no secret of the fact he intends to double capital gains taxes.  If I had a large market portfolio I might be tempted to sell off now too, before the taxes on whatever income I might receive double while market value continues to fall.  

It does not take a graduate economist to figure out it is a bad idea to raise taxes in an economic downturn or recession, but that is precisely what Barack Obama promises to do.  He has had many chances, including in both recent debates, to back down from that position but he continues to boldly champion his plan to raise taxes on the very class of citizens that create the precious jobs we will need to recover from the current situation.  Our society is on a dangerous crossroads between capitalism and socialism, and The Bloviator fears we are already headed down the wrong road.

OJ Simpson Convicted…Karma or Racism?

Thirteen years – to the exact day – O.J. Simpson was found guilty in Nevada of a host of felonies, including kidnapping, armed robbery, and ten other counts related to his self-described “sting” operation involving sports memorabilia.  Sentencing is scheduled for December 5th, and Simpson will be held without bond until then.  As soon as the ‘Juice’ had been taken from the courtroom after the jury’s verdict was read his attorneys began to claim that racism and vengeance were the primary factors in the conviction, however the jury members say that the recordings made during the crime were the most compelling evidence.

True, it may be difficult to find anyone in this country that does not know about the 1995 double-murders and the following trial in which OJ was acquitted.  Memorable one-liners like “if the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit” come to mind immediately.  It is insulting to think that the jurors, all of whom where interviewed and approved by both the prosecution and the defense, are somehow incapable of separating their opinions about the 1995 murders and the 2007 armed robbery.

Regardless of which side of the argument you happen to be on, one thing is almost certain – the ‘Juice’ is going to do time this time around.  His legal team promises to appeal, but there does not appear to be much chance of success…although OJ has proven to be a modern-day Houdini when it comes to the legal system.

Supports to McCain:  ”Take it to him”

If you happened to see the second Presidential debate you might not think John McCain has much passion and fight left in him.  That debate was an exercise in dullness, with both candidates reading from their campaign’s talking points and neither getting fired up about anything.  Senator McCain and Governor Palin have been traveling the country this week holding town hall style rallies, and several citizens have stood up and literally begged McCain to take the fight to Senator Obama.

McCain was asked in Wisconsin why he is allowing “socialist to take over our country” from a citizen upset about the potential of Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama controlling our country.  The gentleman went on to say he was “mad” and that “it’s time for you two [McCain and Palin] to start fighting for us.”

Similarly, McCain was literally begged to attack Obama when a supporter said ”We have the good Reverend Wright. We have [the Rev.] Pfleger. We have all of these shady characters that have surrounded him.  We have corruption here in Wisconsin and voting across the nation. I am begging you, sir. I am begging you. Take it to him.”

On Friday McCain had to step back and tell his crown not to “fear” an Obama presidency, which was received by silence and boos from the crowd.

Perhaps McCain will get the message…voters are upset and many are fearful that an Obama administration will be the straw that breaks the fragile camel’s back.  At this point, though, The Bloviator is less than optimistic.  I’ve said many times recently that this is no longer McCain’s race to win, but Obama’s to lose.  We’ll see on November 4th.

Alaska “TrooperGate” Report Released

The so-called “TrooperGate” report surrounding Gov. Sarah Palin’s potential abuse of her powers was released on Friday evening…with mixed results.

The report claims that Governor Palin abused her powers in that she did not stop her husband, Todd, from his attempts to get trooper Wooten fired for his alleged misconducts and threats against the Palin family, however there was no wrong-doing cited on the part of the governor and no sanctions or disciplinary actions were imposed.  Apparently the governor abused her powers by not preventing her husband from following up and pressing the issue.

The Bloviator fails to understand how not preventing a private citizen from asking questions within their rights is an abuse of power.  Is this Democratic senator French’s “October surprise” that he promised earlier this year?  The McCain campaign calls this report the result of a politically motivated “kangaroo court” and dismisses the findings as a $100,000 waste of Alaskan taxpayer dollars.  At best this report is based on speculation and here-say, at worst it is a politically motivated attack on the popular governor.  

Georgia Congressman Injects (more) Race into campaign:

Democratic Congressman John Lewis from Georgia attempted to inject race into the campaign by comparing the atmosphere of some recent McCain rallies to former Gov. George Wallace’s racially inflammatory statements in the 1960’s.  Lewis’ comments are a little surprising as McCain cited the Congressman as someone he would consult if he became president earlier this year at Pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church forum.

Lewis, speaking of segregationist and former Gov.  George Wallace, saying Wallace “never threw a bomb.  He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights.  Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.”

Lewis concluded that “Senator McCain and Governor Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all.  They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy.”

Senator McCain took great offense to the Congressman’s statement, commenting that ”Congressman John Lewis’ comments represent a character attack against Governor Sarah Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale.  The notion that legitimate criticism of Senator Obama’s record and positions could be compared to Governor George Wallace, his segregationist policies and the violence he provoked is unacceptable and has no place in this campaign.”

McCain called on Obama to “immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments.”  The Obama campaign released a statement over the weekend distancing themselves from Lewis’ comments, and even Lewis himself has since changed his tune a bit, however when directly questioned about Lewis’ comments on the campaign trail Sunday Senator Obama effectively ignored the question and offered no comment.

 
The Bloviator wonders if the election is over.  According to the polling and the mainstream media, the jig is up for John McCain and Sarah Palin.  The latest Rasmussen polling, which includes voters leaning one way or the other, shows McCain is now running at an 11% deficit.  That’s a pretty big margin, and with the markets heading further into the tank, unemployment numbers climbing, and the third quarter earnings due out just a few days before the general election the deck seems to be stacked against the Republicans in a big way.

Tuesday’s debate was, in a word, worthless.  Barack Obama continued to read straight from his campaign’s talking points and comparing everything John McCain does or wants to do with President Bush.  John McCain did not come out swinging or show any passion on any issue, and just basically read from his campaign’s talking points as well.  This was not helped by the fact that the questions were literally horrible, Tom Brokaw essentially moderated the same two or three questions throughout the entire evening and only focused on the economy and a little bit for foreign policy.  Yes – the economy is important, but voters want to hear answers to questions about topics such as abortion, gun rights, property rights, and anything else that has an effect on our everyday lives.  This did not happen – and the only real sticking points of the debate were the constant requests from Brokaw that the candidates follow the time limit rules of the debate.  What a waste of my Tuesday evening.  I will not even be providing a detailed analysis of the debate as I truly felt it was a worthless undertaking.

The main question now has two parts.  First, whether or not there is enough time for McCain to forge some sort of a comeback.  I know we all have the memory of a goldfish so most of us probably do not remember when the McCain’s primary campaign died out and he was left for dead, travelling between stops on commercial airlines and carrying his own luggage, and somehow he managed to fight his way back to the top and secure the nomination.  Judging by how volatile the polls have been this year it would appear as if these last few weeks do offer enough time for a comeback.  The second, and more important part of the question, is what can McCain do to get the country excited about him again.  This is the key – and we will have to wait and see, but every passing day is a day wasted for his campaign.  If McCain has any hopes of winning he has to do something – and something BIG – fast.  If not, his only hope is that Obama somehow loses this race.