Caroline Glick wrote The Master Strategist describing McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin in strategic terms.  Glick is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy and a former Captain in the IDF.  Here’s the lead-in to her analysis:

Both the challenges of war and the challenges of politics are challenges of leadership. And both military strategists and political strategists agree that the most basic leadership challenge in both arenas is to know and understand yourself - your strengths and your weaknesses - and to know your opponents and their strengths and weaknesses. While this may seem like basic common sense, it is quite amazing to see how often it is ignored.

The rarity of this sort of strategic wisdom in the public sphere was brought to a fore this week in the political uproar generated in by Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running-mate. McCain’s selection of Palin was remarkable because in selecting her from a list of possible choices, he made a decision that embraced rather than ignored this most basic challenge of leadership.

A local “media reform” group called North Alabama Media Reform - a basically anti-capitalist group that favors more government control of media content - has been underwriting a left wing radio program on a local NPR station.  The program is called Democracy Now!, although it would be more apropos to name it Democrats Now! as tilts far to the left.  Two weeks ago WLRH removed the program from it’s schedule.  The station said that its Arbitron ratings were not sufficient.

That just goes to show how small the audience is for liberal radio programming.  Here we had a show that was underwritten by a local “media reform” group (probably full of community organizers!) that was airing at a very undesirable time, Fridays at 7:00 PM (i.e. low ratings were to be expected), on NPR and it couldn’t even get sufficient ratings to stay on the air.  I didn’t even know NPR cared about ratings!  How pitiful.  Keep this in mind when you hear liberals whining about how there should be more left leaning programming.

Side note on Democracy Now!: Two of the shows producers and the host were arrested at a protest at the Republican National Convention.

Side note on WLRH: Good call removing the Democracy Now! program.  It was over the top.  Also, thanks for adding The World to your schedule so I don’t have to switch over to “the other” north Alabama NPR station to listen to this show.

Robert Novack has written a column describing his diagnosis and treatment for a brain tumor.  He had considerable praise for Mrs. Kennedy and her husband, who is battling a brain tumor as well.

My dear friend, the Democratic political operative Bob Shrum, asked Sen. Kennedy’s wife, Vicki, to call me about Dr. Friedman. I barely know Mrs. Kennedy, but I have found her to be a warm and gracious person. I have had few good things to say about Teddy Kennedy since I first met him at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, but he and his wife have treated me like a close friend. She was enthusiastic about Dr. Friedman and urged me to opt for surgery at Duke, which I did.

The Kennedys were not concerned by political and ideological differences when someone’s life was at stake, recalling at least the myth of milder days in Washington. My long conversation with Vicki Kennedy filled me with hope.

It is warming to hear about people who can set aside ideological differences and treat each other with decency.  Conservatives rarely have kind words for Kennedy, but should make an effort to recognize the kindness he and his wife demonstrated.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to both Novack and Kennedy.

Recommended reading: Bill Whittle Proud of the GOP, at NRO.

Whittle is a great, moving, writer. I was blessed to find his work some years ago. For some of the best essays on the Internet, here’s Whittle’s website,  plus an example essay - Freedom.

OMG!

I watched John McCain’s speech, and whoever said that he wasn’t comfortable making speeches should’ve watched it too.

Rousing.  The speech was absolutely powerful.  McCain started well, got into some policy and comparisons, took on both parties for corruption and ineffectiveness, then gave the most rousing finish to a speech I’ve seen since Reagan.

Too bad some Code Pinkholes tried to disrupt the speech.

McCain owns the ‘Maverick’ label.  He noted some policy areas where Republican positions are clear winners:

“My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.” I’ll add the details: McCain wants to make health insurance portable - make it like life insurance or car insurance where an individual chooses the best plan from competing companies, rather than the current system of having health insurance provided by employers, or worse - the Democrat plan for universal single Government payer Socialist health care.

“Education is the civil rights issue of this century”; “Senator Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched bureaucracies. I want schools to answer to parents and students. And when I’m President, they will.” This is an area where Democrats fail their black constituency - ask a black parent about “No Child Left Behind” transfers out of failing schools and chances are you’ll get a positive response - however, crediting George Bush might be going too far…

Cut taxes… Drill for more oil, nuclear power, all of the above…  Victory in Iraq, Russian invasion of Georgia… Me and everyone getting weepy for McCain’s POW story, then BAM!

Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We’re Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.

BTW, the FoxNews camera settled twice on local delegate Dr. Dean Brandon, who was featured in the Huntsville Times a few days ago. Dr. Brandon (and his partners) run the best pediatric dentistry office in town. He’s a super guy IRL.

From Politico:

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Barack Obama has launched a broadside against John McCain’s opposition to abortion rights and moved one of the most divisive issues in modern American politics to the airwaves on a large scale for the first time in this presidential campaign.

Obama’s new radio ad, airing widely in at least seven swing states, tells voters McCain “will make abortion illegal.” It’s airing as McCain courts female voters with the addition of the staunchly anti-abortion governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, to his ticket.

I’m a rather rare conservative in that abortion isn’t near the top of my political agenda.  That isn’t to say I don’t have strong opinions on the topic, I just personally think there are more pressing issues.  I’ve considered it more of a wedge issue that Republicans exploit to shore up religious voters.

It seems fairly bold for Obama to force this issue given that it has typically been Republicans leading the charge on it in campaigns with Democrats parrying.  If I recall, polling has shown Americans to generally oppose abortion on demand, but oppose restricting all abortions (even in the case of rape).  The ads appear to try to exploit the majority opinion that abortion should be available in at least some limited cases.

If Obama had a less radical record on abortion I think it might be a reasonable attempt to block any moderate, female Democrats from shifting to the McCain/Palin ticket.  But Obama once supported the practice of killing children who survived an attempted abortion.  That is so extreme that I had trouble believing that anyone - much less a candidate for president - would have supported such a practice when I first heard about it many months ago.  I would have characterized killing a live born child as murder, plain and simple, regardless of the mother’s desire.  Is this really the man that the Democrats want carrying the banner of abortion rights and thrusting the topic to the political front burner?  The hard left will agree with him, but I don’t think most Americans will.

It appears to me that a Huntsville City Ordinance is Unconstitutional.  Check it out…

Huntsville Code of Ordinances, Chapter 7 Buildings and Building Regulations, Article V Minimum Housing Standards, Division 2 Administration and Enforcement, Section 7-344 Right of Entry states:

Sec. 7-344.  Right of entry.

(a)   The housing official shall enforce the provision of this article; and he, or his duly authorized representative, upon presentation of proper identification to the owner, agent or tenant in charge of such property, may enter any building, structure, dwelling, apartment, apartment house or premises, during all reasonable hours, except in cases of emergency where extreme hazards are known to exist which may involve the potential loss of life or severe property damage, in which case these limitations do not apply.

I saw that, and like you, I immediately thought that my Fourth Amendment Right to be secure in my house against unreasonable search was being violated. And I hate that!

Well, turns out that the US Supreme Court decided in Camara vs Municipal Court, 387 US 523 (1967), that a City needs a warrant to enter your house for any reason (in that case, housing inspection), unless it’s on fire or something.

The Code that was ruled Unconstitutional reads very much like the Huntsville Code:

“Sec. 503 RIGHT TO ENTER BUILDING. Authorized employees of the City departments or City agencies, so far as may be necessary for the performance of their duties, shall, upon presentation of proper credentials, have the right to enter, at reasonable times, any building, structure, or premises in the City to perform any duty imposed upon them by the Municipal Code.”

The Supreme Court Opinion:

In summary, we hold that administrative searches of the kind at issue here are significant intrusions upon the interests protected by the Fourth Amendment, that such searches when authorized and conducted without a warrant procedure lack the traditional safeguards which the Fourth Amendment guarantees to the individual, and that the reasons put forth in Frank v. Maryland and in other cases for upholding these warrantless searches are insufficient to justify so substantial a weakening of the Fourth Amendment’s protections.

I call on Mayor Spencer and the Huntsville City Council to uphold the Constitution! Change the odious ordinance!

DEVELOPING:

I called an attorney friend to see if my interpretation of the ordinance was off-base.  These guys love my calls, because I come up with totally random pieces of law that need explaining - which to a lawyer, is fun. 

He says that the ordinance may appear “Constitutionally infirm on its face”, but that if the City procedure is to get a warrant if a homeowner refuses entry to the City housing official, then it may be Constitutional.

I still don’t like the way the ordinance is written. Next stop, City Attorney.

UPDATE:

The City Attorney says that the Section of Code is supposed to apply ONLY to construction projects, but that he will review it over the next week.  If that is true, then it’s OK, reasonable public interest in a construction site outweighs privacy.  But then we’re left with a question: What is the enforcement mechanism for the rest of that section of Code? And why is the Code so poorly written? It almost seems like the City doesn’t want people to understand it…

While I’m writing about a City issue, I would like to praise City of Huntsville employees for their cooperation, professionalism, and niceness; not only for this, but in just about any contacts I’ve had with the City.

Thankfully the City Attorney’s snakebite is better, but he won’t ever again have the use of part of his hand. He got bitten by a copperhead on a shelf in his garage.  Look before you reach. Be careful out there.

End the Genocide in Darfur!

We’ve all heard that, and we would all like for it to stop. According to Danny at Doc’s Political Parlor (one of my favorite web sites), Howard Dean says it is an issue that Democrats can use to appeal to young Evangelicals.  But… is it our job? I think so…  What can the US do about it? And which party is more serious about ending the genocide? Hint: ‘Just Words’ don’t work with murderous dictators…

First some background: Darfur (Dar al-Fur) is ‘the land of the Fur tribe’, it is a western region of Sudan, which is the largest country in Africa (920,000 square miles - 3 1/2 times bigger than Texas). Sudan’s 40 million people have been ruled since 1993 by Omar al-Bashir (a murderous dictator). Sudan gained its independence from Egypt / UK in 1956. It has disputed borders with Kenya and Ethiopia and Egypt.

Sudan also has lots of oil (400,000 barrels a day) - 70% of which is sold to China (10% of China’s oil comes from Sudan). The Chinese sell military equipment to Sudan and train the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army. China has hundreds of ‘peacekeeping’ troops in Sudan.

The Darfur genocide is hard to quantify, but about 200,000 people have been killed according to many estimates, plus thousands of people have been displaced. The Sudanese Government and associated militias (Janjaweed) are condemned for the genocide.  Slavery, human trafficking, and rape are fairly common.

There are 20,000 international peacekeepers in Sudan (UN / African Union Mission in Darfur - UNAMID).

Pretty nasty place - I can see why we all want that to stop. But how can Darfur be an issue for Democrats? After all, Saddam Hussein (a murderous dictator) killed as many people in ONE YEAR (1991 - 100,000 Kurds and 130,000 Shia) as have died in Darfur. In 1988, Saddam killed 50,000 Kurds using Weapons of Mass Destruction such as Sarin and Mustard Gas. Barack Obama opposed the War in Iraq…

Barack Obama says that “increasing pressure on the Sudanese” and “deployment of a robust international force” will end the genocide.

John McCain goes further.  In 2006, McCain and Bob Dole published a plan to end the genocide. McCain called for NATO (US) to enforce a ‘No Fly Zone’ over Darfur and “push the United Nations to draw up firm plans for the entrance of a robust force into Darfur and contingency plans for the force to enter without Sudanese consent”, with US logistical, intelligence, and diplomatic support.

Compare the two plans: which one has a better chance of stopping a murderous dictator intent on killing his own people?  Which candidate has recent experience helping bring a murderous dictator to justice - and which one opposed that action?

By the way, ANWR can produce 780,000 barrels of oil per day, almost double that of Sudan.

What a moron.

CINCINNATI — Maybe receiver Chad Johnson can go by the name that his head coach hates.

The Cincinnati Bengals receiver has legally changed his name to Chad Javon Ocho Cinco in Broward County, Fla., a switch that became official this week. Johnson, who lives in Miami, didn’t return a message left on his cell phone Friday night.

Two years ago, Johnson gave himself the moniker — a reference in Spanish to his No. 85 — and put it on the back of his uniform before a game. Quarterback Carson Palmer ripped it off before the kickoff. After the season, coach Marvin Lewis — who dislikes Johnson’s attention-getting stunts — referred to the receiver as “Ocho Psycho.”

Reactionary beat me to the punch with a post on John McCain’s pick for VP: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.  Last night I contemplated writing a post speculating about who I thought McCain would pick and who I wished he would pick.  Palin was at the top of my wish list, but I presumed he would go with Romney or Pawlenty.  Both would have been relatively safe, although uninspiring choices.  I also feared he might go with Lieberman under the assumption that conservatives would pick him over Obama regardless and he might pull over enough Dems to win.  Ends justify the means logic.  Basically I assumed Palin had no chance.

When I walked past the TV today at work and saw the announcement I was ecstatic.  It was an absolutely brilliant choice and Palin delivered big time with her speech.  Certainly much hype will be made over her being the first GOP female VP ballot and first female VP from either party with a legitimate shot at winning (I’m sorry, but Ferraro’s 13 electoral vote tally is quite poor).  And rightfully so.  But Palin is a strong choice not because of her gender, but because of who she is, what she stands for, and what she has done.  Lifetime NRA member.  Stood up to corruption in her own party in Alaska.  Opposed the “Bridge to Nowhere” - the most glaring symbol of earmarking run amok.  Mother of five, including a son about to deploy to Iraq.  Eats mooseburger.  Did I mention that she is quite fetching as well?

For the first time I became excited about voting for McCain - and I don’t often get excited about voting for anyone.  Up until that point I was simply comfortable with the idea of voting for McCain.  I called my wife later in the day and she asked if I had heard the news.  She proceeded to tell me that she watched Palin’s speech and liked her so much that was herself excited to vote for McCain.  That means something because my wife was even less enthusiastic about McCain than I was.  I wonder how many other women also got (or will become) excited about voting for McCain because of Palin.

I’ve really enjoyed watching the left, including MSNBC, fumble about trying to tear down Palin.  There are two talking points: she is inexperienced (that is incredibly rich) and she is under investigation by Alaska Democrats.

The experience argument is laughable.  First of all Palin is not at the top of the ticket.  It takes some kind of nerve for a party who put Barack Obama at the top of their ticket to offer any criticism of the experience of the opposing party’s VP choice.  What is really amusing is that Palin still has more executive experience than the entire Democrat ticket.

The “scandal” is such a yawner that I can scarcely believe the Dems are making a fuss over it.  Basically the story is that individuals in Palin’s administration pressured the public safety commissioner to fire a state trooper who happened to be Palin’s former brother in law.  The commissioner didn’t, so he was fired along with the state trooper.  An investigation of the trooper revealed that he used a Taser on his stepson, illegally shot a moose, and drank beer in his patrol car.  He also allegedly made threats against Palin’s family.  So this is the Democrat’s poster child for Palin’s lack of ethics.  How quaint.  By the way, Palin ordered the investigation into the dismissals herself and has cooperated fully.  It is quite ironic to see the party whose presidential nominee is friendly with a terrorist try to make hay out of the other party’s VP candidate possibly “abusing her position” by firing a law breaking officer who drank beer in his patrol car.

Long story short, choosing Palin as his running mate was a fantastic decision by John McCain.  VP choices don’t usually mean that much.  When Obama announced Biden as his second fiddle his supporters dolefully talked about his foreign policy credentials.  But McCain has brought excitement to his campaign with his choice.  This decision might just get him into the Oval Office.