Skymusings

“Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpation” -James Madison

Monday, March 12, 2007

Must-read (but please come back and read mine, too?)

If you've been under a rock, IMAO is the funniest poliblog...... Well, now they're giving the Chuck Norris Facts treatment to Fred Thompson.

Yeah, I'm like everyone else....caught up in the "Draft Fred" fever....although I haven't gotten to do my post on the candidates yet, it's probably obvious I'm unimpressed by all at the moment. Some have a better chance than others, some would be preferable but could/should never win the primary, etc.....

But Fred's all right from what I see -- not perfect, but none will be -- seems to be good on immigration, taxation, regulation, and generally WoT....has issues with our strategies in Iraq but is prepared to do what it takes to fix it as quickly as possible.....best thing is that he's that Stand Up But Stuffy Boss DA guy on Law and Order. The guy has built-in recognizability to regular people who watch network TV, and even when his character has to decide something against what the viewer wants, it usually plays out that his was the correct choice (or at least he feels bad when it goes wrong....). I think this is a very strong positive for a potential candidate in such an entertainment-oriented society; people tend to confuse the character and the actor. It's easy to get caught up in the idea that this relatively popular actor, with Senate experience and a law career of his own, could capitalize on the parallels to the newly-popular Reagan and set up Law and Order: POTUS in January 2009.

More blather like this will be issued later with the candidates' post......

Oh, and did you know that if you do a Google search on "stolen dyson vacuum s arrest," you will find on the FIRST page a link to a prior Skymusings post?

It's true. See for yourself.....

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

A little smirking

Over a year ago, in January 2006, I wrote a couple of posts regarding the end of President Bush's 2nd term and the possibilities he could theoretically pursue regarding the 2008 election and keeping his philosophy and staff as intact as possible. That particular set of ideas revolved around establishing Condi Rice in the power structure to make her a de facto incumbent, possibly a real incumbent.

See the original post here: "We want to be a nation that serves goals larger than self...."

Followup post here: "Cheney will retire after the 2006 elections...."

Obviously the President is not going to complete all the steps put forth in the original poli-fantasy. However, the first step is not only possible but appears all the more likely every day.

The 2008 election will be historic for a number of reasons, but a strong factor is the fact that there will be no incumbent president or vice-president angling for a promotion. I do not have the stat handy, but I believe it is the first time in nearly 80 years that this situation has existed.

Vice-President Cheney has made it clear from day one that he would serve as Veep for Little George and would not seek the presidency. Much of the reason involves his health issues combined with age. These are explored and detailed in my second link above. Basically, the man has had heart attacks since his 30s and is known to be a cardiopulmonary disaster waiting to happen. He is 65 years old and has made it clear that his family has been waiting for him to come home for some time. The president is officially a lame duck and there is little for Cheney to do since strong-arming the republican caucus in the congress is no longer the necessity it was in the past 6 years.

Now it appears that blood clotting in the Vice-President's legs will certainly cause a limitation on future travel plans and is fueling speculation that he will step down for health reasons.

Just a little bit of bragging here -- I called this over a year ago. I also called that Secretary of State Rice will be nominated to replace him. Since the 2006 elections did not go so well, it is unclear whether she would be confirmed by the Senate. Fortunately the dems have presidential candidates Obama and Clinton, so the idea of blacks/women being unqualified is laid to rest, and since she is already SecState there should be no question of her ability to serve.

What is most amusing about all this is that the rest of the world will be surprised at these turns of events. Just know you read them here first.

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