PBS: Not Even a Pretense of Being Objective in their GOP Convention Coverage

If the cabal of Woodruff, Eiffil, Shields, and, yes, the "conservative" Brooks would please shut up and get out of the way, I would like to hear the speeches.

Fortunately, we have a Fox radio station in Miami, WIOD, and it is broadcasting the speeches unimpaired.  Right now Nikki Haley is giving a terrific speech, and not a word of it is on PBS.  All of it on the Fox radio station.

(Glenn Reynolds reports that MSNBC "abandons GOP convention during every speech by a minority."  What a shame that their viewers missed Artur Davis.  So glad we don't have cable, so that not a cent of ours finds its way to that network.)

On the other hand, even Woodruff and Shields are finally impressed by the speeches of Mrs. Romney and Governor Christie (which were outstanding).  Eiffil is unimpressed and unrepentant.  Brooks seems gray and almost background for the other three.  (Look at Jennifer Rubin's column in the Washington Post, especially concerning Mrs. Romney's speech [thanks, Glenn].)

The PBS conspirators have some Republicans in their booth at times.  (I suppose this was their idea of being fair and balanced.)  The Senator from Wyoming, Mike Enzi, more than holds his own.  Newt Gingrich is there and singularly unimpressive in all his talkieness.  He is really yesterday in the context of the young, fresh faces on the podium.

On the substance side, I am impressed by the way Christie relates his success in NJ to bi-partisan efforts, his warning that the American people will have to sacrifice to get the country back on track,  and his expressions of faith in those people that they will respond to the challenge.  I pray he is right.

I can't help but say, however, that Christie's size is disturbing.  The man needs to meet Dr. McDougall.  It would be terrible for the GOP to lose the governor to a heart attack.

All in all, it is a very encouraging night for the Republicans.
 
Who will be the mystery speaker?  Tebow.  That will be electrifying.  Sorry, Sarah, you are a little yesterday too.  [UPDATE: So wrong on this one!  I think Clint's speech was really odd, really fun, and shows some fresh and creative thinking on the side of the convention planners to give him that time.]

(By the way, reports are that Hillary won't be coming to the Democratic Convention.  It is a very bad sign for that gathering, already being deserted by lesser lights in the Party.  Oh, well, the Vice-President will be there.  That certainly must be a relief to the convention planners.)

Really, Mitt?

You are not going to invite Sarah Palin to speak at the GOP Convention?

That would be a mistake.

By the way, Palin gives Condalezza Rice a waiver on the pro-life issue.  That is not a mistake.

Watch Out, Rick! Watch Out, Michelle!

Here she comes!

Rand Paul's Election Raises a Question

If Sarah Palin were a man, would she get as much guff as she seems to get all the time?

Sarah, have the jerk over for dinner, for goodness sake!

If she can't handle this one with some aplomb, why are we thinking about her as Presidential material? I'm about outta here.

Not Enthralled with Palin

Rabinowitz of the WSJ. George Will, too. It's not just the Left.

Glenn Reynolds also writes:

"Okay, she’s a lot more qualified [to be President] than Obama was. But that’s setting the bar way too low."

If we are dealing with a charismatic woman with mainstream economic views and traditional values from out West who didn't go to Harvard Law, then of course there must be a much higher standard.

UPDATE: Evan Bayh as [NOT A] Wuss

On further reflection, I disagree with those who think he's not much. (Thanks, Ann Althouse.)

To be in Congress?! To be a US Senator?! Give that up when you are in your mid-fifties?! Only if your eyes are on the Presidency. If Palin can give up the Alaska governor's office to run, why can't Bayh step out of that train-wreck known as Congress?

Obama is toast. Let the games begin.

World Editor Helping Sarah Palin

I have commended World Magazine in past posts. One of World's former editors, Lynn Vincent, reportedly assisted Mrs. Palin with her new book, Going Rogue: An American Life, to be published November 17.

I think I know who would be leading.

Good on You, Bill!

Of course, there's no sub-text here.

Palin in Central Florida

60,000! And no rock concert.

Or this one

Can't Resist this One Either

I've More in Common with Sarah than I Thought

(From a campaign stop yesterday in Cedarburg, Michigan.)

Hello, on Saturday

Already posted three times, so you can tell how productive this Saturday is starting to look. However, I did get up early (surprise!), and hit two gas stations. I filled up the Pathfinder and three five gallon containers at the first; and filled up the 4Runner at the second. (Two gas stations? Maxed on on the pump with the credit card at the first.) All of this is getting ready for Ike, which now appears to be dipping south of us.

As I saw the new track for Ike laid along the east coast of Cuba, it occurred to me that Katrina-like devastation there might finally cave in the regime. I wonder if our planners are thinking about this? I don't wish any further hardship on the people of Cuba; I'm just speculating.

I also wonder if McCain's "change" plans include lifting the embargo on Cuba? If so, I doubt he would say so. Would Obama be more likely to do so? I doubt he would say so either. Raul Martinez, the former mayor of Hialeah, and someone I admire (in part because the Herald hates him) is running for Congress from our district as the Democratic nominee. (Martinez has always been a Democrat, which is rather anomalous in Miami-Dade.) Martinez has thrown his lot in with the younger generation of Cuban-Americans who are not scandalized by the idea of rationalizing our relationship with Cuba. (Notice that I did not say "liberalizing" our relationship; this liberal/conservative dichotomy continuously fails us . . . or betrays us. For example, tell me again what "compassionate conservatism" means, please?)

As to challenging the beltway mentality, it is finally apparent that we have both Presidential nominees advocating change. McCain is finally being seen as alongside Obama on this point, and he may be on the verge of completely co-opting that idea. At the risk of sounding partisan (who me?), I would suggest that the differences between the two include, but are not limited to, (that's lawyerspeak) this: McCain really means change or, if both really mean it, McCain has the backbone and experience to effect it. Where is Palin in all this, besides eye-candy (which, by the way, is a complete justification for her being nominated)? She is a profound gesture to traditional American values and to the (completely consistent) idea that women are entirely as capable as men, with the added feature of being able to produce the next generation, and should be at liberty to do what they are lead by the Spirit to do. (Let me, for example, talk to you about my daughter and daughters-in-law.)

More reasons to like Palin: (1) She's having trouble with her teenage daughter. (2) Her teenage daughter is having trouble with her. (3) Her husband looks like a great guy who has put up with a heck of a lot and still has a genuine looking smile.

I'm thinking about whether I want to see the 'Canes dismantled by the Gators today.

Nah.

Well, I better get to work. I'm down at the office, looking at the end-of-week mess. Time to do the GTD comprehensive, weekly review.

I Can't Resist Posting This

I mean, this is more Sarah Connor than June Cleaver. . . .

-Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.

Sarah's Speech

WOW!

Palin as the Right's Obama

I have no idea what the Palin pick will ultimately do to the Presidential race. Yesterday I visited with some clients who are appalled by McCain's nomination of Sarah Palin and believe he has lost the election because of it. They had no problem in respect to the inconsistency of their view that she was unqualified because of lack experience to lead and their support of Obama.

And then there is this rush of enthusiasm on the right for Palin (which I share).

I think we are all so jaded with the sort of leadership we have been getting from both parties that the lack of history that characterizes both Obama and Palin merely gives us blank slates upon which to project our grandest hopes.

Think about who we have leading Congress - Pelosi and Reid. Then on the Republican side consider Trent Lott and Ted Stevens; the leadership we had from Rumsfeld, the unchecked spending by Congress to which President Bush turned a blind eye if he did not otherwise sponsor it himself; and an intellectual elite that includes Newt Gingrich, Bill Bennett, and Pat Buchanan.

As I continue to read McCullough's biography of John Adams, I am reminded of the storehouse of great men and women with which this country began. What a contrast to our wardrobe of leadership now.

Palin as Second Best to Romney

[T]he McCain camp is defending Palin's resume, which, aside from being a governor and a mayor, includes being a mom, playing basketball, hunting moose and being runner-up for Miss Alaska 1984. There was some grumbling among Republican insiders that McCain would have been better off choosing somebody with a thicker resume, such as Mitt Romney, who actually won Miss Alaska 1984.

-Dave Barry in the Miami Herald. Laugh through the rest of it.

The Left's Worst Nightmare

That spectre has a name--Sarah Palin, the 44-year-old governor of Alaska chosen by John McCain on Friday to be his running mate. There she is: a working woman who's a proud wife and mother; a traditionalist in important matters who's broken through all kinds of barriers; a reformer who's a Republican; a challenger of a corrupt good-old-boy establishment who's a conservative; a successful woman whose life is unapologetically grounded in religious belief; a lady who's a leader.

-Bill Cristol in the National Standard here. His entire article is worth reading.