OTB Caption JamTM
Weekend Caption Jam Linkfest. . . Rodney hopes she gets her parking validated. Wizbang is selling to the highest bidder. Wyatt Earp is getting smacked. Willisms has been hitting the sauce. Cowboy Blob is getting a little hair of the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 30, 2008 09:47
Sarah Palin, “Small Town Mayor”
Those who've read my previous commentary on Sarah Palin, notably yesterday's post on the announcement of Palin as McCain's VP pick, know that I think she's a poor choice. While she has many fans and may be possessed of some remarkable political gifts, she's a tough sell as "Ready On Day One" and thus undercuts McCain's best argument against Barack ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 30, 2008 08:58
In Other News: Iran Increases Centrifuges to 4,000
As odd as it may seem there are other things happening in the world outside of the American presidential election. One of these is that it has been reported that Iran has increased the number of centrifuges it has deployed for enriching uranium to 4,000: TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has increased the number of operating centrifuges at its uranium enrichment ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 29, 2008 18:10
Obama’s Convention Bounce
Team Obama is shrewdly lowering expectations, saying they may well not get any bounce at all from their convention. That, of course, would be a first. Yesterday, when Gallup's poll showed a 3 point uptick in their rolling average, I said that it could either be an actual bounce or random fluctuation caused by sampling error. Now, though, we're ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 29, 2008 10:38
Sarah Palin - John McCain’s VP Choice
BREAKING: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has been tabbed as John McCain's vice presidential running mate, CNBC reports. ________________________ Earlier this morning, all signs were pointing to Tim Pawlenty as John McCain's running mate. He even had issued the requisite "I'm not the guy" statement. His name has been on the short list all along and, while he's not an exciting choice, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 29, 2008 08:56
Strong Horse/Weak Horse
There's an interesting quote and observation in the New York Times article about the failure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional organization consisting of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, to support Russia's action in the Caucasus: Although the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan fall within what Moscow considers its sphere of influence, and ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 29, 2008 08:49
Obama’s Acceptance Speech: The More Things CHANGE, The More They Remain the Same
I wrote a quick post before bed last night giving my off-the-cuff reaction to Barack Obama's nomination acceptance speech, arguing that, despite all the talk of "change," it was basically a speech that Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, or John Kerry could have given. The NYT has a six-page transcript of the speech as delivered. Let's ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 29, 2008 08:14
Deadweight Loss
Can somebody send this link to Wikipedia's entry on deadweight loss to the Obama campaign (and the McCain campaign too)? This is one of the reasons why there is no such thing as a magic energy pony that is going to allow us to "end our dependence on Middle Eastern oil." And please spare me the complete bravo ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 29, 2008 03:23
The Obama Concert
I share James' view that the first part of the speech could have been delivered by any previous candidate. About the only place the speech differed is that Obama is clearly a more gifted public speaker than Kerry or even Gore. The speech is the same old stuff we've heard before. There are more people unemployed, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 29, 2008 03:14
Obama’s Speech
Barack Obama's speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination was . . . long. Too long. The last fifteen or twenty minutes of it, when he went into preacher mode and talked of unity and reconciliation and change and such, were uplifting and solid political theater. Whether it'll meet the ridiculously high expectations that he had coming in -- and ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 28, 2008 23:15
