The Curmudgeon has been wondering the last couple of days how the Grumpy Old Man (a.k.a. John McCain) has become the leading candidate for the Republican Party. ( Not that the Curmudgeon doesn’t appreciate a certain amount of grumpiness in an old man. If fact the Curmudgeon would argue that once you reach a certain age grumpiness is the only reasonable view on life.)
But how did this Grumpy Old Man become the leading candidate? Most Republicans disagree with him on nearly all of the issues. They hate his amnesty for illegal aliens (McCain/Kennedy). The hate his campaign finance reforms (McCain/Feingold). They are almost apoplectic that he believes there could be man-made causes for global warming. He actually voted against tax cuts!! How can he be leading?
The one thing Republicans seem to agree with him on is the war. Of course, he is dead wrong in his enthusiasm to continue Bush’s War On Iraq. One in which the Grumpy Old Man expects we will be involved in for 100 years, but all the other Republican candidates are warmongers too. (Sorry, Ron Paul still doesn’t count.) Which makes me wonder something else:
(DISCLAIMER: The following is NOT politically correct. For those of you with tender sensibilities, it is suggested that you skip ahead a couple of paragraphs.)
Why is John McCain considered a natural for Commander-In-Chief? The Curmudgeon realizes that he was in the military, but it appears he wasn’t particularly good at it. He didn’t lead any successful wars (i.e. Colin Powell & Norman Schwarzkopf). He got captured and spent five and a half years as a prisoner of war. Although he apparently behaved in an heroic manner while a POW that does not really mean he would be a great military leader. Getting captured is not generally defined as successful.
The same pitch was made that George W. Bush would bring his business experience to the White House as the first president with an MBA. No one seemed to care that W. was not very good at business and managed to lose a great deal of money in the process. They didn’t call his oil company ArBUSTo for nothing. Sorry but I just don’t see the Grumpy Old Man as a naturally great military leader. Maybe he will do for the military what W. has done for the economy. Whoopie!
(Now back to the rant at hand. Don’t tell me if I hurt your sensibilities. You were fairly warned.)
The only explanation for the Grumpy Old Man to win in Florida, where only registered Republicans could vote in the primary, was that it was Florida’s attempt to apologize for 2000. It is mostly their fault that W became president and we are now stuck in a 100 year war on innocent people and a failing economy at home.
They are sorry and are trying to make it up to the rest of the country. If the Grumpy Old Man had won the Republican nomination in 2000 things would almost certainly be better today than they are. So even the Republicans in Florida feel so bad about what they did in 2000 that they voted for the anti-Bush in 2008.
Nice try Florida, but you are not forgiven.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Can't You Just Feel the Excitement?
The Curmudgeon had the “pleasure” of spending a few days this week in the lovely cities of Sugar Land and Beaumont. Bet you’re jealous.
There is no good way to travel from Austin to those exotic locales except to just hitch up the team and head out over land. That resulted in just over a 500 mile round trip. Luckily for you readers I was able to spend some quality time thinking deep thoughts. I’ll begin sharing some of them with you.
Realizing it was going to take quite some time for the Conestoga wagon to cover that distance it became apparent that there needed to be something to do to provide a distraction. I wanted to measure the excitement in the hinterlands about the upcoming Presidential race and then I remembered something that Lyndon Johnson once said.
President Johnson said that if you wanted to measure the commitment that a candidate for office had you needed to look at the bumper stickers on the cars passing by, because in Texas a person who will put your bumper sticker on their car is certainly going to vote for you. So I set out to keep a record of the bumper stickers I saw once I left Travis County.
Results: Zip, Zero, Nada
Maybe one or two slipped by me, but I kept my eyes out and the only presidential bumper sticker I saw was on a old beat up pickup with a gun rack. It said Bush/Cheney. I’m pretty sure it was from 2000.
Additionally not a single person I talked to mentioned the race without prompting. They were fairly evenly split between Hillary, Obama & McCain when I pushed them, but virtually all would have been willing to vote None of the Above.
Can’t wait until our turn to vote.
There is no good way to travel from Austin to those exotic locales except to just hitch up the team and head out over land. That resulted in just over a 500 mile round trip. Luckily for you readers I was able to spend some quality time thinking deep thoughts. I’ll begin sharing some of them with you.
Realizing it was going to take quite some time for the Conestoga wagon to cover that distance it became apparent that there needed to be something to do to provide a distraction. I wanted to measure the excitement in the hinterlands about the upcoming Presidential race and then I remembered something that Lyndon Johnson once said.
President Johnson said that if you wanted to measure the commitment that a candidate for office had you needed to look at the bumper stickers on the cars passing by, because in Texas a person who will put your bumper sticker on their car is certainly going to vote for you. So I set out to keep a record of the bumper stickers I saw once I left Travis County.
Results: Zip, Zero, Nada
Maybe one or two slipped by me, but I kept my eyes out and the only presidential bumper sticker I saw was on a old beat up pickup with a gun rack. It said Bush/Cheney. I’m pretty sure it was from 2000.
Additionally not a single person I talked to mentioned the race without prompting. They were fairly evenly split between Hillary, Obama & McCain when I pushed them, but virtually all would have been willing to vote None of the Above.
Can’t wait until our turn to vote.
Damned Writer's Strike
Because of it there was absolutely nothing on TV last night so I actually watched about the last 45 minutes of the Republican debate.
Impressions:
Mr. 9/11: He is the scariest candidate I can ever remember. He just looks and sounds scary. Those glasses that magnify is eyes are too much. If he is inagurated on January 19th he will nuke somebody by Feb. 1.
Ron Paul: Three words: Bat Shit Crazy!!!
The Mormon: Too slick, too made-up. He is most likely a robot of some kind. I don't think he is an actual human being. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't make the best President of this horrid bunch.
H*ck the Hick: I believe he was probably quite at home when he lived in the trailer house on the lawn of the Arkansas Governor's Mansion. Goober Pyle should not be President of the U S of A.
Grumpy old Man: Does he really think he is funny? Nobody in the Republican Party likes this guy. They certainly don't trust him because he usually votes against them. But when he tries to be funny he comes across like the Great Uncle that you won't let be alone in the same room as your children.
The Lazy Actor Guy: I'm not sure if he was there or not. It is always so hard to tell with him. Has he officially dropped out, or is it too much effort to pick up the phone and tell somebody?
Is this really all the Republicans have? I heard an NPR story (with lovely musical interludes) this week where they were interviewing Republican voters in Florida. One of the voters was hoping Mr. 9/11 would win Florida because he thought that might bring them closer to a brokered convention where the Gray-Beards of the GOP could choose somebody else as the nominee.
Wishful thinking, but looking at this motley crew you can't blame him for hoping.
Impressions:
Mr. 9/11: He is the scariest candidate I can ever remember. He just looks and sounds scary. Those glasses that magnify is eyes are too much. If he is inagurated on January 19th he will nuke somebody by Feb. 1.
Ron Paul: Three words: Bat Shit Crazy!!!
The Mormon: Too slick, too made-up. He is most likely a robot of some kind. I don't think he is an actual human being. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't make the best President of this horrid bunch.
H*ck the Hick: I believe he was probably quite at home when he lived in the trailer house on the lawn of the Arkansas Governor's Mansion. Goober Pyle should not be President of the U S of A.
Grumpy old Man: Does he really think he is funny? Nobody in the Republican Party likes this guy. They certainly don't trust him because he usually votes against them. But when he tries to be funny he comes across like the Great Uncle that you won't let be alone in the same room as your children.
The Lazy Actor Guy: I'm not sure if he was there or not. It is always so hard to tell with him. Has he officially dropped out, or is it too much effort to pick up the phone and tell somebody?
Is this really all the Republicans have? I heard an NPR story (with lovely musical interludes) this week where they were interviewing Republican voters in Florida. One of the voters was hoping Mr. 9/11 would win Florida because he thought that might bring them closer to a brokered convention where the Gray-Beards of the GOP could choose somebody else as the nominee.
Wishful thinking, but looking at this motley crew you can't blame him for hoping.
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