Regarding the Klan, the Panthers, and Confederate Gray...

I want to make things perfectly clear as I write this. I come from a mixed racial background; I'm classified as Caucasian, but that's really only a surface issue in regard to that I'm not as dark as my Cherokee ancestors. No one of mixed heritage, and most, I repeat, MOST Americans ARE from a blending of ancestors of different heritage, has any right or reason to take up the outmoded and degrading concept of racism. I equate the Black Panthers as being on equal ground with the Ku Klux Klan in their concepts of racial ideology.

That being said...

I was asked in town today by someone I know if I had voted. I smiled and said "I'm a veteran, I'm a soldier at heart still today, and I'm a patriot. I wore my Confederate gray shirt and went to the polls and voted.

In the past couple of years I've written a few times about the attitude and demeanor of a great number of Southerners that I know and have been associated with in my work travels. We don't see an Obama victory as healing anything; we don't see him as a unifier, we don't see him as a healer, we don't see him as a "messiah." Most of us see him for what we read him to be by listening to him speak and examining his associations. We see him as a Black Liberation Theology Marxist Totalitarian who's been manipulated into a position he has no business nor experience in being elevated to, and in my mind, and the minds of some I've talked to today, it's become obvious in part who has been behind the rise of the Obama as Black Panthers have stationed themselves at polling places in Pennsylvania.

I don't believe in coincidence.

I'm too damned old to start believing in it now.

The time for campaigning by those of us working to bring out the truth is coming to an end, today, as today we decide, as a nation, who we are going to send not only into the White House, but into a great number of Senate and House seats that are up for election today as well. We stand at a crossroads that many Americans who don't understand nor study and research history understand.

We are reliving a collision of the Compromise of 1850 and the 1860 election cycle all over again.

May God help us as a nation, whichever way this election day goes. It is highly conceivable, and I'm not calling for anything in saying this, I'm merely reporting the rumblings that I hear when I'm traveling, that our nation fractures once again into armed conflict depending upon how the numbers come in tonight.

If and when that happens, some of us will have to make a decision, once again, as our ancestors did over a century and a half ago, of which flag we fight under.

I'm a veteran, and I'm a patriot. But I know that I speak for many others out there who are also veterans and patriots when I say, God help me, I don't know that I can say for sure what I'll do when what many Southerners have been expecting to happen through the generations since 1865, that feeling in the back of our mind, that knowledge of a day that will come when the Stars and Bars will be dusted off and someone will look to the South and say, "It's back on..."

And for most of us, like last time, it will have nothing to do with race, and everything to do with personal liberty and states rights.

Once and Always, a Southern American Fighting Man

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Klan Announces They Will Have A Presence at Debate

In what is sure to be a headache already for Secret Service members and other security officials in charge of making sure the candidates are safe during tonight's debate, a wild card has been thrown into the deck. The Klan is planning to show.

Confirming rumors that have been circulating the past few days, the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan have announced that they will have members present in the audience for tonight's scheduled Presidential debate between candidates John McCain and Barack Obama at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.

The Klansmen will be “invisible,” trying to blend in just as anyone else, the emperor of the MWK said in an e-mail.

The emperor wrote, “The Mississippi White Knights will have officers and Klansmen on hand for the presidential debate on September 26, 2008. Our people will be in Oxford and on the campus ‘invisible.’ That means our people won’t be in regalia or demonstrating. So, I guess you’ll just have to guess which of the people present are Klansmen.

“Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions about the Mississippi White Knights.

‘NON SILBA SED ANTHAR’

Emperor,

Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.”

The e-mail came from the address, emperor@mississippiwhiteknights.com, but the sender would not identify himself nor respond to more questions.

The Latin words, “Non silba sed anthar,” translate to: “Not for oneself but for others,” a motto the Klan has used since the 19th century.

Why it should be a surprise to anyone that the Klan should put a presence at a Presidential debate in Mississippi where the first non-white candidate for a major party will be in attendance? This is a possibility and a scenario that should have been expected and made ready for from the outset, for which the Secret Service, undoubtedly, has contingency plans in place and ready. If not, then they are sorely deficient in their security arrangements.

Race has been an under the surface issue for this campaign from the outset, from the primary season in which other candidates tap danced around the issue in order not to be offensive to the Obama campaign to Obama's campaign using his race as a tool, themselves, proclaiming any and all disagreements with Obama to be based in racist attitudes. There are many, many reasons not that Obama is undesirable for the Presidency that have nothing to do, whatsoever, with his race, and those are the reasons that should be focused upon by the voting public who intend not to vote for him in the upcoming November elections.

The Klan, with it's bastardization of Confederate regalia and their adoption of the emblems of a proud nation that lasted for less than five years, has been and remains a thorn in the side for true Southerners who have, since the inception of the Confederacy in 1860, desired nothing more than the rights of the state, and more importantly, the individual, taking precedence over the powers of the federal government.

Does the Klan have the right to have a presence at tonight's debate? As American citizens interested in the political process of the nation, yes. To create a disturbance by promoting hatred based in nothing other than outdated notions of racial superiority of one skin color over another? It is a shame and a disgrace that in the 21st century such attitudes are still around and fomented by those who live their lives promoting the hatred of others who are different. In contrast and comparison, the same can be said of those members of the Islamic world who promote the same sort of hatred from their standpoint. It could be argued that there is no difference between the Klan and al Qaeda save the color of skin of their members.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Senator Joseph Biden is the Mouse That Roared

Joe Biden, a long term Senator from Delaware cum Vice Presidential candidate, has taken upon himself the mantle of the attack dog for his running mate, Barack Obama. But is it working, or is Biden finding himself trying too hard to make himself heard?

In Leonard Wibberley's novel and the subsequent Peter Sellers movie of the same name released in 1959 The Mouse that Roared, a small and insignificant country does the unthinkable, with hilarious results; they attack the United States. While the truth is indeed often stranger than fiction, in the novel, and the movie, the theme works, and the upstart little nation wins, by losing.

Joseph Biden, while not necessarily an insignificant political candidate, has, however, taken on a task that it could be argued that he isn't up for. Biden has undertaken to attack Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain over issues of foreign policy. Biden, of course, as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, seems to think he has the upper hand on understanding how to handle foreign relations over John McCain, and possibly, in his own way of thinking, he does, as he in a recent speech criticized McCain over several points, including McCain's attitude toward Russia:

“John McCain has gotten it wrong on so many fundamental issues. Imagine; imagine if we had listened to John McCain when he tried to remove Russia from the G8. That’s the industrial nations, last year. Such a move would not have done anything to stop Russia from the inextricable and unfair and overwhelming invasion of an independent country of Georgia. But I tell you what it would have done: it would have triggered a crisis in our alliance since no one else in Europe thought that action should be taken. An alliance we now need, we now need to help us in dealing with Russian aggression.”

Is Biden saying here that Russia was stopped from invading Georgia? I don't know what news outlet he was watching or where he was getting his information, but Georgia was in fact invaded by the Russians this summer and there are still, today, Russian troops occupying territory inside what is sovereign Georgian territory. Of course, Senator Biden has a record of changing things a bit to suit his own purposes, himself, having supported, initially, the war in Iraq and then changing his position on that, as well as supporting military action in Bosnia.

Perhaps there is another issue that needs to be addressed in the case of Senator Biden in examining his attacks on John McCain over issues of foreign relations. Biden, who has been a lawyer and a politician for his entire working life (Biden is one of the six longest term senators to hold office in the nation), Biden doesn't have the up close and personal experience in dealing with representatives of foreign nations in the worst of times that McCain has:

John McCain's capture and subsequent imprisonment began on October 26, 1967. He was flying his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam, when his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile over Hanoi.[30][31] McCain fractured both arms and a leg, and then nearly drowned, when he parachuted into Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi.[30] After he regained consciousness, some North Vietnamese pulled him ashore, then others crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him.[30] McCain was then transported to Hanoi's main Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton".[31]

Although McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to treat his injuries, instead beating and interrogating him to get information, and he was given medical care only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a top admiral.[33] His status as a prisoner of war (POW) made the front pages of major newspapers.[34][35]

McCain spent six weeks in the hospital while receiving marginal care.[30] Now having lost 50 pounds (23 kg), in a chest cast, and with his hair turned white,[30] McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi[36] in December 1967, into a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live a week.[37] In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years.[38]

A far cry, it would seem, from state dinners and conferences. McCain is often criticized by opponents and naysayers about having no experience outside of politics and military service. That same scrutiny can be applied to Senator Biden, who is one of the six longest term senators to serve in Washington, and to Barack Obama, as well, whose work as a "community organizer" is a dressed up name for "lobbyist." Adding to that Biden's failure twice to win in a bid of his own for his party's nomination for party candidate for the Presidency, Biden, in what could be considered a conciliatory position as Vice Presidential candidate, could be, himself, that roaring mouse trying to make a bluster and noise bigger than he is capable of achieving.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Forming Ranks, as Veterans Solidly Backing McCain Over Obama

It's been an ongoing battle between McCain and Obama in the attempt to win the hearts and minds of the American Veteran vote in recent weeks. An August 19th Gallup Poll shows which candidate leads among voters, and by how wide of a margin.

According to Gallup, American veterans, after recent addresses by both McCain and Obama to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention, registered voting veterans are more solidly in support of McCain than his prospective Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, and the margin of separation between the candidates is telling.

With both presidential candidates addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention this week (John McCain on Monday and Barack Obama on Tuesday), Gallup finds that registered voters who have served in the U.S. military solidly back McCain over Obama, 56% to 34%.

This is based on aggregated data from Aug. 5-17 Gallup Poll Daily tracking, involving interviews with more than 11,000 registered voters, including 2,238 military veterans. Veterans are defined as those who are or have been members of the U.S. military. Obama leads McCain 46% to 43% among all registered voters during this time.

A 22% difference between McCain and Obama among polled veterans, and only a 3% lead by Obama nationally according to Gallup, which is a slip in the polls for Obama since his initial emergence as the likely nominee of the Democratic party.

Perhaps it is telling that veterans prefer McCain, a fellow veteran, to become the next Commander-in-Chief of the United States armed forces, over Obama, who has no military experience whatsoever. Leadership experience, especially actual combat leadership experience, is critical to understanding and analyzing information in times of crisis; this is experience that McCain has and Obama does not.

Still, there does seem to be a trend among veterans to vote Republican rather than Democrat, as shown in the final Gallup Poll results of the 2004 elections, in which President Bush lead opponent Senator John Kerry 55% to 39%. Nationally, veterans tend to be more along the lines of 47% Republican, 39% Democrat, as compared to the rest of the nation, which according to Gallup tends to run 48% Democrat to 37% Republican.

With the veteran vote secured, the uncommitted voters are the essential battleground for McCain and Obama. With a slipping lead that is now down to 3 points over McCain, Obama may very well be discovering how having a retired veteran fighter pilot on his tail is not a to his advantage.

I know this American Fighting Man is voting for him...

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Obama Swings, Misses, Strike Two...

In another stunning example of inexperience in running for office at the national level, Barack Obama has gone after John McCain over how many houses McCain owns, only to hear the swishing sound of air as McCain's Rezko fastball gets by him.

Maybe Obama should stick to playing basketball.

In an attempt to show how that John McCain is "out of touch" rich, Obama released an ad today in which he proclaimed that McCain doesn't even know how many houses he owns. Once again, leaving himself wide open for a counter-attack, Obama shows that his inexperience is not only in international affairs and domestic policy, but in political wrangling, as well. His own dealings with Tony Rezko have left Obama a vulnerable place for a McCain counter-attack, which McCain had no qualms in making sure was put out for public consumption before the end of the day.



Perhaps we can see Obama go after McCain on something else he is vulnerable on. Religion, perhaps, or military service. Or possibly even financial investing, since he doesn't seem to be aware that there are some who invest in real estate, not necessarily to live in, as is obviously the case with the McCain's, but rather as an investment, along with other investments, such as stocks and bonds.

This is the kind of knowledge and experience we need in the White House? That would be change, all right, and it would definitely give us all a reason to hope, as in, "I hope that we can survive three more years of this moron that we've elected..."

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Obama and McCain take off the gloves

In a case of making an attempted uppercut to McCain, team Obama has released a new ad linking the Republican to high level wrong-doing in his past. Perhaps the Obama people should have realized that their own chickens would come home to roost, as well.

The Obama campaign has a new political ad out today linking John McCain to Jack Abramoff, alleging corruption and conspiracy on the part of Obama during the entire Abramoff situation, a situation in which McCain had very little, if any actual, involvement in the entire scandal other than possession of an email communication, protecting Alabama Governor Bob Riley. Hardly, in the grand scheme of things, as controversial and damning as some of the things in Obama's past, as McCain is more than willing to point out in response to the Obama ad:

“Barack Obama’s ad is ridiculous. Because of John McCain, corruption was exposed and people like Jack Abramoff went to jail. “However, if Barack Obama wants to have a discussion about truly questionable associations, let’s start with his relationship with the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, at whose home Obama’s political career was reportedly launched. Mr. Ayers was a leader of the Weather Underground, a terrorist group responsible for countless bombings against targets including the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and numerous police stations, courthouses and banks. In recent years, Mr. Ayers has stated, ‘I don’t regret setting bombs … I feel we didn’t do enough.’

“The question now is, will Barack Obama immediately call on the University of Illinois to release all of the records they are currently withholding to shed further light on Senator Obama’s relationship with this unrepentant terrorist?” —McCain spokesman Brian Rogers

The records surrounding the relationship of Obama and Ayers are currently housed at the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and are not accessible for public viewing, as journalist Stanley Kurtz discovered earlier this month, despite his having been promised access to the files.

Is Obama hiding things that he, and his supporters, would rather not be seen by the public eye? If so, they're certainly not doing an impressive job in covering their tracks. Rather than moving in a way that doesn't attract attention, Obama and his cronies have a history and record of making major errors in regards to public appearances, leaving themselves wide open to scrutiny and speculation.

For Obama to have gone after McCain on Abramoff, while having so many questions concerning his own relationship with Ayers under such scrutiny, Obama has shown a very significant lack of skill in maneuvering in the arena of national politics.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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The 2008 Denver DNC: Rise of the Machines?

Denver is in full swing as preparations are being made for the upcoming Democratic National Convention, an event that promises to have all the drama and intrigue of Terminator, Othello and Macbeth rolled into one neat package.

The question "Is it dead, yet?" seems to be floating around Democratic circles in regards to the Hillary Clinton campaign. With grass roots organizations such as PUMA and others around, it seems that there is still life in the Clinton machine, something that creates a very dangerous political situation for the presumed nominee for the DNC, Barrack Obama.

History has shown time and again that you can't turn your back on the Clinton machine, nor can you count it out of the game until the game is officially over and team Clinton has been left on the sidelines watching someone else sprint to victory. Thus seems to be the case for the Denver convention, as there is discussion of a brewing coup being planned by Clinton supporters that will take place on the floor of the convention.

As of July 31, the Democratic National Convention was still in need of one-fourth of the estimated cost of the Denver convention – amounting to 10 million of the $40 million.

Moreover, Washington Examiner political columnist Tony Campbell explains in detail why this national convention could be absolutely explosive:

"I talked to a Clinton delegate here in Maryland. He told me they have been instructed to vote for Hillary (for president) on the first ballot. To make things more interesting, there is a movement to swing 160 delegates from Obama to Clinton. If that happens, Clinton could re-establish her campaign and face John McCain in the fall."

And further:

"The group P.U.M.A. (for Public Unity My A--) claims that 15 delegates have switched from Obama to Clinton in July. There is still the possibility of a floor convention vote to fully seat the delegations from Michigan and Florida – which would benefit Senator Clinton.

Given the mood and atmosphere surrounding the Clinton "defeat" by Obama in the primaries, in which both Florida and Michigan were stripped of their delegates initially, the issues surrounding Obama both in his relationships with controversial figures and the funding he's been receiving from Middle Eastern backers, the relentless work by Hillary supporters in trying to make sure that the message is clearly delivered that they are NOT happy with the Democratic National Party for what they see as having lauded Obama by virtue of race over substance, the new allegations that Obama is "selling" tickets to his planned and potential acceptance speech, among other issues, the party is clearly not moving forward in a united front toward the November elections. Clinton supporters, to be sure, are anything but fully behind the potential nomination of Obama:

A massive e-mail and Internet campaign is under way aimed at derailing the nomination of Barack Obama and making Hillary Clinton the party’s standard bearer next week at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

“It’s downright nasty,” said Memphis, Tenn., superdelegate and city council member Myron Lowery, who has shared dozens of the messages he’s received with The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal newspaper.

“I think it’s divisive for the ‘Support Hillary’ campaign to continue at this time. She made the decision to fully support Mr. Obama,” said Lowery, who initially supported Clinton but later switched his allegiance to Obama. “I don’t know why they’re not taking their cue from Hillary and falling in line.”

But is that really the cue that Hillary is sending forth? Lowery thinks so, but with statements made by the Senator from New York and former First Lady to the effect that her supporters should be heard at the convention, is she truly putting one hundred percent effort behind Obama? Given the "terminatrix" image that some pundits have created around Hillary, I somehow can't imagine her standing over Obama and saying "Come with me if you want to live." I think, personally, she would be more inclined to use the "I'll be back" line made famous during the FIRST movie. This concept becomes more apparent with the news that Senator Clinton's brother and chief campaign backers have met with McCain a top McCain surrogate in Phoenix, Arizona, raising speculations as to what sort of topics where discussed and where the Clinton support will truly rest come the conclusion of the convention.

With the Democratic National Convention less than a week away, the gathering raises questions about the support Illinois Sen. Barack Obama can expect from former local supporters of Mrs. Clinton, who dominated at the polls in the Northeast in the April primary election. Mrs. Clinton won 74 percent of Lackawanna County Democrats to Mr. Obama’s 26 percent.

Ms. Fiorina’s daylong local visit, part of a two-day bus tour of the state, was aimed at talking disenchanted former supporters of Mrs. Clinton into supporting Mr. McCain. The private gathering was not a fundraiser.

“I think there’s going to be a groundswell of support for McCain,” said Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola, a Republican and one of the people who attended. “I think a lot of Hillary supporters are going to be for McCain.”

Neither the Obama camp nor members of team Clinton have been available for comment, and Obama, once enjoying a more comfortable lead in the polls, has recently seen that lead slipping as McCain, a former fighter pilot, has begun to come in on him from behind, a position the Senator from Arizona has stated in the past that he feels very comfortable being in.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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McCain to Announce VP: Who Says Timing Isn't Everything?

What's the best birthday present John McCain could give himself this year? The media blitz that will accompany his announcement of his running mate overshadowing the Democratic Convention and the nomination of Obama.

It's been one of the most anticipated and speculated upon decisions on the minds of both Democrats and Republicans. Who will be the running mates?

It is very likely Obama will announce his decision during the Democratic convention in Denver, an event that is already promising to be a media circus with the expectations of protests BY groups that claim to carry the Democrat mantle.

In a strategic move slated for August 29, McCain's birthday, the likely Republican candidate is expected to announce his choice for a running mate for the November general election in the key battleground state of Ohio.

The campaign has begun building a crowd of 10,000 for Dayton, Ohio, according to an organizer. McCain is scheduled to appear with his running mate at a large-scale event in Pennsylvania shortly thereafter.

Senior Republicans are in the dark about who he’ll name, although they say former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty are prime contenders after a trial balloon by McCain gave him very negative feedback about the idea of picking an abortion-rights running mate such as Tom Ridge, the former governor of Pennsylvania and the first secretary of homeland security.

Another speculative prospect has been Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn), which would have been the first time in history since the candidacy of Abraham Lincoln, whose vice-Presidential choice was Andrew Johnson (D-Tenn) to have seen a vice-Presidential candidate not of the same party as the Presidential nominee.

As of now, the announcement is slated for 29 August, although McCain, who has been playing a very close hand concerning his choice of running mate, has stated that he may make his announcement sooner than that.

UPDATE: According to Drudge, Obama appears to be close to announcing his running mate, as well.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Conservative Christians Back McCain

It's been a difficult pill for them to swallow, but conservative Christian leaders have united together and decided to put their support behind John McCain.

The conservative right has long been considered a very important base for the Republican party. The advent of the McCain lead in the party has led to a hard decision for this important voting bloc. With a great number of the members of this branch of the party having put their support behind Mike Huckabee, many were highly disappointed at his withdrawal from the race, leaving a lack, to the conservative way of thinking, of a viable conservative front runner in the Republican race.

Given the option of either supporting McCain or withholding support in light of the presumed nomination of Barack Obama for the Democratic party, however, the conservative Christian leadership has met and decided to make their stand with McCain.

At a Tuesday meeting in Denver, around 100 leaders met, traveling in from around the country, to discuss and ultimately agree to support John McCain, despite their initial distrust of him as a candidate for the Presidency. With this backing finally achieved, McCain has achieved a much needed support for his bid for the White House, and has significantly improved his chances of winning come November.

"Collectively we feel that he will support and advance those moral values that we hold much greater than Obama, who in our view will decimate moral values," said Mat Staver, the chairman of Liberty Counsel, a legal advocacy group, who previously supported Mike Huckabee's candidacy.

"There are people who came through the primary with very mixed emotions of the candidate," Staver continued, noting that many in the group had been in Denver to attend a separate meeting for pastors. "This event was to put those aside."

The group included leaders like Phyllis Schlafly, the long-time leader of Eagle Forum; Steve Strang, the publisher of Charisma magazine; Phil Burress, a prominent Ohio marriage and anti-pornography activist; David Barton, the founder of WallBuilders and Donald Hodel, a former secretary of the Interior, who previously served on the board of Focus on the Family. Jim Dobson, the head of Focus and an outspoken critic of McCain, did not attend. The McCain campaign was also not directly represented at the meeting.

One attendee of the conference summed up the main reason for the decision to support McCain as being, "None of these people want to meet their maker knowing that they didn't do everything they could to keep Barack Obama from being president. You've got these two people running for president. One of them is going to become president. That's the perspective. That that's the whole discussion." The reason? Despite his claim of Christianity, the conservative Christian movement doesn't see eye - to - eye with Obama on certain key issues such as gay marriage and abortion, and find themselves, especially in recent weeks with McCain making his own stands against these issues, more in line with McCain.

Initially, there was much speculation that the religious right would sit out this election, leading to much speculation and prognosticating as to what their absence would mean both to the Republicans as well as to the Democrats. With the exit of Huckabee, a number of Christian leaders expressed their disillusionment with the Republican party. Faced with the prospect of an Obama Presidency, it seems that the disillusion was quickly replaced with resolve, a situation that bodes well for McCain.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Stepping in it with Both Feet: Wesley Clark and the Question Who is Smearing Whom?

There is a long standing tradition of rivalry between the branches of military service. Each branch sees theirs as being superior to the others, and there is a lot of good natured ribbing back and forth in between. When it crosses into politics, though...

Anyone who has been in the U.S. Army among it's ground forces will tell you that aviators are looked upon as the most spoiled and pampered members of the military. While ground troops, especially infantry, armor, and engineers, slog it out in the mud and muck, through forests and jungles, in the desert heat or arctic cold, pilots generally get more cushy, comfortable rear area quarters for their time out of the cockpit.

But there is a price for such "luxury" digs for pilots. Combat pilots have some of the most intense, stressful training and duty of any members of the armed forces, special forces aside. Survival training is intense, with high-stress escape and evasion scenarios included in their training in order to prepare pilots for the worst case scenario; being shot down behind enemy lines.

That is exactly what happened to Senator John McCain in Vietnam, and an injured Lt. Commander McCain found himself in the hands of the enemy, and spent the next several years in the infamous Hanoi Hilton. And yet retired General Wesley Clark, a soldier with who made his early military career in the armored division and with political aspirations of his own, has taken it upon himself to belittle McCain's service record.

Gen. Wesley Clark, acting as a surrogate for Barack Obama’s campaign, invoked John McCain’s military service against him in one of the more personal attacks on the Republican presidential nominee this election cycle.

Clark said that McCain lacked the executive experience necessary to be president, calling him “untested and untried” on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” And in saying so, he took a few swipes at McCain’s military service.

After saying, "I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war," he added that these experiences in no way qualify McCain to be president in his view:

“He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded — that wasn't a wartime squadron,” Clark said.

“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”

And with that, the gloves came off. McCain supporters blasted Clark, with one McCain surrogate questioning Clark's own record as NATO Supreme Commander in Kosovo and his political ambitions, and McCain responding, when asked if he felt he was owed an apology, "I think it is up to Senator Obama now to not only repudiate him but to cut him loose.” This comment may serve to keep the Clark controversy alive and well for the coming days, dependent upon how Obama handles the situation as time progresses.

For Obama's part, the Senator from Illinois has denounced Clark's statements in an attempt to distance himself from the controversy stating “For those like John McCain who have endured physical torment in service to our country, no further proof of such sacrifice is necessary. And let me also add that no one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign — and that goes for supporters on both sides.”

It is interesting to note that through all of this, the McCain camp, even prior to Clark's statements this weekend and his attempted clarification (i.e. backpedalling) of what he said, has yet to really pull out the mud in dealing with other candidates. McCain has taken the high road, not playing into the typical dirty tactics that typically comes with Presidential politics. In fact, McCain has been the first to denounce such tactics when they have been attempted on his behalf.

Obama, on the other hand, has already set up his own site to deal with the rumors and innuendo surrounding him personally, possibly in anticipation of the "dirty deeds" of the Republican campaign. The site has already dealt with such issues as his nationality and his religious views, issues that have plagued the Obama campaign from his rock star rise to the top of the Democratic ticket. But what of Obama's own campaign strategies as the election cycle unfolds? The campaign against fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton went into the mud on both sides, a place McCain seems stubbornly determined to stay away from. With Clark's comments regarding McCain, and Obama's seemingly less than whole-hearted denouncement of them, one has to ask, who is truly smearing whom in this campaign?

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Obama, McCain, and the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States

For at least the past 60 years, there has been a war being waged in the United States. Not with guns, but about them, and the citizen's rights to bear them. Today, the Supreme Court ruled on the side of the Constitution, and the candidates responded.

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Those are the words, in their exact form, that have been in such hot debate for the past several decades. Those are the words that have been so divisive to some, and have created such anger and hatred between the pro-gun and anti-gun camps, and yet so many people do not know the words OF the Second Amendment which they stand either for or against.

"Shall not be infringed." To quote Barack Obama, "just words?"

Our founding fathers seemed not to think so, hence the inclusion of the Second Amendment, including the wording "shall not be infringed."

Historically, the Supreme Court has stayed pretty much away from Second Amendment cases, allowing lower court rulings to take precedence and establish or abolish laws in the regions which they represent. Today, however, in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller, the Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that the Washington, DC, ban on handguns was unconstitutional.

1. The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. Pp. 2–53.

(a) The Amendment’s prefatory clause announces a purpose, but does not limit or expand the scope of the second part, the operative clause. The operative clause’s text and history demonstrate that it connotes an individual right to keep and bear arms. Pp. 2–22.

(b) The prefatory clause comports with the Court’s interpretation of the operative clause. The “militia” comprised all males physically capable of acting in concert for the common defense. The Antifederalists feared that the Federal Government would disarm the people in order to disable this citizens’ militia, enabling a politicized standing army or a select militia to rule. The response was to deny Congress power to abridge the ancient right of individuals to keep and bear arms, so that the ideal of a citizens’ militia would be preserved. Pp. 22–28

There has been, of course, the expected amount of jubilation from gun advocates and the anticipated weeping and gnashing of teeth of the anti-gun left. The National Rifle Association has wasted no time in gearing up to challenge, next, a similar gun ban in the city of Chicago. Other pro-Second Amendment sponsors have responded as well, including one entrepeneuring venture that offers a free handgun with the completion of a training course.

But what of the candidates, in this Presidential election year? What are the responses to this landmark decision that the banning of handguns is a violation of the Constitutional rights of the individual? The answer, of course, will depend upon which candidate you ask.

Senator John McCain of Arizona, an open-carry state, has called the decision a "landmark victory for Second Amendment freedom," and has accused opponent Senator Barack Obama of reversing himself, once again, on the issue of Second Amendment rights.

“All I can say it’s one in a long, in a long series in reversals of positions,” McCain said. “In a few days he has gone from opposing nuclear power, to not a proponent, to willing to explore. I fully anticipate -- whether it be on his pledge on public financing or his position on the Second Amendment, or any other issues -- he is changing his positions. So it's not surprising."

McCain's remarks were made at a local town-hall meeting at Xavier University. Noticeably absent was Barack Obama, whom McCain had invited to attend for debate. McCain also made another jab at Obama in a writen statement, in which he said, "Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today's ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right -- sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly." Former Presidential candidate cum McCain supporter Senator Sam Brownback, in a conference call with reporters, put forward his thoughts, as well, stating, "This is either an incredible flip flop or incredible inexperience on this issue. Anybody whose been around politics in Washington D.C. knows the center of this gun ban debate is whether this is an individual right.”

So why are the Republicans accusing Obama of flip-flopping again? First, an examination of his response to today's ruling is in order.

I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective safety measures. The Supreme Court has now endorsed that view, and while it ruled that the D.C. gun ban went too far, Justice Scalia himself acknowledged that this right is not absolute and subject to reasonable regulations enacted by local communities to keep their streets safe. Today’s ruling, the first clear statement on this issue in 127 years, will provide much-needed guidance to local jurisdictions across the country.

As President, I will uphold the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun-owners, hunters, and sportsmen. I know that what works in Chicago may not work in Cheyenne. We can work together to enact common-sense laws, like closing the gun show loophole and improving our background check system, so that guns do not fall into the hands of terrorists or criminals. Today's decision reinforces that if we act responsibly, we can both protect the constitutional right to bear arms and keep our communities and our children safe.

On the surface, it sounds great, and looks as if the Senator and Presidential hopeful has given his full support all along to the Second Amendment and the rights of gun owners. But the Republican's are quick to point out, on their website, Obama's previous statements regarding gun ownership, statements which clearly show that Obama, in his own words, is opposed to the private ownership of firearms. There is even a spot for a video from YouTube that is, mysteriously, no longer available for viewing, labeled as "mistatement" on the YouTube site. However, one doesn't have to go back very far to recall Obama's gaffe in Pennsylvania in which he called small town Americans "bitter," stating that they "cling" to religion and guns.

Obama's record is indicative of the inverse of the opinion of the American people, according to a Gallup poll released today showing that of those polled, 73% of the American people believe that it is their Constitutionally guaranteed right to own firearms.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Just words?

Perhaps it would behoove Senator Obama, who feels that the gun control laws of his home city of Chicago are so effective, to examine more closely a town hailed by gun ownership advocates as a true success story of the Second Amendment; Kennesaw, Georgia, a town in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, this past April celebrated their 25th year without a single murder. What makes Kennesaw the pride of the Second Amendment supporters? Their city ordinance requiring that every home own at least one gun:

The crime rate initially plummeted for several years after the passage of the ordinance, with the 2005 per capita crime rate actually significantly lower than it was in 1981, the year before passage of the law.

Prior to enactment of the law, Kennesaw had a population of just 5,242 but a crime rate significantly higher (4,332 per 100,000) than the national average (3,899 per 100,000). The latest statistics available – for the year 2005 – show the rate at 2,027 per 100,000. Meanwhile, the population has skyrocketed to 28,189.

By comparison, the population of Morton Grove, the first city in Illinois to adopt a gun ban for anyone other than police officers, has actually dropped slightly and stands at 22,202, according to 2005 statistics. More significantly, perhaps, the city's crime rate increased by 15.7 percent immediately after the gun ban, even though the overall crime rate in Cook County rose only 3 percent. Today, by comparison, the township's crime rate stands at 2,268 per 100,000.

This was not what some predicted.

Not what was predicted, but the results speak volumes. A lesson Senator Obama should examine closely in contrast with his own past stand on the issue of gun control.

A few more words Senator Obama should get used to hearing between now and November: "I'm the NRA, and I vote."

Once and Always, an NRA Membership Holding American Fighting Man

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John McCain: Setting his Sights from Behind

It's a common misconception about old warriors that they aren't up to the grade when it comes to a down and dirty fight. The thing about old warriors is that they become old warriors by learning how to fight better than their younger opponents.

John Sidney McCain is trailing behind Barack Hussein Obama in the national polls at this moment in time, and he knows it. A new poll out Tuesday showed that the Senator from Arizona trails behind his Illinois rival by as much as 12-15 points, but McCain is far from worried. In fact, this is the spot he prefers to be in at this point in time. He likes to come in from behind.

Sen. John McCain stood up at a fundraiser late last evening at the oceanfront home of former ambassador George Argyros in Newport Beach. There were probably 80 people there. They dined on filet mignon, which cost $25,000 a couple.

McCain held his arms in that stiff bent way that he always does, a result of his nearly six years of POW imprisonment in Vietnam. The Republican nominee-to-be looked out at the guests and heI can out-campaign anyone, Republican senator John McCain said last summer and he did to win his party's presidential nomination told the truth:

"My friends," he said, "this is a tough race. We are behind. We are the underdog."

And then he uttered another truth that McCain's competitors ignore at their peril, "That's what I like to be."

Rhetoric from McCain on his position in the race? Hardly. McCain has a proven track record of applying this strategy to his campaigns and his interests, dropping off the radar for a time and letting his opponent have the spotlight, then sweeping in unexpectedly from behind to secure a win.

Precisely the strategy he employed during the Republican primaries to emerge as the front runner and presumptive nominee for the party's candidacy. Early front runners in the Republican race watches this happen, to their dismay, as they underestimated the former fighter pilot and Vietnam P.O.W. as they took the lead in the polls and fell, one after the other, to the wayside as McCain continued to climb, from behind, and overtake them, one by one. Even the expected heir of Reagan, Fred Thompson, seemingly underestimated his chances against the war veteran and found himself "gunned down" from before he could launch a successful push of his own for the lead position in the pack.

It would seem, in McCain's case, that the skills and tactics learned for being a fighter pilot have served handily in transitioning them into the arena of politics. And now those political gun sights are trained on Barack Hussein Obama.

As of June 1, the Democratic candidate had raised nearly $288 million. Now, that he's reneged on a pledge to take public funds, some think he may actually raise a half-billion dollars. Not counting millions more in parallel help from sympathetic 527 funds.

McCain has raised $110 million. Republican 527s are slow to gell, given the party's low spirits.

Looking back over the past year, McCain's record shows that this is exactly the place he works best, as the underdog. Using this spot to conduct town hall meetings, which Obama backed out of doing with the Republican, McCain is taking his message and his campaign to the grass roots level, an area the Obama camp seems to be largely ignoring. McCain is also slated for trips out of country to Mexico and Columbia to discuss trade, drug smuggling, and international terrorism, footage of which will likely be shown in ads coming this fall prior to the general elections, while Obama's footage will likely contain images of "a shirt-sleeved Obama, wading like a rock star amid his cheering throngs."

Perhaps as an unseasoned contender, Obama has not yet learned fully how to estimate his political opponents fully in a national election. Despite the insistence of the national media, his race with Senator Hillary Clinton was a close one, prior to her retiring her campaign after he achieved the necessary number of delegates for the coming Denver convention. McCain is clearly not a candidate to be dismissed when he is behind, as previous Republican front runners Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney can attest.

McCain was a fighter pilot, and his training as such was to get behind his enemy and take them down from behind. A lesson Obama needs to consider in approaching the November elections.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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To Drill or Not to Drill, That is the Question in Florida

It wasn't but just a few years ago that if you mentioned off shore drilling to Floridians, you might be met with anything from angry glares to other means of expressing displeasure. With the price of fuel topping $4.00 a gallon, that may have changed.

After conducting a special survey in Florida this week, Rasmussen has released results that would indicate that Floridians have come around and would be largely accepting of drilling for oil off it's coasts. This could play a significant role in the outcome of the November general elections for Florida, as they were told, in the survey, that John McCain favors drilling for off shore oil reserves and his likely opponent Barack Hussein Obama is opposed to the option.

Not surprisingly, 85% of Republicans agreed with McCain’s perspective. However, Democrats were evenly divided—45% of those in Obama’s party agreed with McCain and said offshore drilling was likely to reduce the price of oil and gas. Just 48% of Democrats agree with Obama on this point. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 51% said drilling was likely to reduce prices and 38% disagreed. These findings help explain why the Obama has responded so aggressively to challenge McCain on this issue over the past couple of days.

Rasmussen Reports will release additional national polling data on energy topics later today. Earlier polling showed strong support for offshore drilling.

McCain currently leads Obama 47% to 39% in Florida, with another 6% saying they will vote for someone else and 8% undecided. Raising the issue of off shore drilling, however, changed the percentages a bit in McCain's favor, however, to 49% for McCain, 38% for Obama, a difference of eleven percent. Not a startling gain of three percent net, but significant in the fact that the issue drew support away from Obama, rather than gaining any support for him. McCain's gains on the issue of off-shore drilling came entirely from male voters.

McCain, prior to his announcement of his support for allowing off-shore drilling, was leading Obama in Florida by as much as ten points prior to Obama's securing the lead as the Democratic prospective nominee. At that point, Obama jumped in the national polls across the board in most states. With McCain's stance on drilling, however, Obama may see a drop off in he gained ground from Hillary Clinton's withdrawal from the race. McCain is currently viewed favorably by a gain of seven percentage points from last month among Florida voters, with Obama garnering a favorability gain of only three points for the same time period.

Rasmussen will continue to conduct polling over the next couple of weeks to track any changes in opinion based upon this issue.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Obama - YES WE CAN, maybe, I think, what was the question?

Is Barack Hussein Obama becoming the king of the flip-flop? Or is he suddenly just trying to come across as a tough guy by going into Sean Connery mode from The Untouchables?

I've never been impressed with people who will say whatever they think other people want to hear. When I was growing up and in church, I could tell a huge, huge difference between preachers who said what they thought and felt, and preachers who preached for the audience. Thus, I'm rarely impressed with politicians.

With the string of flip-flops and gaffes coming from the Obama campaign these days, it's hard to really trust him at his word for what he believes in and stands for. Not that anyone was fairly certain about that to begin with, other than that he believes in "change." We still don't know that much about the Senator from Illinois, other than that he DOES supposedly believe in "change." I believe in change, as well, get enough of it together and it can be converted into bill form...

I digress.

Barry H. is supposedly a propponent of gun control. Supposedly he believes that handguns should be heavily regulated (unconstitutional, by the way, as anyone who has ever bothered to actually READ the Constitution, particularly the Second Amendment, can tell you), and yet he is coming across with the Sean Connery line from The Untouchables in reference to McCain and the Republicans.

“If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” Obama said in Philadelphia last night. “Because from what I understand, folks in Philly like a good brawl. I’ve seen Eagles fans.”

McCain and the RNC took on the comment in terms that will be very familiar to people who followed Clinton campaign statements last year:

“Barack Obama’s call for ‘new politics’ is officially over. In just 24 hours, Barack Obama attacked one of America’s pioneering women CEOs, rejected a series of joint bipartisan town halls, and said that if there’s a political knife fight, he’d bring a gun," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said, referring also to the Obama campaign's shot at Carly Fiorina's lavish pay package and role in layoffs at Hewlett-Packard.

“Why is Barack Obama so negative? In the last 24 hours, he’s completely abandoned his campaign’s call for ‘new politics,’ equating the election to a ‘brawl’ and promising to ‘bring a gun,' " said the RNC's Alex Conant.

The bi-partisan town hall meetings, by the way, set up after Obama's challenge of "any where, any time." I'm not sure that there was screaming like a little girl involved, but he did, obviously, run from them like one.

Again, I digress.

The McCain camp was quick to respond Obama's "bring a gun" comment, stating on the McCain web site, "we're having second thoughts about our proposed series of town halls."

"New politics" indeed. Obama is the product of the Chicago political machine, having been schooled and tutored to fight a dirty, ruthless campaign if necessary in order to win at all costs. Understandable, this is politics. Politics is a dirty game, and Obama seems ready and willing to dip his hands into the mud and come out slinging, keeping a bottle of hand cleaner close by in order to do a quick scrub job in order to come across as the one playing clean. The problem with that arises in having an established public record that shows exactly what positions that a politician has taken on issues, showing, as in the case of Rudy Giuliani, exactly where a candidate has been on issues as opposed to what they say while running for their current bids for higher office.

Despite his Messianic appeal early on before his own skeletons began to come rattling out of the closet, Obama is starting to come across with all the charm of nails dragging across a chalkboard. His challenges to McCain and then backing down from an open forum town hall style series of debates are indicative of a tremendous lack of intestinal fortitude. Not that McCain is a great national treasure himself, but it speaks volumes that Obama is unwilling to face him man to man in debate without the aid of prescreened questions or a teleprompter. That would indicate a lack of character, a lack of principles, and a lack of having a firm stand on anything, in my opinion.

Perhaps these are symptoms of a larger, unasked question. If Barack Obama is unable to square off without having the issues defined ahead of time, could it be that there is someone behind the scenes who controls which issues Obama will address? If so, what does that say for how he will operate should he take the Oval Office come November? Will there be some unknown, behind the scenes puppet master controlling Obama's actions as President? If so, who might that be?

Given his associations with Ayers, Wright, and the questionable connections to known terrorist sponsoring organizations, could it be that we have allowed the Democratic party to put forth a potential candidate that we really, truly, know nothing about other than that he looks good in a suit and can talk about change?

And if he does come with a gun to a knife fight, does that mean that McCain can saddle up and bring in a jet fighter?

These are the questions that must be answered before the November elections. Perhaps Lincoln Davis and Bart Gordon of Tennessee are right in withholding their super-delegate support from Obama. It may very well indeed be that the Democrats have made a huge error in judgement in allowing themselves to be overcome by "the Messiah."

McCain has put forth that electing Obama will be bringing about the second administration of Jimmy Carter. What I have to wonder is, is Jimmy Carter suddenly starting to look a little bit better to anyone else?

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Finding Respect for Hillary

Hillary Clinton has pulled out of the primary race, leaving Barack Hussein Obama a clear path for nomination for the Democratic Party at the Denver Convention. But in the final analysis, despite the odds from the start, Hillary endures.
I've never been a fan of Hillary Clinton. From before her husband's first term in the White House, something about her just put me off.

Before you start thinking the term "misogynist," let me put you straight from the get go. It had nothing to do with the fact that she's a woman, nor the fact that she is a strong willed, determined woman. It had to do more along the lines with policy issues and political theory.

For years, I would cringe whenever I would see Hillary on television and change the channel to something more palatable.

Bill ended his second term as President, and I hoped that we had heard the last of Bill and Hillary Clinton, but that wasn't to be the case, as Hillary went on to win a senate seat in New York. And from there she went on to enter into the run for the Presidency.

If I had had hair at that point, I would have been pulling it out by the roots. I was even seriously considering and looking into how to best make a move to Mexico for the duration of her Presidency if she won the nomination and then went on to take office next January. By the time she and Obama began to emerge at the front of the pack, I had decided that it was time to leave my years standing spot as a die hard independent and declare a party, choosing to declare as a Republican. For the first time in my life, because of two candidates, I was and am affiliated with a party.

Politics has always held a strong fascination and appeal to me, however, and so I naturally had to follow the course of both the Democrat and Republican fights for the President. My own choice for candidate, Fred Thompson, entered the race late and didn't make it to the finish line. I wasn't happy about that at the time, but in retrospect, looking over the campaigns and at the nation as a whole, it wasn't the right time for Fred to come into the Presidency.

And so I continued following along, weighing things in my mind that have yet to find their way into words that can coherently be followed by others, and I noticed a few things.

First and foremost, Bill Clinton, God love him, is a narcissistic megalomaniac. A few years back, I could almost feel sorry for Bill and it was because of my feelings about Hillary that inspired that sentiment. From the reports of their screaming matches in the White House, with Hillary throwing things at Bill during arguments, her ice water reputation, and all the bad dirty business that seems to shadow Team Clinton, I couldn't stand either of them, her moreso than him.

Watching things more closely this year and with a different approach, having political science training and practical experience in my background that I didn't have at the time of Bill's bid for the White House, I could see things profoundly differently now than I saw them then.

Bill Clinton is an albatros around his wife's neck (for those of you who have never read Ryme of the Ancient Mariner, you need to check it out here. Between his philandering and his temper, he has done nothing, really to forward his wife's campaign. Generally, an appearance by Bill on Hillary's behalf tends to be like Al Gore showing up to discuss global warming (see Gore Effect). If you're running for President, you don't want anything to have a negative impact on the campaign to be coming from within your own camp. And Bill is a definite negative for Hillary. Hillary can't even have her moment to withdraw gracefully from the campaign without the negative shadow of Bill lurking in the corner.

I have to admit, I was pretty amazed at my own reversal of thinking in taking an in depth look at Hillary's candidacy. And I have to say that despite her faux pas, despite her gaffes, despite the pushing by the DNC leadership, Hillary soldiered on and stayed the course until the final numbers came in to put Obama over the top.

That speaks volumes to a strength of character that I, personally, didn't believe possible out of Hillary Clinton until I watched her continue on, despite overwhelming pressure from the media and from her own party to drop out of the race so they could hand the nomination to Barack Hussein Obama. It speaks to her belief in her cause, and while I may not necessarily agree with her on several issues of policy, I have to say, this weekend, I am sitting here highly impressed with her integrity and her endurance to continue on until the ultimate and final decision being made; that decision being Obama reaching the required number of delegates before Clinton. She has definitely, despite my differences of opinion with her on policy matters, earned my respect.

So what next for Hillary Clinton? She's already forwarded the notion that there will be another bid for the White House. That means that she definitely plans to be working on that as a goal in the future. Let's go into total analytical mode for a moment, and put forth a hypothesis. The Democratic party is in a state of transition. They don't want to admit it, but lets be honest with ourselves here, it is. So is the Republican party. There are Democrats who have supported Clinton who are on the record that they will under no circumstances support Obama, they will support McCain instead. Honestly? I don't blame them for this position, McCain does know how to work with both sides of the aisle and break the party line. McCain is in a position where he is set to reap the rewards of a splintered tree, picking up votes from Clinton, as we draw closer to the November general elections.

There is a way McCain could secure ALL of Hillary Clinton's votes, however. Obama has made it pretty clear that he won't be asking Hillary Clinton to be his running mate for the November ticket.

That doesn't, really, if the cards are played right and the hand unfolds the way that it would need to in order for it to happen, necessarily mean that Clinton couldn't be in the running for a spot as Vice President of the United States, during a time when both major political parties are on the verge of losing members to third party movements anyway...

Just a little notion than ran through mind in sitting back and contemplating things political in discussion with a friend earlier today.


I can easily believe, that there are more invisible than visible Beings in the universe. But who shall describe for us their families? and their ranks and relationships and distinguishing features and functions? What they do? where they live? The human mind has always circled around a knowledge of these things, never attaining it. I do not doubt, however, that it is sometimes beneficial to contemplate, in thought, as in a Picture, the image of a greater and better world; lest the intellect, habituated to the trivia of daily life, may contract itself too much, and wholly sink into trifles. But at the same time we must be vigilant for truth, and maintain proportion, that we may distinguish certain from uncertain, day from night.

-- T. Burnet, Archaeol. Phil. p. 68 (1692)

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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McCain Docs to say he's Fit for Presidency

John McCain has joked about his age during his campaign for the presidency, and has even had his 90 year old mother out in front of the cameras as a show of his family history of longevity. But is the 71 year-old McCain physically up for the job?


If there is one thing you can call John McCain, it's "survivor." Having survived years of torture at the hands of the north Vietnamese, which included broken bones and malnourishment as well as illness, as well as cancer, the Arizona senator has endured. And his doctors are expected to say that he's not only endured, but he's endured well.

Aides and doctors for McCain - who often boasts he hiked the Grand Canyon "rim to rim" last year during a three-day trek with his son - insist he is remarkably healthy.

"It only takes one day on the road with John McCain to know that what doctors say about his health is absolutely true," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds. "He's in excellent shape."

Aides told The News that, like many men his age, his medicines are limited to baby aspirin (to prevent heart attacks), Vytorin for cholesterol (now pegged at a respectable 155) and the occasional Claritin for allergies.

There was no mention of Viagra, however, which former Kansas Senator Bob Dole advertised after his failed bid for the Presidency in the 90's.

It does say something to the seriousness given to the public's concerns about McCain's fitness to be President at his age. He'll be 72 on election day; Hillary Clinton is 60 and Barack Obama is 48. Still, his doctors have given him a clean bill of health for being able to carry out his duties if elected Commander-in-Chief.

Personally, I know men half his age who wouldn't pass the same physical with such high marks. Perhaps it's a throwback to his military training and the career spent in service to his country, learning through the years to remain physically fit and active. Whatever the case may be, it seems to have worked, and we may be seeing a new rise in interest in "the McCain Plan" when it comes to our health as individuals in this country, following the example of the man who would be President.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man (who's now back on a diet after writing that...)


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McCain Benefits from Democrat's "Soap Opera?"

As the ongoing warfare between Clinton and Obama continues, John McCain has a chance to regroup and prepare his campaign strategy for the coming November general elections. What can he do to remain in the public's mind from now until then?

The slug-fest between Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama continues. Currently, Obama leads in the popular vote and has secured the support of several states, while Clinton has secured several larger states and possibly holds sway over a number of super-delegates for the upcoming Denver convention in August. And the mud is slinging and flying. From Obama's controversial religious ties and affiliations to Clinton's embellishments on her role in international affairs as First Lady, including a very embarrassing version by her of events on her trip to Bosnia, neither candidate is doing themselves any favors as the primary season begins winding down to a close. At this point, both of them are covered with mud, and they're largely not slinging it each other, but winding up falling, face first, into the puddle and muddying themselves.

There is little doubt that either candidate can garner enough support at the polls to become the clear-cut leader going into the convention. Neither candidate seems willing, at this point, to concede to the other and bow out. This leaves the playing field wide open for voters in the remaining primaries and caucuses, and a convention seeing the entry of not one clear choice for the party, but two equally determined individuals to choose from.

The good news is that an ugly convention fight is highly preventable. The one advantage of a scenario that's both completely hair-raising and utterly foreseeable is that everyone has an incentive to stop it. The bad news is what's not preventable: a contest that rolls into June. Even without a messy convention, the current trajectory of the primary campaign could easily destroy the party's White House prospects.

Democrats have never been known for Spock-like rationality, but even they see the logic of avoiding a convention fiasco. "It's in nobody's interest in the Democratic Party for that to happen," says Mike Feldman, another former Gore aide. "There is a mechanism in place--built into the process--to avoid that." That mechanism, such as it is, involves an en masse movement of uncommitted superdelegates to the perceived winner of the primaries. Almost everything you hear from such people suggests this will happen in time. "I think once we have the elected delegate count, things will move fairly quickly, " says Representative Chris Van Hollen, who oversees the party's House campaign committee. Increasingly, there is even agreement on the metric by which a winner would be named. Just about every superdelegate and party operative I spoke with endorsed Nancy Pelosi's recent suggestion that pledged delegates should matter most.

We've all seen exactly how wonderfully Nancy Pelosi can run things by now, haven't we?

With so much focus on the fighting amongst the Democrats, what is going on with the Republican side of the campaign? John McCain is taking a little time to regroup and form his strategy for entry into the general election segment, and Rush Limbaugh has implemented what he calls "Operation Chaos," his plan to keep the "soap opera" of the Democratic primaries race going on through the August convention in Denver.

Folks, we are doing it! Do you realize, we are doing it! Things are happening out there on our terms. Why, this is just fabulous. "McCain leads 46 percent to 40 percent in a hypothetical matchup against Obama in the November presidential election, according to the poll. That is a sharp turnaround from the Reuters/Zogby poll from last month, which showed in a head-to-head matchup that Obama would beat McCain 47 percent to 40 percent. ... Matched up against Clinton, McCain leads 48 percent to 40 percent, narrower than his 50 to 38 percent advantage over her in February. 'It's not surprising to me that McCain's on top because there is disarray and confusion on the Democratic side,' Zogby said." Wait a minute. McCain's on top means Hillary's on bottom. We were told Hillary will never be on bottom, particularly when it comes to this dream ticket.

McCain's campaign manager has stated that the focus for the next phase will be on McCain's positive aspects, his service records both in the navy and in government, and to make the public more aware of who McCain is as an individual. One of the hurdles McCain faces will be in how to best spend his campaign money; McCain is historically not a candidate who has been successful in raising huge amounts of campaign funds. Reestablishing the campaign infrastructure is another priority for the McCain camp, having to rebuild it since it's 2007 collapse due to lack of funding.

McCain is gaining ground in the polls, however, in large part due to the infighting of the Democratic party, and several polls show him leading either top Democrat in the race for the White House in November.

Mr. McCain commands considerable support among independents, especially against Mrs. Clinton, of New York. This suggests that should she win the Democratic nomination, he would have an easier time winning states like New Hampshire and Colorado. Against Mr. Obama, Mr. McCain fares worse among independents but slightly better among Democrats. That signals opportunity in states filled with lunch-bucket Democrats, like Michigan and Ohio.

Long before the Democratic race ends, Mr. Fabrizio said, Mr. McCain must “war game” a strategy and a message for either outcome.

This is probably the main problem facing the McCain camp, for the moment. With no clear cut leader on the Democratic side, McCain can really do little more than await the emergence of the Democrats nominee and ultimate candidate that he will face for the November ballot. Until the August conventions, all any of us can really do is await the outcome of "Operation Chaos."

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man


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