A Note on The BBA

The BBA has been temporarily suspended because Blogger believes it is a spam blog. I blame Burri. I've requested a review, and I expect it will be running normally again soon.

The Media Love Fest for Obama

One big topic of chatter this week has been the McCain camp's complaint that the media is spending way too much time on the Obama pilgrimage and way too little time on the Sorta-Straight Talk Express. Frankly, the McCain camp should be thankful. For the press, familiarity breeds contempt. The more time they spend with him now means the earlier they'll turn on him like half-starved cannibals.

Two questions for Obama

And they are kind of related.

1. You do know that you aren't running for President of the World, right?

2. How many votes do you think you picked up in Israel and Germany this week?

On the Return of Favre

Most of my commentary on Brett Favre has been confined to the Wisconsin Sports Bar, but I did want to share one little nugget here. I am so confident that Brett's age and decreasing devotion to the little things will lead to a big performance drop off that I don't even really care if he ends up in Minnesota or Chicago. In fact, in a kind of perverse way, I'm almost to the point where I'm welcome it.

Plant Bleg

Mystery Plant
Originally uploaded by Jibby7

I was walking along the river in Waukesha this weekend and I snapped a photo of this plant. Unfortunately, I have no idea what the hell it is. Anyone out there who is sharp at plant identification who can fill me in on this? Your expertise is much appreciated.

Motivations Behind the Iraq Plans

The great debate is on again: When should we leave Iraq? In this corner, we have Barack Obama's 16 month plan. And in this corner, we have John McCain's longer range plan, one that could see a substantial U.S. presence in Iraq for years and basing rights for our children's lifetime and beyond. But really, what are the motivations behind each plan?

For most Americans, the 16 month plan is very seductive. Americans are not a war loving lot despite their willingness to fight for security and liberty. The Long War has been exactly that, and the fatigue in the general populace is palpable.

In addition to fatigue, there is this notion that pulling out now, while Iraq is stabilized, is a chance to make a legitimate claim to victory over the insurgency in Iraq. A quick pull out may very well allow that claim to be staked.

The long range plan proves to be a much more difficult sell. A fatigued public cannot fathom a significant U.S. military presence in Iraq that lasts until 2012 or 2020. Long term military deployments such as this are just not something that Americans have historical experience with.

If you listen to Iraq's Defense Minister, that long range presence is exactly what we will need in order to claim a victory that the history books will recognize. He says that it will be 2012 before Iraq can even handle all of its own internal security, and that it may be 2020 before the country can reliably protect itself from external threats. If his estimates are correct, a 16 month pull out, while possibly giving the U.S. a tenuous claim to victory, would leave the current Iraqi state horribly vulnerable to internal and external calamity.

So which plan is best? Well, the answer just may lay in your motivation. If you have a short term outlook, then getting our troops out of harms way with a veneer of victory is likely the goal. The future of the nation at the crossroads of the Middle East is wrought with peril in this outlook, but it is nothing if not expedient.

On the other hand, if a stable, allied state in the heart of the Middle East is the goal, then there is little choice but to stay until such time that the Iraqi government can successfully provide it's most important service to the Iraqi people: Providing internal and external security for the Iraqi people. Additionally, if Iraq's long term viability and prosperity is a goal, then long range basing rights a la Germany and Japan must be negotiated with the Iraqi government. The presence of a U.S. base(s), while perhaps not always popular, would have a tempering affect on internal Iraqi instability while acting as a very obvious trip wire to deter external threats to the nation.

So when you consider the plans of the competing presidential candidates, ask yourself this: What motivates my support of one plan over another? Do I just want this over because I'm tired of it all, or do I want us to make the effort to do this right so our presence today is appreciated by future generations of Iraqis, not regretted.

Litmus Test for MSM's Obama-Crush

This is rather clever:

This is my proposed Quayle Test. Ask yourself: How each time Obama says something stoopid, would the press would have crucified Dan Quayle for it?

Each day, each new gaffe from Obama, imagine Dear Old (supposedly) Dumbsh*t Dan saying it. Then compare what would have happened to him compared to the response Sen. Obama gets from his cheering gallery in the Press.

It is undeniable that Obama is getting a pass from liberal media sources, and this is a great way of illustrating it.

Bank Run on IndyMac

This blows my mind.

Bovenzi, who oversees bank receiverships for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, was not surprised to see hundreds of customers waiting outside the bank's Pasadena, California, headquarters Monday morning to withdraw their money, but predicted the anxiety would quickly abate.

"I think what people will see when they go in and get their money is that it's safe," Bovenzi said in an interview outside the newly renamed IndyMac Federal Bank. "There will be some lines until people see that."

Apparently these folks have never taken the time to read the "FDIC Insured" thing. This isn't 1930...not yet, at least. They really didn't need to forgo work to get their money because it was still going to be there after work, or tomorrow, or this weekend.

The Bring Back My $8 Campaign

Since there is a Bring Back Brett Favre campaign that is getting rave reviews on the news, I've decided to start the Bring Back My $8 campaign for all of us who bought that now silly commemorative Brett Favre issue of Sport Illustrated. See the Wisconsin Sports Bar for details. Together, we can get our $8 back.

Tony Snow, 1955-2008

I am saddened by the death of Tony Snow. Snow has done much to further the discourse on the right over the years via his columns, his radio show, and his time on television. While I might not have always agreed 100% with him, I always did respect him. As Press Secretary, he brought a small piece of assertiveness to an administration that did not display very much of its own. My condolences to Snow's family.

Miller Park at Night

Miller Park
Originally uploaded by Jibby7

I've been dying to take this shot of Miller Park for a long time. I had it all thought out in my head...I was going to use a long shutter speed and a smaller aperture so I could get the stadium just right while having a nice, blurred crowd shot. So there was only one problem when I went to shoot it-my tripod was in my trunk, and my car was way over in the general lot. So I had to adjust and do this basically hand held. I like it, but I didn't get as much of a blur on the sidewalk as I had hoped, and the lights on the right really messed with the composition of the entire.

Dumb

I stood underneath a pavilion tonight as a severe thunderstorm blew through. I must admit, that ranks in the top 10 of dumbest things I've ever done. As I held a teammate's aluminum bat with sand and rain blasting my face, I wondered what the hell I was doing.

Bored, Uninspired

By Gawd, I have been a horrible blogger this year, and mostly mediocre last year. I have to admit, 'the process' has left me bored and completely uninspired. Four years ago, I was gung ho for a flawed but respectable candidate. Since then, I've watched the Republican party do everything possible to shear itself from conservatism, and the president utterly fail to lead on domestic issues. I will get back into the swing of things, but 'the process' has left me with no desire to do so. I will do so in spite of everything that is going right now, not because of it. And I can tell you this, I will pull the lever for John McCain, but only because Obama leaves a deep level of distrust deep in my gullet every time I listen to him.