Contrarian that I am, I'm voting for
John McCain. I'm not talking about bucking the polls or the media consensus that it's over before it's over. I'm talking about bucking the rush of wet-fingered conservatives leaping to
Barack Obama before they're left out in the cold without a single state dinner for the next four years.
I stand athwart the rush of conservative ship-jumpers of every stripe -- neo (
Ken Adelman), moderate (
Colin Powell), genetic/ironic (
Christopher Buckley) and socialist/atheist (
Christopher Hitchens) -- yelling "Stop!" I shall have no part of this motley crew. I will go down with the McCain ship. I'd rather lose an election than lose my bearings.
First, I'll have no truck with the phony case ginned up to rationalize voting for the most liberal and inexperienced presidential nominee in living memory. The "erratic" temperament issue, for example. As if McCain's risky and unsuccessful but in no way irrational attempt to tactically maneuver his way through the economic tsunami that came crashing down a month ago renders unfit for office a man who demonstrated the most admirable equanimity and courage in the face of unimaginable pressures as a prisoner of war, and who later steadily navigated innumerable challenges and setbacks, not the least of which was the collapse of his campaign just a year ago.
McCain the "erratic" is a cheap Obama talking point. The 40-year record testifies to McCain the stalwart.
Nor will I countenance the "dirty campaign" pretense. The double standard here is stunning. Obama ran a scurrilous
Spanish-language ad falsely associating McCain with anti-Hispanic slurs.
Another ad falsely claimed that McCain supports "cutting Social Security benefits in half." And for months Democrats insisted that McCain sought
100 years of war in Iraq.
McCain's critics are offended that he raised the issue of
William Ayers. What's astonishing is that Obama was himself not offended by William Ayers.
Moreover, the most remarkable of all tactical choices of this election season is the attack that never was. Out of extreme (and unnecessary) conscientiousness, McCain refused to raise the legitimate issue of Obama's most egregious association -- with the race-baiting Rev.
Jeremiah Wright. Dirty campaigning, indeed.
The case for McCain is straightforward. The financial crisis has made us forget, or just blindly deny, how dangerous the world out there is. We have a generations-long struggle with Islamic jihadism. An apocalyptic soon-to-be-nuclear Iran. A nuclear-armed Pakistan in danger of fragmentation. A rising Russia pushing the limits of revanchism. Plus the sure-to-come Falklands-like surprise popping out of nowhere.
Who do you want answering that phone at 3 a.m.? A man who's been cramming on these issues for the past year, who's never had to make an executive decision affecting so much as a city, let alone the world? A foreign policy novice instinctively inclined to the flabbiest, most vaporous multilateralism (e.g., the
Berlin Wall came down because of "
a world that stands as one"), and who refers to the most deliberate act of war since
Pearl Harbor as "the tragedy of 9/11," a term more appropriate for a bus accident?
Or do you want a man who is the most prepared, most knowledgeable, most serious foreign policy thinker in the
United States Senate? A man who not only has the best instincts but has the honor and the courage to, yes, put country first, as when he carried the lonely fight for the surge that turned Iraq from catastrophic defeat into achievable strategic victory?
There's just no comparison. Obama's own
running mate warned this week that Obama's youth and inexperience will invite a crisis -- indeed a crisis "generated" precisely to test him. Can you be serious about national security and vote on Nov. 4 to invite that test?
And how will he pass it? Well, how has he fared on the only two significant foreign policy tests he has faced since he's been in the Senate? The first was the surge.
Obama failed spectacularly. He not only opposed it. He tried to denigrate it, stop it and, finally, deny its success.
The second test was Georgia, to which Obama responded instinctively with evenhanded moral equivalence, urging restraint on both sides. McCain did not have to consult his advisers to instantly identify the aggressor.
Today's economic crisis, like every other in our history, will in time pass. But the barbarians will still be at the gates. Whom do you want on the parapet? I'm for the guy who can tell the lion from the lamb.
Idyllwild loves Halloweeen! Lucy dressed as a unicorn, Bowden was a Samurai, and Jack prowled about like a roaring lion looking for candy to devour. We met our friends the Whites (of course) up by Cafe Aroma with the intention of Trick or Treating together, but that soon proved impractical as our chirrens were moving in different directions and at different rates of speed. We met up with them later at the inn for a pizza dinner though. I used to think that homemade pizza was never as good as pizzeria pizza, but the last few times I've had homemade pizza I found it to be surprisingly more delectable. I'm becoming a homemade pizza kind of guy. What does this have to do with Halloween? Nothing, but it's my blog so I can write about whatever I want. You don't have to read it! Of course, real food always tastes better after feasting on jolly ranchers, tootsie roll pops and such. Thanks for the pizza Emily.
This picture doesn't do justice to the throngs of people who came out for the festivities. I was surprised by two things. The first was that there were more people here for Halloween than actually live in Idyllwild, and the second thing that surprised me was how many of them I knew. I saw a lot of familar faces.
This guy was crazy. Red in the face and with eyes bugging out he was dispensing crazy amounts of candy and with a passion I have never seen before in a Halloween observer. He was surrounded by crowds of screaming kids in front of Idyllwild Heating (I think he's the owner) like a pop idol with his adoring fans. Lucy was too timid to fight her way to the center of the hurly burly at first so I muscled in there with her in my arms. The man was grabbing enormous handfuls of candy and pouring them into the bags and plastic pumpkins in front of him. His eyes landed on poor timid Lucy for a moment and he bellowed, "A UNICORN!!!," and then deposited a night's worth of trick or treating into her bucket. I said, "thanks," but he had already turned toward the shop and was yelling, "more candy! I need MORE CANDY!" ...and the crowd went nuts. I removed Lucy to safety and then dove back in to find Bowden who was literally crawling between the peoples legs, risking his little digits to scoop up butterfingers, smarties, and snickers. I had to use force to remove him because he didn't want to go, but it was for his own good.
Our friends, Dawn and Jason, with their kids were themed after the Wizard if OZ. I think they were the best costumed family I saw tonight. There were a lot of good costumes though.
It was a fun night. Happy Halloween everybody!!!
