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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2007-09-16

Stray Thoughts and Musings On A Sunday 

Been pretty overwhelmed for the last several days with work and other parts of life, so I've been pretty quiet. As a result, I have a lot of pent-up verbage to spew. Indulge me.

Or don't. Whatever. I'm gonna write it, anyway, so . . .

Why Does This Deserve The Front Page?

Republican talking point No. 1: "Avoid saying, 'Gov. Ritter' or 'Bill Ritter.' He needs no help from us with name recognition, so try to stick with 'the governor' or 'our new governor.' "

And there it was, plastered over the entirety of Saturday's Rocky Mountain News, as if this was the giant strategy meme for the Republicans leading into the 2008 election cycle.

Problem shows up in the next paragraph:

That was the "general suggestion" for media interviews that GOP representatives got from their House Minority Office during Ritter's first State of the State speech on Jan. 11.

Oh. So . . . this strategy is NINE MONTHS old! Heck, my first reaction was "I hope there's more to the strategy than that!" But . . . THIS WAS NINE MONTHS OLD.

Again, I ask: why does THIS deserve the front page? Two reasons: slow news day, and, again, the media has managed to find a story it could twist into making Republicans look like buffoons.

I just wish we didn't make it so easy.

There Are Days I Wish John McCain Were More Viable

Today was one of those.

If you didn't see McCain on Meet the Press, go watch it here. Senator McCain went toe-to-toe with both John Kerry and Tim Russert on Iraq, and came out the stronger for it.

If only . . .

And Speaking of Russert . . .

When was the last time you ever heard him try to talk over a Democrat like he did with John McCain today? When was the last time a Republican waved an op-ed in his face like John Kerry did today, and he didn't have the counter-argument ready to go in one of his endless graphics?

THAT, my friends, is how the media tilts the conversation.

Frankly, it's sort of a wonder that Republicans have won anything in the last twenty-five years.

In The Bash Hillary/Move On.org Sweepstakes . . .

I would have to say that the winner was Rudy Giuliani.

Sure, Mitt's response was on the money.

And Fred seems to have missed the boat on this one.

But Rudy came out swinging on Hugh Hewitt AND he took out a full-page ad in the NYTimes blasting Hillary for her failure to denounce MoveOn.org and for her rhetoric in the Senate hearings.

Rudy seems willing to take the fight to both the Democrats AND to the terrorists. That raises him to the top of the field at this point in the BestDestiny primary.

Broncos Unimpressive, But Undefeated

Well, I guess that's one way to keep the crowd with the game right up until the very end. Two weeks in a row. Against weak teams.

Elsewhere in sports . . .

The Buffaloes barely manage to avoid their first shutout in twenty years. But the defense was pretty impressive, and if Cody Hawkins ever got receivers who could catch the ball--and a center who knew the snap count--he could be pretty special.

And the Rockies manage to hang on to their life vest in the wildcard race today. But only by a little bit. Which is fine--all I really require from the Rockies is that the keep me interested between Avalanche/Nuggets season and Broncos season. Mission Accomplished.

Teachers Will Never Be Paid As Professionals . . .

because they do not choose to BE professionals.

Teachers often lament their lack of professional respect in the world, and the commensurate professional-style pay that would come with it. But, in a moment of odd clarity this weekend, I realized that's because teachers have chosen to accept the role of Labor--a role forced on them by their own union.

Which, by the way, is only the first, most obvious artifact of a labor mentality--a union.

More on this another day.
Posted by: Michael / 9/16/2007 11:35:00 PM

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