Catching Up

After being away from blogging for three weeks (mostly spent in Europe) TNB has had a hard time catching up with all the recent news, but does have a few profound observations.

Should John McCain win the presidency (a distinct possibility) he can thank among other factors, Georgia. No, not the reliable red state (pun intended) he would carry under any circumstances but rather the heretofore obscure former Soviet republic embroiled in yet another ethnic dispute with the big bad bear (pun intended) Russia. Every time some new world crisis flares up, McCain gets votes. No different than 2004 when the GOP successfully played the terror fear card to narrowly reelect W. Hasn't that been great for the country? TNB recently visited Russia briefly and got an education in attitudes of ordinary Russians--scary.

Barack Obama's efforts to look strong have consisted of picking an attack dog (albeit qualified) as his running mate. Most of you probably haven't noticed but Obama recently was interviewed on ESPN and asked (since of course he's a Chicagoan) who he would support if somehow both the Cubs and White Sox made the World Series (this happens once a century). As a South Sider, like Mayor Daley, he understandably prefers the White Sox. But, he then went on to diss Cubs fans (doesn't he know they're all over the country?) as beer drinking tourists who know nothing about baseball!!! I assume he wasn't referring to TNB, whose baseball knowledge can probably be matched against most anyone. Can't you just see Obama, a few weeks before the election, making a surprise appearance at Wrigley Field wearing a Cubs hat (this should only happen) should they be playing say Tampa Bay from an important state like Florida? Why is it that the Democrats continually pick wussy candidates-- see Stevenson, McGovern, Dukakis, Kerry et al?

This reminds TNB of 2000, when carpetbagger Hillary Clinton, attempting to secure a Senate seat in her "adopted" state of New York, wore a Yankees cap proclaiming she was a lifelong fan when she had grown up in suburban Chicago and was really a fan of (gasp!) the Cubs. All this proves is how craven politicians can be. Hillary does look a lot tougher than Barack, but her supporters should get real-- if many do vote for McCain, do they realize what they're getting? Actually, someone who in a few days, will be the same age as TNB, but without the Internet skills.