Merit-bound Alley

I wanted to hear Hillary Clinton bring it tonight, and she did. She brought it and then some. Unity, admonishment of those that would vote for McCain because she wasn’t the nominee, and flat-out attacks on McCain.

Hillary was wonderful tonight! Thank you, Sen. Clinton!

Sen. Edward Kennedy made an inspiring speech on the first night of the DNC. He looked good, sounded strong, and it made me sad. Kennedy had an operation on June 2nd to remove part of a malignant brain tumor, and was to continue with rounds of radiation and chemo to continue treatment.

My father died of cancer in 1997. Before that, he had radiation and chemo to treat, and it made him weak, pale, skinny, and bald. Sen. Kennedy does not look like a man who is undergoing cancer treatment. He looks like a man who has traded a year or so of life being sick for a few months of life with his health intact.

So, our next VP is going to be Delaware Senator Joe Biden. I still think a more suitable position for his experience would have been Secretary of State, but this is a good pick! Check out this vid that I saw on De Liberal.

I can’t help but wonder what this is going to mean for our little state. As I said last night to liberaleek, I would expect their hit count to skyrocket, but that’s small potatoes. I imagine every local DE campaign is calling Biden for an endorsement, but I wonder who will get it. Biden has sered in the senate for over 30 years, so is he going to go for the established John Carney? Or will he go with Jack Markell, who has taken up Obama’s call for change?

This has turned our local elections into a whole new game, as a Biden endorsement will carry heavy weight!

Today, we may be hearing who Obama’s VP pick will be. There will likely be discussion all day today here at Delaware Liberal.

I like Joe Biden. His command of foreign policy is unmatched among the potentials, he’s a fairly quick wit, and his ability to say something a little off-key would keep press coverage on the Obama campaign. After a great deal of consideration, the first reason is why I hope he won’t be the VP. Biden is Secretary of State all the way. Think about it, after the election, the VP has almost no real responsibility except as an advisor. What would Joe best advise on? Foreign policy.

Hillary Clinton would be the wisest choice. She’ll give the Obama Campaign a reputation for balls and backbone that, despite it’s strong words against McCain, it has not yet gotten. Clinton is a veteran of Washington clockwork, and will be able to foresee some of the obstacles that Obama won’t. Plainly speaking, her command of internal politics is something that Obama would be wise to learn from.

What else could be gained from a Clinton Vice Presidency? Yes, she adds a veteran perspective to Obama. I think a point that some aren’t seeing is that Obama can reignite in Clinton a bit of youth and idealism that her campign for presidecy sorely lacked. Not only that, Obama has Bill’s merits with strength of ethics that the first Clinton administration lacked. With that, maybe Clinton can secure the next Democratic Presidency. I would very much like to see the next 16 years of Obama, then Hillary Clinton leadership.

One of the laws of life that few people recognize is that we all have something to learn for every other person in this world. If Clinton and Obama can learn the good stuff from each other, I predict very good things for this country in the future: peace, prosperity, happiness, strength, diplomacy, respect both earned for us but also given by us.

Pick Hillary Clinton, Sen. Obama. Give the real idealists something to believe in!

I’ve been interviewed by the NJ on my family’s situation in Georgia. Shirley kindly sent me the link when the story was published.

Not all the facts in the article are exactly right, but it’s a decent rundown. My sister-in-law is now back in Saudi and I did speak to her briefly when she got home. Briefly because she was exhausted. They had no trouble going back home, even though they had to fly into Moscow with Georgian passports. Her father went back from the Ukraine to Tbilisi, and her sister will follow him once everything has calmed down.

The cease fire seems t be holding for now, though Russia has not moved its troops out of Georgia. We’ll see a lot of accusations and posturing from Saakashvili and Medvedev, hopefully nothing that breaks the cease. I’ll be calling my sister-in-law tomorrow just to make sure all is okay, but I have no reason to believe that it isn’t,

It is a gorgeous say out, so the family and I took a trip below the canal for the Middletown Peach Festival. There was music, vendors, balloons, moonbounces, and political booths but surprisingly few actual peaches. Wierd.

While we were waiting to get our hotdogs, I bumped into Jason Scott and we got to bullshit for a bit. I always like to see folks face to face. Jason was carrying his Markell sign and let me know that the famous RSmitty was over at the Cathcart booth.

After I ate the worst hotdog I’ve ever had in my life, we moseyed on over to Markell’s booth and I picked up a sign of my own and the lovely Mrs. Madjeski and I also signed up to volunteer. We then hit Obama’s booth for more free stuff, did something that I’ll talk about in a minute, then headed down Cathcart’s way to meet Randy.

Finally meeting RSmitty was great. We talked about blogs (of course), and Randy clued me in on something that had been nagging the back of my mind since getting there. See, the festival is set up with the main thoroughfare on Main Street, with more stuff on small side streets. What was nagging at me was that, walking down Main, I saw booths for Obama, Markell, and several other Dems. Where the hell were the Republicans?

It turns out that Rep. Bethany Hall-Long had placed all the Democrats in the main areas, and relegated the Republican candidates to the cramped and sometimes difficult to find side streets! How ethical is that? The best part is that the challenger to Hall-Long’s seat, Martha Sturtevant, was tucked away off of even the side streets. I never would have even seen her booth if my daughter didn’t need to take a piss. That’s right, Sturtevant’s booth was behind the port-a-potty! Lovely, huh?

I was shocked that the boths were set up like this on purpose. It’s just so sleazy. Randy and I talked about this for a bit, then it was time for ice cream. Thanks for the water, man!

Anyways, I guess it’s time to talk about the tidbit that I hinted about earlier when I was in Obama’s booth. I didn’t just get a Markell sign to put in my yard today, I also wanted to do more to get him elected. So, I registered as a Democrat today. You heard it here first! For now, I’m no longer an Independent, but a proudish Democrat, on paper at least. We’ll see what happens when Jack is safely in the Governors seat and the next election with a good candidate comes along! If Delaware would open up the primaries, I wouldn’t have to pull this kind of shit.

Joe Madjeski (D-Newark)

UPDATE: I was incorrect in saying that Sturtevant was running against BHL. I should have checked that info. MY apologies!

We need it and Norway has heeded our call!

Nils Olav, honorary colonel-in-chief of the King’s Guard, has been knighted. When asked about his reaction to this great honor, Sir Nils responded, “RAAAAAAAAAAAK”.

He’s a penguin.

Awesome!

Both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain have shown startling ignorance and blind loyalty in their reactions to the conflict in South Ossetia.

Sen. Barack Obama delivered a statement from Hawaii about the worsening crisis in Georgia, declaring of Russia’s aggression in the former Soviet republic, “There is no possible justification for these attacks.”

No possible justification except for the fact that Georgia moved into the are first in strikes to clear the area of South Ossetian separatists. I guess since Georgia is an ally, we should ignore the fact that they have once again thumbed their nose at the fragile cease fire in the region. This kind of blind loyalty is completely irresponsible on the world stage, especially at a point where the world opinion of the U.S. is so low. Our politicians should be denigrating Georgia’s lack of political ethics and reconsidering our positive relationship with the hotheaded Sakaashvili.

Like Sen. John McCain, Obama called for “active international engagement” to address the dispute, “including a high-level and neutral international mediator, and a genuine international peacekeeping force — not simply Russian troops.”

Gutterball! The peacekeeping forces in South Ossetia was comprised of Russian, Georgian, and South Ossetian separatists. Either both candidates are completely retarded, or they have to make serious decisions about replacing their foreign policy consultants.

As a bonus, let’s take a look at the media, who made no effort to even report the fact that the conflict was initiated by Georgia in the first few days. How did they end this article about the candidates views on this horrible conflict?

[Obama] sketched out his plans at a 4,000-person rally on the first day:
“I’m going to get a plate lunch. I might go to Zippy’s. I might go to Rainbow Drive-In. I haven’t decided yet. Get some Zip Min. I’m going to go get some shave ice. I’m going to go body surfing at an undisclosed location. I’m going to see my tutu — my grandma — and I’m going to watch my girls play on the beach, and once in a while I might go into the water. But mostly I’m going to watch them.”

“Obama’s presence caused a stir everywhere he showed up,” the paper reported, but one prominent resident wasn’t impressed — Hawaii’s GOP Gov. Linda Lingle. “This is not ‘American Idol,’” the McCain supporter said of the choice facing voters this year, according to the article. “This is making an important decision on who should lead our nation.”

Just cutting journalism Washington Post! Bravo on giving this war the solemn journalism it deserves. Brav-O!

Del Liberal has a thread going where some of the commenters seemed to be laboring under the misconception that Russia started aggression on Georgian soil. Not so, says this comment from some brilliant (and good-looking) commenter:

I think that some people are forgetting that Georgia started the aggression on the 8th by moving troops and armor into areas controlled by S. Ossetia. Wait, but isn’t S. Ossetia part o Georgia?

No, not really. South Ossetia declared themselves a sovereign Soviet Democratic Republic in 1990 and even held their own elections. The Georgian government didn’t allow the secession and declared S. Ossetia’s elections invalid.

After more violence in 1992 between Georgia and S. Ossetian separatists escalated, a cease fire was declared with the separatists retaining control of some areas and the separatists others.

A peacekeeping force of S. Ossetian, Russian and Georgian forces has been present in the region, but Georgia escalated their presence on the 8th to clear the area of separatists. It was this that caused Russia to move troops into S. Ossetia. It must be kept in mind that the majority of S. Ossetians are in favor of separation and identify more with Russia, using Russian as a primary language and Russian currency. If not for Georgia’s denial, there would be no conflict.

…and lied about it.

Stupid, weak bastard.

Delaware Liberal reports this as well.