Diary of the Mad Pigeon

Mark Steyn on the Palin pick...

From the Corner over at NRO...

The hostess with the moosest [Mark Steyn]

Over in the Frumistan province of the NR caliphate, our pal David is not happy about the Palin pick. I am - for several reasons.

First, Governor Palin is not merely, as Jay describes her, "all-American", but hyper-American. What other country in the developed world produces beauty queens who hunt caribou and serve up a terrific moose stew?

Go check out the rest.

Diary of the Mad Pigeon. We report, you get Pigeoned. Or something.

Short Thoughts on Palin

Not that I normally write on presidental politics anyway, but I'm reserving my full opinions on Palin until she's given a chance to speak and shake some hands.  As for my initial take:

PROS:  Executive experience.  Can zero a rifle.  Raises 5 kids while running a state larger than some countries.  Beats up members of her own party for their lunch money.  Can arm wrestle Obama and Biden.  Would be the best looking member of the Federal Government (although as far as older women go, I'd take Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu out for a beer).

Case in point:  http://www.vpilf.com/ (If you don't know what the acronym VPILF stands for... ask someone else besides me).

CONS:  Constituents are mostly moose and caribou (which she hunts; a nice touch).  Younger than two of McCain's children.  No international experience, and short on executive experience (although she's the ONLY one on both tickets with executive creds).  Big @$$ glasses.  Are we ready for a Ford F150 in the White House driveway?

Tell me what you think!

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How Hillary REALLY Feels!

Thurday Open Roost

Have a post to share?  Trackback it here!  Remember I have to manually approve trackbacks, so there'll be a delay before I add your ping to the list:

My Other God: Jimi from 123beta
Censorship, Thuggery, or the Supercilious Audicity of Barack Obama from The Pink Flamingo
Class vs the old politics from Mark My Words
Obama Accepts from Adam's Blog
The August Surprise: Sarah Palin to be GOP VP? from The Pink Flamingo
Gaddafi's Son: Lockerbie relatives "very greedy" from The Amboy Times
Two Questions For Barack Following The Palin Nomination from Rhymes With Right
A Question About Palin's "Troopergate" from Rhymes With Right
Gustav is GOOD NEWS for Republicans from Right Truth
How to destroy your credibility from Mark My Words
Sarah Palin - criticisms that fail from Mark My Words
Sarah Palin's experience vs Obama? from Mark My Words

Want to participate?  You can read the rules here, and a discourse on the point of open trackback sessions here.

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Gustav and the Federalist System

AP:  With Gustav approaching hurricane strength and showing no signs of veering off a track to slam into the Gulf Coast, authorities across the region began laying the groundwork Thursday to get the sick, elderly and poor away from the shoreline.

The first batch of 700 buses that could ferry residents inland were being sent to a staging area near New Orleans, and officials in Mississippi were trying to decide when to move Katrina-battered residents along the coast who were still living in temporary homes, including trailers vulnerable to high wind.

The planning for a potential evacuation is part of a massive outline drafted after Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore three years ago, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans and stranding thousands who couldn't get out in time. As the region prepared to mark the storm's anniversary Friday, officials expressed confidence those blueprints made them ready for Gustav.  CONTINUED

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Oddly enough, the lesson today in my American Government class was on Federalism, or how US government powers are divided amongst the many--from individual citizen, to town, all the way up the top.  The intent of the founders, of course, was to ensure the central government didn't encroach on and seize the rights of the people.

Overall the system's worked well, barring issues like the Dred Scott case (Supreme Court determined the Fed could not interfere with slavery, which were state rights) or the 21 drinking age (no federal law mandates a 21 drinking age, but the fed pressured the states to comply through legal bribery).

But where Federalism usually breaks down is in times of national crisis.  Case in point:  Katrina (tomorrow, ironically, is the 3-year anniversary of Katrina's landfall on the continental US).

First of all, the combined resources of New Orleans and Louisiana were flat out overwhelmed--but even though the LA National Guard was trained to handle crises, Gov Blanco was reluctant to activate them since she didn't want them federalized (i.e. state military forces taken over by national command and control).  Blanco also didn't clearly define here needs from FEMA, to include not requesting federal military assistance.

Transportation, evacuation and medical broke down from lack of coordination at all levels of government.  It's a shame the ugly side of the federal system was exposed from lost lives and property, but in the end at least it was a wake-up call.  At least on paper Louisiana and federal authorities have a plan; better yet, they've actually trained together.  Although I certainly don't want Gustav to strike, if it does I hope we'll see the ghost of Katrina vanish.

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Trackposted to Rosemary's Thoughts, Political Byline, Allie is Wired, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, Shadowscope, The Pink Flamingo, Cao's Blog, Leaning Straight Up, , Democrat=Socialist, Pursuing Holiness, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

The Microsoft Empire Really is Merciful

Internet Privacy:  1,    Friggin' Advertisters:  0

Microsoft's newest browser may block ads

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Time to Strut!

Capt Mad Pigeon, USAF has officially been nominated by the US Air Force Academy Department of Political Science for a USAFA-funded PhD!

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Life lesson of the day: Never take yourself too seriously

Well, I was going through the fabled, notorious MOGS MUSIC COLLECTION(tm) this past weekend, and actually came across a stack of tape cassettes (yeah, remember them?) I had stashed away some...some...some where, out of sight and out of mind....

Now I know why.

This was the stack of the embarrassing tapes - the first ones I bought with my own money...a number of years ago. They were important because like I mentioned, I used my own money, and also because it was music I managed to buy without the prior approval of the parents. Dear God. Let's see what shook out of the box...mostly singles actually... you know, I think the first CD I ever bought was Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins....but, back to the tapes....

1. Led Zeppelin, (album) Houses of the Holy (okay so far, no too bad)

2. Jesus Jones "Right Here, Right Now" - ummm, well, at least it's not EMF or something....

3. Beck - "Loser" - okay cool, some street cred here - 1993 or there abouts...

3. Duran Duran - "Ordinary World" - oh Christ where did this come from? Good God.

4. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Soul to Squeeze" ...meh. Not much to say. I think this song is pretty much when the Chili Peppers started their long, slow, decline.

5. Arrested Development - "Tennessee" - okay, rap music safe for white people, awesome.

6. US3 - "Cool Like That" - see above

7. Bryan Adams - (album) Waking Up the Neighbors - OH GOD NO!! NO, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS DOING HERE? NO!! NO!!! NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(cough cough, heh, heh, catch breath, cough)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SACCHARINE CANADIAN WUSS BUTT ROCK WILL DESTROY US ALLL!!!!!

DESTROY US ALLL!!!!!!

DESTROY US ALLL!!!!!!

DESTROY US ALLLL!!!!!

Des... (oh you get the idea......)

I need to go listen to like, Dinosaur Jr. or Guided By Voices or something now just to feel clean again.....

"When you motor away...."

There's no "I" in the USA Basketball Gold

Townhall.com, by Paul Weyrich:  Is patriotism a thing of the past or is it still kosher to take pride in America? That question was put to basketball great Kobe Bryant at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Sportscaster Cris Collinsworth asked Bryant why he would give up his summer to play with the American Olympic team when he could be earning big bucks at home. Bryant said that when he got the Olympics uniform he spread it out on his bed and gazed at it for a long time. Bryant said, "Our country, we believe, is the greatest county in the world and it's given us so many great opportunities and it's just this sense of pride that you have, that you say, you know what, our country is the best."

Collinsworth was not expecting that sort of comment. Taken aback, he asked Bryant if such pride isn't a relic of a bygone era. "Is it still cool to talk about fighting for the red, white and blue?" Bryant didn't care for the question. He replied, "No, that's the cool thing for me to say. I feel great about it and I'm not ashamed to say it. This is a tremendous honor. You look at our troops overseas who are fighting for our country..." His voice trailed off.

There you have it. The NBC sportscaster was confounded by someone so successful yet so down to earth and patriotic. That is incomprehensible to those who think America is to blame for much of the evil in the world.  CONTINUED

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Most of my readers should know I don't follow sport--given everything else I have on my plate I just don't have the time to waste 2+ hours of a day watching guys chase balls around a court (okay, that sounds bad... but you get the point).

But I couldn't fail to notice the headline in this morning's paper:  Ramsey: U.S. men's hoop victory the pinnacle.

Reminded me of our performance in 2004--even a non-sports fanatic like me couldn't fail to hear how egos got in the way of teamwork and gold.  But that wasn't the case this time:

Colorado Springs Gazette:  After enduring months of bad news in a league that has tested the faith of anyone who loves the game, Stern and millions of Americans watched the NBA's biggest stars play the game gracefully and unselfishly.  The Americans played hustling defense, attacked the boards, shared the ball, cheered for each other, refused to sulk about playing time, declined to gripe at refs and, over and over, elevated their country above self.

Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball's managing director, and coach Mike Krzyzewski assembled one of history's grandest collections of talent and persuaded players to embrace a rah-rah, we're-all-in-this-together attitude.  "They carried themselves with dignity," said Colangelo, who admitted he wiped away tears as the game ended.  CONTINUED

You see, one reason I don't follow sports is I don't like the idolatry involved (the second big reason being 2 hours of sports = 1 1/2 hours of beer, auto and "enhancement" advertising).  In my opinion, modern US sports isn't about teamwork, it's about celebrity individuals, folks put on pedestals as heroes just because they... er, handle balls well. 

But the Olympic performance?  I think that's what sports should be--sacrificing the self to succeed as a team.  Even Tocqueville said (back in 1835) what made the US so great is how we gathered in teams to tackle problems.

That said... Wade, Bryant, James, Anthony?  Here's a toast:  thank you for your teamwork, professionalism, and selflessness on the court.  That's the kind of heroic example I like to see!

A Pigeon goes to Prison!

I don't know the guy, of course... I try to hang with a decent crowd:

Pigeon in custody for smuggling drugs to Bosnian prisoners

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