Archive for October, 2008
Peter to Pay Paul
I do not normally read poetry. Generally I do not go in for over the top sentiment. However, the current environment and the government’s reaction to it reminds me of the Rudyard Kipling poem “If.” It seems to me that the international leaders, the markets investors, and pretty much everyone else should read this poem and remember what it is to be a grown up?
Is this a crisis? You betcha. But as is generally the case it is looking more and more like the cure will be more deadly than the disease.
“You can tell a lot about a guy from his shoes”
Today cable news is paying too much attention to what the McCain campaign paid for Sarah Palin’s clothes. This is a story I couldn’t possibly care less about, and while it’s good for the Obama campaign, it’s not as helpful as focusing on the issues. As I speak the Dow is down 515. Palin will stay connected with those she connects with, but by now most at the margin have been lost, with polls showing that 55% of Americans have reached the self-evident truth that Palin isn’t prepared to be President.
As an Illinoisian I take pride in our state’s history of producing leaders who were great speech makers, like Lincoln, Everett Dirksen, and Adlai Stevenson.
I was thinking of Stevenson today when I heard about Palin, and the famous picture of Stevenson with a hole worn into his shoes. In that spirit, take a look at the pictures below:
A New Interview
An interview with me has just been published on Travis Heerman’s Blogging the Muse. I met him at the World SF convention in Denver in August and was delighted to discuss all aspects of writing and the creative process.
I hope you enjoy reading my interview, as well as the other thirty he has posted. I feel honored to be in the company of award-winners like John Scalzi. Hell, he even asked me some of the same questions!
Tom
Colin Powell Says What Needs To Be Said
Not his endorsement of Barack Obama. The endorsement is all well and good. It will consume some news cycles and run down the clock, and maybe even persuade a few moderates who are on the fence. But I think we should take a step back from the campaign for a second and look at two things Powell said that are only peripherally related to this election. They are deeply important points and Powell put them very eloquently. Read more…
How Will Obama Govern?
With little more than two weeks before the election, it appears rather likely that Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United States. Here’s a look at some of the different models an Obama presidency could follow, and why each one may or may not happen.
What does Buffett’s support say about Obama
I’d recommend Andy Tobais for investment advice and political commentary. Tobias wrote “The only investment guide you’ll ever need” a highly readable book offering very practical, step by step ideas on how to build wealth slowly.
He has a comment up today, that I wanted to submit to the Agora for discussion on Warren Buffett’s support for Obama:
HOW DID WARREN BUFFETT GET SO RICH?
He started with nothing, inherited nothing, made it all by his wits. How? By being uncommonly smart, sure, but also by being wise, which is different, and uncommonly thoughtful; uncommonly decent, which has attracted decency in return; by taking the long view and sorting out what’s important; and – crucially – by being a good judge of talent: knowing which chief executives to bet on.
What does it say about Senator Obama that for the first time ever Warren Buffett has taken an active role in a modern Presidential election, hosting and headlining fundraisers to make Barack Obama our next chief executive?
What does it say about the urgency of the situation?
What does it say about Senator McCain?
New ad: Ninety Percent
The most memorable moment from last night’s debate was easily McCain’s statement that he is not George W. Bush. It was one of his most confrontational moments, and definitely a pre-canned line. McCain had other one liners in the bag, but his delivery fell flat.
As I mentioned in the Urbanagora liveblog of the debate, Obama should have immediately hit back and said, “When you vote with someone 90% of the time, it can be pretty hard to tell you apart.”
Today they hit it out of the park with this ad. (Thanks to Ryan for directing me to this)
Liveblog of final 2008 Presidential debate
Contributors, visitors and friends, please post your thoughts on the debate in the comments to this post. Hopefully we can get a lively discussion going.
Death of a Salesman
Author’s Note: I’ve moved to Vienna, Austria for the year and started a travel blog, omnia vincit amor [also linked on the right side of the page under Brenda Kay]. I’ll be cross-posting quite a bit and here’s my first attempt, some observations about current Austrian politics.