Major Mayor Fitness Fenty

The Washington Post carried a story today about Washington Mayor Fitness Fenty. The story is big enough that you might think Adrian Fenty committed a felony, but no, he had a serious biking accident. The story describes witnesses’ accounts of the accident and how Mayor Fenty’s injuries affect his appearance and persona and blah blah blah.

What’s wrong with his image? Why not protect it? I like a mayor (or any elected official, a President?) who’s physically fit and proud of it. I like an elected official to be always dressed up and looking reverential, like he is ready to make a speech or meet someone important, like, like, maybe, somebody like me? I like an official who tries to make a good impression, who cares about his appearance.

Mayor Fenty is always sharp and distinctive. His nicely fitting, tailored suit is consistently buttoned; and he wears a colorful tie. His shoes are polished, and he is cleanly shaven. Rather like Candidate Obama.

Is there something wrong with dressing presidential? Or acting like a president? (Well, most of them anyway.) Is there something wrong with showing respect not only for himself (or herself) but also for the audience?

Wearing a golf hat, sunglasses, and golf shirt shows you are headed for the golf course, not the the highest elected post in the world.

In April I canvassed for Barack Obama in York, Pennsylvania, a day Mayor Fenty also came to town to canvass. There we were in our “glad rags” and there was the Mayor, all fit and proper, suited up, bright tie, nice suit, warm and gracious, greeting us at the gathering spot for canvassers, in a church. He said a few words to the 30 or so volunteers and shook hands with us all.

What struck me in York was Mayor Fenty’s appearance and enthusiasm. Honestly, I can’t recall much of what he said since I was so taken by the moment. And him.

Take a look at other world leaders and ask yourself: Do I want this guy making major decisions which will affect my life and those about me? Or, do I want a golfing buddy?

Image is everything, dearie. And don’t you believe otherwise.

Cartoon Idea: John McCain on the Mountain Top

Cartoon idea being born...DING DING DING...McCain in Middle East wearing sunglasses and hat, standing on Pakistan/Afghanistan mountainous border, in shirt sleeves with aides, Rudi (and mt. goats) standing around, surrounded by troops loaded wi. rifles and helmets... saying something like "Where are we? What time is it?" Then he could be saying something really profound like "After we send troops to India to finish off the Taliban, we'll send a brigade to South Korea to battle the axle (sic) of evil" or some nonsense.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain stands Barack Obama in all his glory tour with a halo above him and saying...saying...you finish it...

Veep Chat

Enter Jason:
So far, I'm not impressed with the list:

For Obama, Who's Being Vetted?
17 Jul 2008 05:01 pm

A simple exercise, based on public statements and some reporting.

Confirmed

Sen. Chris Dodd

Almost certainly being vetted (based on my and other's reporting)

Gov. Tim Kaine
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius
Sen. Evan Bayh

Unknown

Sen. Chuck Hagel
Sen. Hillary Clinton
Sen. Claire McCaskill
Ex-Sen. Sam Nunn
Ex-Sen. Tom Daschle
Ex-Sen. John Edwards

Not being vetted

Sen. Jack Reed
Sen. Joe Biden (yet)
Ex-Rep. Dick Gephardt
Sen. Jim Webb
Ex-Gen. Colin Powell


Patricia enters:
Dodd, I don't think will do much for the ticket although I like him and his voice a lot in the Senate. Isn't he from CT? What happens to his seat if he leaves? The gov. appoints? Is the gov. a Dem or Repub.? We can't afford to lose a Senate seat.

Jason:
The Gov of CT is in fact a Repub. So, Dodd is out. Plus, he's got bad ties to Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac and Countrywide. Uh-oh. Not good!!!

Patricia:
Agreed.

NO WAY another woman would get it over Hill. Her supporters would be furious!

Jason:
I'm beginning to think that there may be a chance for a woman. Maybe Sebelius or McCaskill. Both actually have more elected experience than Hill. And if Hill can signal her blessing, maybe her peeps would shut up? Although, I sincerely hope McBush picks Carly Fiorina. That would be AWESOME--for us!!!

Patricia:
If McShame picks her, he is truly has fewer brains than I think he's got. Should we call and write urging her nom.? I do NOT think O will pick any woman but Hill and please, not her!

Kaine is out; hell, he can't even get anything done in VA. Why would he be included? A firebrand. Yeah, Kaine is out.

Jason:
Plus, I think he likes being Gov.

Patricia:
There have been a lot of problems with his ineffectiveness as gov. He is quite frustrated!

Jason:
Bayh is an insincere Hill supporter. Bayh is BORING--read, Dan Quayle.

Patricia:
Where is Rendell?

Jason:
He would be a horrible choice, because he always puts his foot in his mouth. Remember, back in February, I think, he is the one who said O would not do well in PA because of all the racists that live in his state, hahaha!

Patricia:
No, no, no to Daschle! Ineffective as Senate head.

Jason:
Daschle will make a great Chief of Staff.

Patricia:
Edwards could not carry NC 4 yrs. ago. Why would O go with him? Nope, not him. NC's prob. sewed up with all the blacks, anyway. I think the Edwards of today is vastly improved from the Edwards of four years ago. And, I do think that his and O's message is exactly the same. The only problem is would an Edwards pick carry the baggage of the 2004 campaign? It may look like it.

I like Edwards, but I don't think he has a chance bec. of leftovers from 2004 and suggesting Kerry (ouch; becoming like Dukakis almost).
Nope to Powell (another minority; the racists would have a field day, and besides, yrs. ago, he refused to be vetted)

Jason:
Powell will endorse O and that will be BIG enough.

Patricia:
Gephardt? Hhmmmmmm...good for location. But a "has-been'? A Washington type too much?

Jason:
HAHAHAHAHA, yeah right. If he does, say goodbye. Gephardt is more boring than watching paint dry. And we used to work for him!!!

Patricia:
Is Nunn too old? I like him, but my No. 1 IS......THE COWBOY

Jason:
Nunn is 69. Too old. Hagel . . . I still like him the most!!!


Patricia:
Oh, goody! That's two of us! And there was another posting to the NYT yesterday (after mine) saying Hagel would be a great choice!

Ring, ring, ring...there goes my telephone. It's likely Obama's team wanting my opinions on all the above. I'll just send this e-mail to The Team

CNN = Children's Naughty Network

If you click on the tab for "Iraq War" at CNN.com, you are taken to a site where the most recent story, "Iraq Troop Surge Ends; 150,000 Left" was filed "4 hours and 19 minutes ago" at the time I looked today.

Beyond that, the most recent story filed under "Iraq War" was dated July 10, 2008 ("Senate Okays Petraeus as head of Mideast forces") six days ago. Before that, June 24, 2008 ("Iraqi military to take control of Anbar province") 16 days before July 10.

Did the war stop? Has CNN pulled its staff out of Iraq to focus on more important issues like the color of Britney's underpants today or where Paris was taking her dog for lunch?

On the list of ten "most popular viewed" stories of the hour was one about a rapper (#4) and another, about a "boy band promoter" (#5). Britney and Paris each has her own tab among CNN's "top (10) people."

And the war is a "forgotten war." Why is that?

No wonder it's all right for John McCain to send more troops into Iraq. No wonder it's all right for John McCain to pledge the children of the middle and lower-income to a forgotten war. They have no voice. But the salaries paid by the military to lure the family members of those who are not wealthy to its wares are enticing.

How many of our troops in Iraq and in Afghanistan are sons and daughters of parents in top income brackets? Hey, Defense Department: You got a study on that? Yeah, I didn't think so.

"You can take my money, but leave my children at home!" is the silent mantra of the Top Tier Whiners. "Let them fight my battles! Who cares?" Well, certainly not the decision-makers, the "deciders" at CNN.

I checked casualty figures for the days CNN failed to make an entry about the Iraq War:

On June 24, 2008 five American soldiers were killed in Iraq. Between June 24 and July 10 when CNN had no coverage of the Iraq War, 14 American troops died in Iraq. Between July 10 and July 16 three American soldiers died in Iraq. I haven't included the number of those injured. I guess these numbers are not high enough to compete with Paris' lipstick choice today.

Does not the "news" business demand some accountability of itself, some level of sophistication, responsibility, and professionalism? Must it continually serve up garbage to attract those with no more depth than a sponge, those who have never registered to vote, those whose only care is what kind of fluff can I wear today, those who have never had to provide, those who are unable to read more than a paragraph on a cereal box, those who are unable to compose a letter demanding coverage of world events?

Rather than a news source, CNN has become the channel for teenagers who are enamored by Hollywood types with empty heads and empty voices, rather like the heads of CNN's management.

Actually, it's surprising CNN even carries a tab for "Iraq War." I doubt its viewers click on that tab much or even know where Iraq is. Let us be thankful for small things. At least, Fox makes noise.

O Yo Bama Bro

Hello, just wondering...

Is there a ratio between Obama's giant leap to the middle and his decline in dollars collected? In the decline of passion by those who've worked long and hard for him up to now? In the strides McCain is making, catching up?

Oh yeah, we are just the left, the ones he's abandoned for the middle. His base, the ones he's taken for granted in his march to vote against FISA, "refine" his stance on Iraq, approve the DC handgun lifting, and what else? And what has his shift brought him?

Like any company which neglects its "mission," the initial goal is slowly transformed into another and another, and soon, what was it any way? Has he become a student of the Terry McAuliffe school?

Just wondering, that's all...

George Will at Politics & Prose

From the back row he looked 10 years younger than 67. Wearing a suit and that stern look on an expressionless face. But like all celebrities you see, they always look better in person.

George Will came to promote his newest book, his 13th he said, One Man's America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation, but I don't think the title was ever mentioned, if you discount the cover the Politics and Prose manager held up to show the crowd before Mr. Will spoke.

He said he quickly wanted to get to the topic of the day, and his anxious audience of about 150 persons (SRO; average age: 45) sighed: "Right on, brother!"

George Will doesn't think too much of John McCain: "I am comforted by the knowledge that he doesn't know what he's talking about....I love harping on (him)," which he did often.

About The Candidates: We'll soon know why it's only the third time that a sitting U.S. Senator will become president for U.S. Senators are seldom elected. (Quick: Name the others! Answer at bottom.)

Justice Antonin Scalia "has a sound bite in all his opinions."

Mr. Will agrees with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to grant habeas corpus to the detainees at Guantanamo which he believes should be closed.

"Creationism" is false and should not be taught in school.

The Bear Stearns bailout by the U.S. Federal Reserve was a mistake.

Tony Blair is "a good American."

"It's true that some nations are not ready for a democracy."

Congress will never vote term limits on itself. "Whenever the American people have voted on term limits, they've voted for it."

Barack Obama's biggest advantage is the dysfunctioning Republican Party which "has damaged its brand. When you're in a hole, quit digging....If the Democrats can't win (this year), they have to get out of politics."

He said he said long ago: "Whoever beats Hillary Clinton will be a giant killer, and I do believe that," however, "Obama should be well ahead of McCain by now...but there are 'miles to go before we sleep.'"

He thinks it possible for McCain to win Pennsylvania.

"The most stunning number was the 41 percent in West Virginia (difference that Hillary beat Obama). It is close to Pennsylvania. Obama basically carried state capitols and academic towns (in the primaries). He has some work to do."

He said 40% of voters in 2004 were 60 and older, and 46% of the Republican vote came from "White Christians."

He writes 123 columns annually, and his newest book is a compilation of columns.

You may not agree with him politically, but one must admire his writing style and his command of the dictionary which exceed that of any other public figure around. That he speaks knowingly and was unwilling understandably to bend to any of the arguments presented by 10 or so questioners is reason to applaud his debate.

(John Kennedy and Warren G. Harding were the other presidents to come directly from the Senate.)

CNN Reports Not on Hill

In the CNN "political ticker" ("political hot topics") of yesterday reported at 5:39 a.m.

Where was Hillary?

Of the 11 "top political stories from news organizations across the country" listed, the subject order went like this:

Obama
McCain
McCain
Democrats
Obama
Three generic stories
Obama
Obama
McCain

Wheeeeeeeeerrrreeeeee's Hillary????