128 Comments

1. James:

This is a truly fascinating way of looking at things. Thank you!

Sep 5, 2008 - 2:51 am 2. James:

I just ran Obama’s speech through. Some might find it interesting to know which one us one of the most frequently used words.

Was it hope? No.

Change? It’s up there, but not that high.

Was there are lot of mention of important issues to the American public, such as oil, energy, solar, education or health care? No.

No, one of the most frequently used words in Obama’s speech was “McCain.”

Quite fascinating in just yesterday Obama was interviewed by the press commenting on Palin’s speech. And he made quite a big fuss about the only thing the republicans do is attack and refuse to talk about the issues. And yet this simple tool reveals that one of the most frequently mentioned subjects in Obama’s speech was his opponent.

Sep 5, 2008 - 3:15 am 3. Kilo:

James, perhaps Obama was referring to the respective campaign blogs, where both feature “Obama” as the most common term…
buzzflash.com/articles/alerts/457

Sep 5, 2008 - 3:54 am 4. Herb:

Eloquently put. Wretcherd, you have GOT to write the book.

I think that you are exactly right. McCain has nothing left to prove or to fear. As they say, what are they gonna do? Make him a POW and send him to Hanoi?

Sep 5, 2008 - 4:03 am 5. Wadeusaf:

Interesting observation James RE: Obama’s obsessing about Sen. McCain. It tends, I think, to underscore the Democrat read on the 2006 elections that the Dems won a referendum on the war, which is what they were trying to frame as the issue in the upcoming November poll.

McCain in his speech and his choice for VP outlined the idea that he had got the message sent by the people in 2006. Including but not limited to good governance, ethical standards and accountability. Can McCain/Palin win with it?

Is Obama’s head is stuck in the clouds?

this gives a whole new meaning to the notion of wordy and hope anew to punsters everywhere.

Sep 5, 2008 - 4:04 am 6. enscout:

I watched McCain’s speech last night & fell asleep about 15 minutes in. What a contrast to the prior evening’s addresses. He was boorish: I, me, my…typical Washington self adoration.

If McCain is elected, and right now I think you could say there’s a better-than 50% chance that he will, this maverick will find himself on an island. Not a good place for a leader that can only survive in a collaborative working environment.

And, of course, he will have put himself there.

Sep 5, 2008 - 4:41 am 7. Ron J:

Sarah Palin puts the fire in the belly while McCain goes about his work in a quiet, more intense manner. It’s a great team. And Srah Palin will be the American Thatcher (they will love her in Europe!)

Sep 5, 2008 - 4:59 am 8. Ricardo:

It’s only 7:30 am here, but of four people I have talked to about the speech, every single one of them said they were struck by the same thing: His admission he had been broken.
I don’t think I have ever heard such an intimately vulnerable utterance from a politician.
To their credit, not a single democrat operative had ever brought it up.

Sep 5, 2008 - 5:03 am 9. tim maguire:

enscout, if you want to comment on the content of a speech, you should watch all of it. If you had watched this one, you would have made a very different post. As people who did watch it are undoubtedly aware as they read you.

Sep 5, 2008 - 5:04 am 10. Broadsword:

“…right now I think you could say there’s a better-than 50%…” Who is this ‘you’ in your sentence, enscout? If you meant me, have we met? If not yours, whose opinion is it? Collaborators are not leaders; they are collaborators. Go alongs to get alongs. If this described McCain, we would not be talking about him right now. He would have taken the Viet commies up on their offer to vote him off the Island Hilton. His only hope to profit from that dishonor would have been in the Democrat party. Scowl and scream at that if you wish; here are two exemplars. Ted Kennedy, Wm. Jefferson, Democrat Louisiana.
Obama-Biden, A Bridge to Nowhere.

Sep 5, 2008 - 5:07 am 11. Walsingham:

Enscout: “I watched McCain’s speech last night & fell asleep about 15 minutes in.”

I agree, he started slow. But the part where he admitted that he had been broken was a big deal. And you could tell that, even now, after all that has happened and the time that has passed…and the obvious understanding and forgiveness that would have certainly come from his POW comrades, that he still felt ashamed about it.

While I disagree with McCain on many issues on what actually is best for the country, I have zero doubts that he will be doing exactly what he thinks is best and won’t be doing the usual political calculus on every last action he takes or word he utters.

Seeing that was worth the speech. I am sorry that you broke so early on.

Sep 5, 2008 - 5:14 am 12. James:

Kilo wrote:

“James, perhaps Obama was referring to the respective campaign blogs, where both feature “Obama” as the most common term…”

No, that’s not what Obama was referring to in the interview that I mentioned.

Sep 5, 2008 - 5:20 am 13. uncledip:

US Open Results, Nov 08:

Palin in 3 sets via default (BO withdrew: groin injury)

Sep 5, 2008 - 5:25 am 14. Jamie:

I doubt that Europe will “love” Palin; she’s too frontier for them (at least for Western Europe). She’ll remind them of Bush - I predict the term “cowgirl” will come out a lot, though possibly it’ll be the actually pejorative “trailer trash” that we’re already hearing. (I try not to tar everybody with the same brush, but good LORD, Democrats!) And she’ll be unrelentingly critical of the talk-talk-talk that is the EU’s M.O. She might end up being Thatcher for the new millenium - I hope she will - but was Thatcher any more beloved in her own hemisphere than, say, the vilified Reagan of the ’80s?

Sep 5, 2008 - 5:45 am 15. enscout:

Read the transcript this AM & you all are right - the second half was very moving.

Broadsword:
I guess I’m entitled to my opinion just as much as anyone. What do you think McCain’s chances are?
Do you think the President of US should only rely on his gut when making decisions that affect so much? He will need advisors.

Given our choices, this election really is a no brainer. Obama is too dangerous.

I have a bad taste in my mouth about McCain based on his record as a Senator & one speech is not enough to assuage my concern.

Sep 5, 2008 - 5:48 am 16. G.R.Langworth:

Dear Wretchard,
Redemption was also what I heard.

For the man to lay himself out so simply and completely was extraordinary and admirable.

I’ve never like McCain so well as from this speech.

Sep 5, 2008 - 5:52 am 17. Ric Locke:

It would be interesting to see the two “word clouds” presented with the same font at the same scale. As they stand, it would appear that Palin’s speech was more wide-ranging, diffuse if you will, where McCain’s was more focused. That may be an artifact of the presentation.

I’m with enscout. I don’t like John McCain, largely because I think he’s a patsy — “compromise” and “cooperation” always end up “the Democrats get their way” with him. But compared to Obama…

Regards,
Ric

Sep 5, 2008 - 6:01 am 18. Pseudo-Polymath » Blog Archive » Friday Highlights:

[...] Palin and McCain in word cloud. [...]

Sep 5, 2008 - 6:02 am 19. Harland:

The word cloud is really cool. Are there any links to word clouds for Obama and Biden?

Sep 5, 2008 - 6:08 am 20. Stones Cry Out - If they keep silent…:

[...] Palin and McCain in word cloud. [...]

Sep 5, 2008 - 6:08 am 21. Peterike:

Wretchard, can you provide a word cloud for Obama’s speech?

I’m tempted to ask for a word cloud of Benj’s posts, but…

Sep 5, 2008 - 6:22 am 22. Mrs. Davis:

Politically I’m not thrilled McCain is the nominee. But if there’s any redemption going on, it happened for me when he chose Palin. Maybe he’s what the country needs and I just don’t recognize it.

And while McCain may think he was broken and I certainly don’t know what really happened there, I do know he had a get out of jail free card he could have played any time he wished. He didn’t. Doesn’t sound broken to me. Sounds like the kind of guy who could look down on Putin and make Putin look up.

Sep 5, 2008 - 6:25 am 23. Charles:

this is the second piece of visualization software mentioned. there
was another piece of software that visualized how all the media outlets were connected and ranked them by how well they were connected and by whom and colored that according to the red blue divide.

That post got away and I never did bookmark that software–though I would have liked to.

Sep 5, 2008 - 6:41 am 24. Alexis:

One thing I find interesting is the architectural similarity between Obama’s stage in Denver and McCain’s stage in Saint Paul. Each of them spoke at the end of a “fashion runway” that was closer to the crowd than previous stages. Obama used a Hollywood set while McCain used a video screen backdrop. Obama used real fireworks at the end of his convention; McCain used virtual fireworks in the display screen behind the stage, as well as the traditional balloons and confetti of conventions past.

In some respects, Obama’s stage in Denver is more old-fashioned, for it uses 1930’s era technology in set design. Meanwhile, McCain made his speech in front of a backdrop that switched from a greenscreen to a bluescreen; future commercials of McCain’s speech can put moving pictures into the background with ease.

To me, the similarities between the Obama and the McCain campaigns are quite amusing.

Sep 5, 2008 - 6:54 am 25. ic:

McCain is inside Obama’s OODA loop.

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:00 am 26. cjm:

i was listening on the way home last night, and even though there wasn’t any/much hoopla, i was surprised when all of a sudden i was home.

he laid out a very powerful vision of his administration’s goals last night. tying extra energy revenues to the renewal of the American economy. job re-training w/income stabilizatn, school reform (breaking the union grip), voluntary public service.

all in all i think he gave exactly the speech he wanted to give. when he was crying out “fight, fight, fight with me” i wanted to grab something and join him in the “battle” for America.

he intends to take back the country. he reminds me of Augustus.

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:03 am 27. Alicia Del Fino:

McCain needed to hold onto his moderates, but also get the conservatives on board. He has done that. With Palin, he has a chance to attract repos with some libertarian tendencies as well.

The far left fringe that runs the Democratic Party is spinning its wheels, overheating, trying to figure out how to approach this improbably team.

I prefer Mitt Romney. But McCain may be deeper than he seems. And I would not mind a few Polar Bear rugs in the Vice Presidential mansion.

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:06 am 28. Mike Sylwester:

McCain is frittering away his opportunities to raise real issues and explain his positions. There are only two months left, and if he wasted his convention speech speaking in generalities and banalities, then he apparently has no effective intentions.

For one example, he favors development of nuclear power. Great, I agree. But he needs to explain what he intends to do about the safety concerns that have stopped the development of nuclear energy. I don’t have a clue what he intends to do about those concerns, and I assume he doesn’t either.

The same haziness extends through a series of other issues — medical care, Social Security and Medicare obligations, climate change, etc. He fails to address the issues with satisfactory focus or detail. It seems he expects us all to trust that everything will turn out OK just because he as a POW.

My dream ticket would have been Fred Thompson and Newt Gingrich. With them, the Republicans would be debating the Democrats very intelligently and convincingly. With McCain and Palin, all we have is personal appeal.

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:16 am 29. krontekag:

Mike, you can rest easy on the safety issue. France alone is running 59 reactors safely, which produce 75% of their grid electricity. They export power to neighbouring countries. Technology has really improved over the last decade or two.

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:29 am 30. Aether:

Clouds are, of course, related to weather, and the Word Clouds of John McCain and Barack Obama signify Political weather.

I had lived in the DC area practically my entire life, (as an average American) and have experienced all the weathers, both physical and political, that the beautiful city can behold.

My thought is that if McCain-Palin wins the election it will be like a spring stormfront blowing into Washington DC from the far West, releasing a hard, cleansing rain as it swoops down from Appalachians, sweeping away the accumulated dirt and grime of a long, hard, nasty winter, and you (the average American) will know that a new sringtime has begun in America. And you will run outside to enjoy the beautiful new day and rejoice.

If Obama-Biden wins the election, it will be like a stiflingly hot & humid August day with 95 degree heat and 95 percent humidity.
An inversion layer will settle in, the toxic smog will build, and your only desire (as an average American) will be to seek respite from the nastiness outside.

I’m very much hoping that a McCain-Palin stormfront will blast through Washington DC, and sweep away the accumulated political nastiness and grime that defiles Our beautiful City.

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:30 am 31. Paul:

It was a pretty good speech, not nearly as good as Sarah’s, but that was to be expected.

But what I find interesting is what I didn’t hear:

The Good- i didn’t hear the words:

• Immigration Reform
• Cap and Trade
• Global Warming

The Bad- I didn’t hear about:

• The need for a bigger military.
• The need for urgent completion of a comprehensive system of missile defense.
• How he’s going to deal with Fannie and Freddie.

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:39 am 32. James:

I think McCain is being kind of silly with all of this nuclear talk. As krontekag notes, the French do have a good thing on nuclear power. They’re arguably the world’s experts at nuclear reactor technology.

However, I don’t see it flying. First, it’ll take a long time to bring any new plants online. Secondly, there’s a deep aversion to it in the US and there’ll undoubtedly be all sorts of lawsuits and moves to delay their construction.

This could prove problematic as GM is moving quick to develop an electric car. A big increase in electric cars would be one of the best possible things for our country in reducing our consumption of foreign oil. However, if they rush to market too soon, it will begin to strain the grid. So what’s the solution?

Solar.

Solar has been making astonishing gains in efficiency and in cost. Wall Street has been investing big money into startups. Some firms are buying up vast tracks of useless land in the South West in the belief that it will soon be prime land for solar farms. If prices continue to drop at the rate they’ve dropped in recent years, solar will soon be one of the cheapest energy sources on the planet.

This is all moving fast. Do a google news search on “solar power” and check out how much chatter there is.

And none too soon. The most effective move we could make to contain Russia is to keep their oil revenues down. Since we consume such a huge portion of the world’s oil, a substantial reduction in our own use of it will do a lot to keep the price down, reduce Russia’s ability to use it as a weapon, and keep us from sending $ out of the country.

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:41 am 33. Mister Snitch!:

This proves one thing: If you’re going to use big type, go for the serifs.

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:44 am 34. The Mad Parson » Clouds That Reveal:

[...] was introduced to the word cloud by my pal, Robert Austell.  Here’s Palin’s and McCain’s speeches run through word cloud softward.  [...]

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:53 am 35. Zim:

How are you going to charge all those electric cars without nuc. power enhancing the grid? Wind is too variable, tech. is simply not there yet for it or solar.

Sep 5, 2008 - 8:11 am 36. Lifeofthemind:

James did get something right, although I don’t think he meant to. The problems facing us in rolling out nuclear power are not technical but legal. The party of the trial lawyers have waged a 30 year campaign to obfuscate the issues, delay implementation and inflate the costs of nuclear power. McCain/Pallin need to keep hammering away that they are running against Obama/Biden/Pelosi/Reid. They are rentier lawyers from Hell, call them the “$4.00 Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” My big regret in this election cycle is that Edwards imploded to soon.

Sep 5, 2008 - 8:23 am 37. trangbang68:

I wonder if Code Pink realizes the irony of using totalitarian tactics of trying to shout down political speech while protesting “fascist” war criminals,etc.
In another sensory measure than speech ,Sarah P. is attractive,vibrant,funny while the protesters are unattractive, obnoxious and shrill. Not a very effective tactic Medea.

Sep 5, 2008 - 8:26 am 38. Amit:

“What John McCain was describing was his redemption”

The American Election has come down to shame.

Michelle Obama is deeply ashamed of America: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/JC04Aa01.html

Shelby Steele in his book “A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can’t Win.” Takes this even furthur, arguing that Barak Obama is a bargainer, offering America redemption for our national shame: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/02/019702.php

The reason George W. Bush has an approval rating of 30% (often less) is because we Americans who supported with our whole hearts, spirits & money are deeply ashamed of him.

We are ashamed. because by his mismanagement of the Iraq War for years, hundreds of American soldiers died in Iraq.

Its is an unspeakable shame. And I do mean unspeakable. Republicans can’t speak about it, because they are beat over the head over it by the Democrats daily.

And yet, Republicans believe deeply in their souls: The War in Iraq was the right choice. And the surge was the right choice.

How though can you defend something you are ashamed of?

And ashamed of for good reasons. Sending some of our best men and woman to Iraq to die needlessly is wrong, and in many ways unforgivable.

The strategic goal of the two campaigns is simple:

o Barak Obama is painting John McCain with the shame of George W. Bush.
o John McCain is painting Barak Obama as a hot air buffon, and then popping it.

(This is the meaning of the speeches given by Barak Obama, Sarah Palain, & John McCain at the conventions — and the overarching meaning behind all the ads & daily messages of both campaigns)

There is, another deep shame that Republicans feel: “The Culture of Corruption” - That is how the democrats won the 2006 American Election: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_corruption

John McCain offers Republicans redemption for that by penance:

“The new Republican leader did one critical thing in this speech to the national audience, too. He acknowledged the Republican failures during their control of Congress to act as a reform party. McCain used the moment to challenge his party to reclaim the mantle of reform as an act of penance for the past … This, I think, was absolutely critical to establish credibility.” - Ed Morrissey at http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/05/john-mccains-presidential-address/

Sarah Palin’s electrifying arrival of the American stage is best understood as follows:

“For I am eager to declare the good news to you … for I am not ashamed”

Look at the word cloud for Sarah Palin’s speech, it says it all:

“Country America Proud John” (reading down)

“McCain Man American Good” (reading across)

For almost a week, the American Media tried to shame Sarah Palin as a bad mother.

Her response, and the reason her speech was an A+ hit in America is because the delivery communicated one fact above all: Joy.

Joy in being a mother, joy in America, & joy in puncturing the hot air balloon that is Barak Obama.

No anger, no shame, just joy.

…..

And yet.

In the same way that John McCain offers Republicans redemption for the culture of corruption by penance, he has to offer Republicans redemption for the mismanagement of the war by penance.

He tried, but missed the mark:

“When I was five years old, a car pulled up in front of our house. A Navy officer rolled down the window, and shouted at my father that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. I rarely saw my father again for four years. My grandfather came home from that same war exhausted from the burdens he had borne, and died the next day. In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home with me. I hate war. It is terrible beyond imagination.” - Text of John McCain speech: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/dawg_days.html

Its a superb passage.

…

And yet.

Iraq was mismanaged. Katrina was mismanaged and fixed American’s impression of Republicans as incompetent.

John McCain or Sarah Palin needs to communicate the following about Iraq:

“We did the right thing by going into Iraq. We mismanged the war and got hundreds of Americans killed. Here are some of the ways we mismanaged the war:

o George W. Bush, listened to Generals too much. GIVE EXAMPLES.
o CIA. GIVE EXAMPLES.
o State department. GIVE EXAMPLES.

Lets be honest, George Bush, took too long to hold these agencies accountable. And to make them competent.

I give you my word, the McCain Palin Administration: We Will hold them accountable.

And we will make them competent again.

Look, we all know how bureaucracies are. When its your tax dollars that are wasted; well its unacceptable. And we will fix that.

But. When bureaucracies get Americans killed, its much worse.

The McCain Palin Administration will help make the Goverment Agencies work for America again.

We will make them competent again. And we will not waste American lives due to incompetence.”

Mostly this has to be communicated with a lot more subtle and with finesse than I am able to; but the message has to be clear: Redemption & Competence.

…

And that, is how John McCain shows he will not be a third term of George W. Bush.

Honest republicans will respond to it with Joy; even the 30% who still support George W. Bush.

Independents will elect John McCain by a landslide.

…

And if the McCain-Palin ticket does not admit how “We as Republicans” messed up.

They will lose.

And deserve to.

Sep 5, 2008 - 8:39 am 39. Tully:

How about the Obama/Biden speeches? Now THAT would make an interesting comparison!

Sep 5, 2008 - 8:44 am 40. Peterike:

MikeS: But he needs to explain what he intends to do about the safety concerns that have stopped the development of nuclear energy. I don’t have a clue what he intends to do about those concerns, and I assume he doesn’t either.

Those “safety concerns” are, and always have been, fradulent. McCain needs to call “bull****” is what he needs to do. And somehow, legislation must be passed to fast-track not only nuke plants, but refineries, drilling, etc. The enviro-nuts and the Luddites (with a capital D) will use every legal trick in the book to block anything that makes American stronger and safer (Liberal death-wish, anyone?).

Is it possible to somehow pass legislation that will proactively prevent these phony legal challenges?

Sep 5, 2008 - 8:55 am 41. NahnCee:

I would predict that as the HMS Obama slowly starts to take on more water, tilt and then sink, that the Progressive Left will begin to more and more engage in tea-leaf reading, hoping to hear a note of “reconciliation” from McCain. I began to hear that in the talking heads last night, reading “reconciliation” into McCain’s acceptance speech.

What they desperately will be seeking is that he will reach out to the same Progressives as who’ve been staunchly kicking Bush in the shins the last four years and being as anti-American as they can possibly think to be.

I suppose politically it would be a good thing to allow them to think that their presence and their opinion (and their vote) count, but surely they should know that everything the party of Obama and Hillary stand for is being rejected by middle-class America. I would really like the opportunity to gloat a little bit when Obama loses by the margin I think he’s going to, rather than being expected to reach across the aisle and gather the weeping hordes into a comforting embrace, while murmuring, “there, there - it’ll all be fine and you can keep on hating Bush and blaming him for everything. And never taking responsibility for ANYthing.”

Sep 5, 2008 - 8:56 am 42. Obi's Sister:

I just did a word cloud of Obama’s acceptance speech through Wordle. “Promise” was the largest, most frequently used word, followed by a tie with “America” and “McCain”.

Sep 5, 2008 - 8:59 am 43. Doug Jones:

Word order means more than the words themselves. “Broke” appears only once in the speech, but its significance was far greater *because* of its singularity.

I’ve had little enthusaism for McCain, but he has, indeed, redeemed himself.

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:01 am 44. rrpjr:

I thought the speech was simultaneously pedestrian and momentous. I was surprised by its total effect, that is, how McCain suddenly made complete sense to me. I, too, was rather startled at the admission of being “broken.” In my view this is becoming a race about adulthood and childhood, whether we can see our leaders clearly as imperfect but tested and worthy people or only illusorily as messiahs.

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:09 am 45. Storm-Rider:

A friend at work today said that both Obama and McCain are just politicians. I said, “No” McCain is more than a politician. He is more than just a politician because he sacrificed his body for this country; no one will do that unless they have courage - and love their country. Without any doubt I can say to you that John McCain has courage, and he loves this nation of liberty.

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:10 am 46. McCain’s Speech « Obi’s Sister:

[...] Belmont Club has an interesting interpretation of Palin’s and McCain’s speeches during the RNC. By running them through “word cloud” software - the most frequently used words are noted by larger fonts. You know how it works. Go take a peek. [...]

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:15 am 47. Eggplant:

Trangbang68 said:

“I wonder if Code Pink realizes the irony of using totalitarian tactics of trying to shout down political speech while protesting “fascist” war criminals,etc.”

Along the lines of “shouting down political speech” have you noticed the significantly increased background noise in almost all the Internet political comment sections? I suspect there must be about a hundred B. Hussein robots who do nothing all day except post short pro-Hussein/anti-Palin-McCain comments on Internet blogs. Go to “Real Clear Politics”, following the links to the various comment sections and you’ll see the same thing over-and-over again. The comments have the same aspect as graffiti spray painted on walls. You can often see the same comments repeated about every hour on one site or different blogs. The writing style is typically the same, so I think there maybe less than a hundred guys doing this.

The shear volume is remarkable. It’s effectively drowning out comments from independent people (this is another form of spam that’s sending the signal-to-noise ratio to zero). It’s probably Kos-Kids with too much time on their hands but I wonder if it could be Java scripts or net bots that are doing this?

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:22 am 48. Wadeusaf:

The revelation that he “broke” is not news, everyone broke. The beatings continued anyway. It was problematic for the Name Rank and SN only approach. There just is no way to avoid breaking under the conditions and circumstance of captivity these guys were held under.

I imagine that McCain may have considered it a personal challenge to not cooperate, and holding out as long as he did, certainly must have been his own personal FU to the Commies.

But once he did break, standing back up required accepting the nonjudgmental support of all of his fellow POW’s. That is the well from which McCain’s strength resurrected his spirit. That is the place which allow him to continue on in the face of heavy criticism, including my own, to the stances he has determined are right, while bowing to fair Columbia and will of the American people.

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:23 am 49. David M:

The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the - Web Reconnaissance for 09/05/2008 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:27 am 50. JMH:

McCain isn’t a great orator, and most of his speech was slow, but the end, not just the tale of his transformation in captivity, but also the end calls, quiet but firm calls, to stand up and fight, which he kept going while the crowd cheered around him, was very, very powerful. It spoke to a segment of voters who love, have always loved, America, but are frustrated and disheartened. Our government, and many of our other public institutions, seem broken and impervious to fixing. He said don’t give up. Stand up and fight.

It’s his real response to Obama’s Hope and Change.

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:27 am 51. buddy larsen:

JMH is right –that coda was powerful. It was so unexpected, almost like breaking out into a new language. Or maybe an old language.

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:37 am 52. slade:

JMH nailed it. “Stand up and fight.” I’m off to do some fighting of my own. That seems to be what daily life is about - for some of us.

Oh, and another thing, it never stops.

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:47 am 53. bobal:

McCain’s never made any secret about being broken. He’s said that forever. I heard it years ago, and thought, that’s honest, I would be too. Actually helps his narrative in my view.

Electric cars got to get the juice from somewhere. Without nuclear plants, most of it would come from more coal fired, or natural gas plants.

Solar, even if the costs come down, has that daylight problem. Like wind and no wind with wind power. We’d be best off with a real mix, taking advantage of the differing characteristics of our country’s geography.

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:47 am 54. cjm:

energy plans have to take into account “density” there is just no way for wind or solar to provide enough useful energy because they are too diffuse. we have to make the jump to nuclear to continue progressing as a society, it is the only energy source that has the required density. you can argue with math, but math always wins.

obama is breaking right in front of our eyes. it won’t be pretty but it will be fun. mccain and palin will keep hitting him in the weak spots until he crumples, then they will kick him in the head a few times.

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:48 am 55. Lifeofthemind:

I have not been to SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) school, lucky me. Those who been there have assured me that a key part of the lesson is making it clear that everyone breaks. They also said the high point was eating the armadillo. You just have to learn what your limit is and then learn how to come back from there. Every member of the Armed Services is briefed on the Code of Conduct, I was briefed by Captain Dick Stratton. Doug Hegdahl, who Dick Stratton and John McCain spoke eloquently about, taught at SERE school after he got out of Hanoi. Before all pilots got the training many were destroyed by their inability to hold to the rule of “Name Rank and Serial number” under torture. Will not try to post links in here, they get moderated so I’ll leave it to you to go look SERE up at wiki. The discussion page is interesting.

The Code of Conduct
1. I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense. 2. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender those under my command while they still have the means to resist. 3. If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy. 4. If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way. 5. When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause. 6. I will never forget that I am an American, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:51 am 56. Storm-Rider:

Eggplant on Leftist/Socialist blog comments: “You can often see the same comments repeated about every hour on one site or different blogs. The writing style is typically the same, so I think there maybe less than a hundred guys doing this. The shear volume is remarkable.”

Igor Shafarevich witnessed the pathological enthusiasm of the Marxist/Socialists in the Soviet Union. Guess what, the cancer cells have metastasized - here they are - now in the United States of all places. Neo-Communism is here - and the roaches have taken over one of our political parties.

“The religious aspects of socialism may explain the extraordinary attraction of socialist doctrines and their capacity to inflame individuals and to inspire popular movements. It is precisely these aspects of socialism which cannot be explained when socialism is regarded as a political or economic category. Socialism’s pretensions to be a universal world view comprising and explaining everything -from the transformation of a liquid into steam to the appearance of Christianity - also make it akin to religion. A characteristic of religion is socialism’s view of history not as a chaotic phenomenon but as an entity that has a goal, a meaning and a justification. In other words, both socialism and religion view history teleologically. Bulgakov draws our attention to numerous and far-reaching analogies between socialism (especially Marxism) and Judaic apocalyptics and eschatology. Finally, socialism’s hostility toward traditional religion hardly contradicts this judgment–it may simply be a matter of animosity between rival religions.” Igor Shafarevich

“The proposition that a striving for self-destruction is the main impulse in socialism has been extracted from a multi-stage analysis of socialist ideology, and is not taken directly from the writings of socialist thinkers or the slogans of socialist movements. It seems that those in the grip of socialist ideology are as little governed by any conscious understanding of this goal as a singing nightingale is concerned with the future of its species. The ideology’s impact is through the emotions, which render the ideology attractive to man and induce him to be ready for sacrifice on its behalf. Spiritual elation and inspiration are the kinds of emotions experienced by the participants in socialist movements. This accounts, too, for the behavior of the leaders of socialist movements in the thick of the fight, down through the ages–their seemingly inexhaustible reserves of energy as pamphleteers, agitators, and organizers.” Igor Shafarevich

http://www.robertlstephens.com/essays/shafarevich/001SocialistPhenomenon.html

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:57 am 57. Orphaned Son of Liberty:

Mike Sylwester opines:

Gee, Mike, that’s what I want to hear from my presidential candidate — what *he* wants to do about nuclear safety concerns. Makes me pine for the Days of Jimmah Cahtah. Now there’s a guy who could expand on the issues of nuclear safety. And he showed how important that skill is to running a country, what with his exemplar leadership and all. Sheesh!

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:58 am 58. Eggplant:

Buddy larsen said:

“JMH is right –that coda was powerful. It was so unexpected, almost like breaking out into a new language. Or maybe an old language.”

I agree with Buddy Larsen. I found the coda to be very powerful.

McCain had to mention that his POW experience “broke” him. It’s common knowledge that it did. The MSM would eventually start beating him on the head with that. Having admitted that he “broke” but recovered through the help of his fellow captives, McCain can now wear this experience as a Badge of Honor. McCain has denied the MSM a weapon.

Keep in mind that this election is not about McCain versus B. Hussein. B. Hussein is a tool of the dark forces behind the MSM. This election is actually about McCain versus the MSM. Actual political issues are almost irrelevant. It all boils down to propaganda, counter-propaganda and anticipating the other guy’s next line of propaganda. Selecting Sarah Palin as VP was part of that process. Palin can now do cat fights with the annointed-one while McCain the old scarred war hero can stand above the fray and be Presidential.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:02 am 59. Peter Boston:

rrpjr’s comment that this election is about adulthood vs. childhood is spot on. 40 year old Leftocrats are still laughing at each other’s fart jokes - and PO’d that the rest of us do not laud their intelligence and humour.

If America is to remain a viable republic the real target of citizens’ ire must be not only the Democrats but the country club Republicans too. These political elites are much more concerned with promoting their mutual welfare than the general welfare.

A good start to busting up their political overreach is to never vote into any public office any person who has graduated from Harvard, Yale or Princeton. Double emphasis if it was the law school.

We should not accept as normal that the established media can willy nilly savage a good person like Sarah Palin because she is not an insider or because she believes in God and Country.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:08 am 60. Michael B:

JMH nails it at its most primal level, most determinative level. I agree as well with the redemption/cost theme noted in Richard’s final graph. There was somthing primal and visceral, in a qualitative sense, in that aspect of his speech as well.

McCain will never be described as Churchillian. But thematically, for those with ears to hear it, there was in fact an eloquence and range in the substance of his text.

Palin hit it out of the park, McCain’s was an inside the park homerun. In both cases the bases were loaded - meaning a substantial part of the public genuinely heard what was being said.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:08 am 61. ex-democrat:

i rcently read somewhere that you have to go back over 30 years to find a Democratic Presidential/Vice presidential candidate that was NOT a lawyer (Carter) OR Republican candidate who WAS (Nixon).

If true, a very thought provoking fact, no?

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:16 am 62. Friedman Libertarian - Word Clouds:

[...] on by Richard Fernandez of Pajamas Media, I did word clouds of all 4 RNC/DNC acceptance [...]

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:29 am 63. Cyber Johnny:

Windmills (wind turbines) make people feel good about their virtuous intentions but they’ll never supply a significant portion of the electrical demand of the United States. It’s not going to happen. This isn’t due to non-trivial problems like what to do when the wind doesn’t blow (intermittency back up) how to move the energy to where it’s actually needed, NIMBY environmentalists, or what to do with the ugly things when they’re obsolete. The problem is one of scale.

You have to understand how much electrical power it takes, on a continuous basis, to power our country. You need to think in term of generating gigawatts of electricity. Rough examples: a large windmill - 1 megawatt; a small coal-fired plant - 300 megawatts; a large coal-fired or nuclear plant - 1 gigawatt; the Grand Coulee Dam - 6.5 gigawatts. But the average US electrical power consumption is above 3.5 terawatts - that’s 3.5 million megawatts, all the time - give or take a few gigawatts here and there.

Windmills add interesting diversity to the power grid but the equipment is expensive, the energy yield is inadequate, and the unsubsidized cost per unit of energy is uncompetitive. Please name one so-called renewable energy source that doesn’t require a constellation of tax gimmicks to give it the outward appearance of cost effectiveness.

In the future, Bussard’s polywell fusion reactor may actually work, or theoreticians may master direct conversion of mass to energy, or 20-30 mile deep core taps may give us artificial geothermal power. Until then we’re pretty much stuck with coal, natural gas, and nuclear if we want to noticeably increase our electrical generation capacity. We can all hold hands and wish really hard that it weren’t so, but windmills won’t power the “engine of democracy”.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:29 am 64. Ken:

What’s the Intrade for Biden dropping Obama?

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:30 am 65. Eggplant:

Cyber Johnny said:

“Windmills (wind turbines) make people feel good about their virtuous intentions but they’ll never supply a significant portion of the electrical demand of the United States…. The problem is one of scale.”

There’s another more subtle issue with wind turbines. Apparently national power grids are very susceptible to instability, i.e. power flowing into the system must roughly equal power flowing out of it. It’s my understanding (please correct me if I’m wrong) that they tried to create a single North American power grid but failed because of power instability. Now keep in mind that they failed with a single power grid where the energy sources were super stable, e.g. coal power, hydroelectric and nuclear power plants. Now imagine trying to manage a national grid where the power is flowing in willy-nilly due to wind variability? It maybe technically impossible. What this means is that wind turbines are really most useful for small local grids were continuous power is not important, e.g. a wind mill farm driving a single aluminum smelter or water desalinator. Of course, every little bit helps. The truth is that wind power can never serve as a main power source.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:45 am 66. Steve-o:

I’ve been through a lot of election cycles. This election should be a cakewalk for the Democrats, but it’s not. All the extraneous details people keep bringing up won’t matter in the booth. The election will be won in the middle, like always. McCain and Palin are closer to the middle of the country than Obama and Biden. There is plenty fo time left for something to happen that will turn the election. This is a good cycle, I felt burnt out for a while, but now it’s getting interesting. I prefer the American political model to the European one, so I will be voting Republican. The fight over that last little slice in the middle will intensify, watch Obama try to run to the center. McCain is already in the center, so I’m not sure what his strategy will be.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:45 am 67. Mike Sylwester:

Barack Obama has been leading John McCain in the opinion polls. For about the past week, Gallup has been reporting that about 48%-49% of registered voters say they favor Obama. On one day, the percentage reached 50%. Meanwhile, McCain’s numbers have been around 42%-43%.

The Republicans will not change this situation around by spending the next two months talking about torture of POWs during the Vietnam War, about mooseburgers about and other such subjects that are irrelevant to future policy decisions.

The Republicans need to identify the major policy issues, criticize the Democrats’ solutions, and advocate their own solutions. This has to be done in a focused and detailed manner.

Unfortunately, though, we spent the past several days, when much of the public was watching the Republican Convention, talking instead about torture of POWs during the Vietnam War and about mooseburgers.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:51 am 68. Ken:

I’m starting to see this election as a sort of Battle of Tours. With McCain playing Charles Martel.

The GOP essentially represents–and to a large extent, is–Western civilization. WC has recently taken big hits: the fall of the Roman Empire, or the fall of the Republican Congress. And the party of change is sweeping all before it: then it was Islam, now it’s the Democrats, who are a front for anti-American groups that dare not speak their names. Then and now, the change would be far worse than the problems, and would ultimately lead to a worse stasis than we currently have. Imagine either the Islamic world of burqas everywhere, or the socialist world of no cars and a grey (both figuratively and literally, at least in terms of people’s age) Brezhnev-like society.

All seems lost until the venality of the enemy proves its undoing: then it was the looting of the Christian camp, now its the lustful probing into Sarah Palin’s family–after all, what’s the purpose of defeating Republicans if you can’t hurt them personally as well?

Note that the effect then was that western civilization was saved, and instead of having an Islamic Caliphate as a successor state to the Roman Empire, we instead managed to toy with what we already had, and eventually, after a lot of wrong turns, eventually got a world in which most people didn’t die of disease as children, a world where nobility didn’t have to build special “high ways” in order to avoid stepping on feces, garbage, and corpses. Hopefully we’ll turn back the Obama Empire, and one hundred years from now we’ll have a capitalist system in which asteroid wealth will fund currently incomprehensible wealth and prosperity.

AND FOR ALL YOU LURKERS: NO, I AM NOT SAYING OBAMA IS A MUSLIM. HE ISN’T. I am saying the strategic situation has similarities, not that the ideologies are the same.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:52 am 69. enscout:

PB:
“We should not accept as normal that the established media can willy nilly savage a good person like Sarah Palin because she is not an insider or because she believes in God and Country.”

They’ve been doing it, relentlessly, to GWB & Cheney for eight years.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:58 am 70. Mike Sylwester:

The issue of nuclear energy is just one that I picked out as an example. The USA has stopped its development of nuclear energy because of safety concerns.

My intention was not to start a debate here about nuclear safety concerns.

My intention was to point out that McCain is not addressing this concern that has stopped the development. He thinks we should build several dozen new nuclear plants in the next decade, and he had an audience of more than 30 million people last night. He frittered away his opportunity to explain this issue to this enormous audience.

It’s how he is treating all the issues. Nuclear energy is just one of many such major issues. I picked it as one example. He is not explaining in enough detail to the voters why his solutions to the problems are better than Obama’s solutions. And so he probably will not be able to catch up to Obama, who already is favored by about 50% of registered voters.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:02 am 71. Storm-Rider:

“He frittered away his opportunity to explain this issue to this enormous audience…He is not explaining in enough detail to the voters why his solutions to the problems are better than Obama’s solutions.”

Serfs without the right to bear arms need slogans and a pied-piper.

Free men with the ability to defend life and liberty need rational explanations, i.e.: bucketloads of the truth.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:10 am 72. Eggplant:

Mike Sylwester said:

“Barack Obama has been leading John McCain in the opinion polls. For about the past week, Gallup has been reporting that about 48%-49% of registered voters say they favor Obama.”

Go to Gallup’s website and you’ll read:

“While both conventions are now over, measurement of public reaction to them is not. Results, based on interviewing conducted Sept. 2-4, include just one day of interviewing conducted after Wednesday night’s widely viewed acceptance speech by McCain’s vice presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Most interviewing Thursday night was conducted before McCain’s acceptance speech, so Gallup Poll Daily tracking results will start to reflect its impact in Saturday’s report.”

Gallup has not yet had the opportunity to measure McCain’s convention bump. The Chosen-One is currently 4% ahead of McCain in Gallup’s tracking poll. A nominal convention bump is 5%. By Sunday, McCain should have a small lead in Gallup’s tracking poll. If not, then there’s a problem.

Where it will get interesting is after McCain gains the lead across many polls. What will the Messiah do after his polling goes negative? Will Palin begin displaying the anoited-one’s dirty laundry? If McCain plays it right, Hussein’s popularity decline could go into thermal runaway.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:17 am 73. Ken:

On a different, but still McCain-related topic: the Bush-McCain feud, which has done so much damage to the Republican Party and the country.

To a large extent, it dates back to the South Carolina primary of 2000, and the push-polls against McCain that said some despicable things about him.

To the best of my knowledge, no one has proven that the Bush campaign ran them. It has always been assumed, however, since Bush was the one who gained.

But what if it were the Democrats? The Bush family, then and now, has been known more for fumbling politically than for masterful dirty campaigns. When they’ve been successful, it has usually been due to far left opponents, or because of centrist Democrats running far left campaigns.

The Democrats believed McCain to be a better candidate than Bush. They’d gotten political viciousness down to an art form in the Clinton administration. Why do we automatically let them off the hook?

The whole thing reminds me of John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson illegally, but probably wisely, invaded Spanish Florida to stop the Spanish from encouraging Indian attacks against Americans. The Monroe cabinet discussed how to respond; one cabinet member suggested (as I recall) a court-martial. Jackson heard it was Adams, and spent the next decade in an obsessive hatred of the man–a hatred that informed his political actions.

Once he was President, however, he found to his shock that it hadn’t been Adams at all. Adams had supported him. The man who had proposed the court-martial was Jackson’s “friend” and political ally, and indeed now the Vice-President, John Calhoun.

Almost overnight, Jackson went from being basically a Southern partisan to being the champion of the Union. He came to despise Calhoun, and was ready to go to war to prevent South Carolina’s nullification of the “Tariff of Abominations,” even though he wasn’t all that big on the tariff himself.

There is an obvious candidate for the role of Calhoun in this saga, a friend of McCain’s, if not a political ally, who is unusually devious. I won’t go any farther, since this is pure speculation.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:17 am 74. Ken:

Note that Lieberman IS somewhat of a political ally, so I’m not talking about him.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:18 am 75. cjm:

i don’t think you have to go 20 - 30 miles down to get geothermal power. maybe only 4 - 5; just remember that cooling was a huge problem in s. african mines after the first mile or so down.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:20 am 76. Mike Sylwester:

Ken:
“I’m starting to see this election as a sort of Battle of Tours. With McCain playing Charles Martel.”
==============

I suggest that you see this election as a debate between two political parties in the USA in 2008, with John McCain playing Bob Dole and Barack Obama playing Bill Clinton.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:21 am 77. Zim:

Rasmassan has MacCain 1 behind Obama up from 5 down just yesterday. The 3 day polling average still hasn’t factored in all of Palin’s speech and none of McCain’s. Think about the cratering Obama must be doing in order to fall 4 points in one day on a 3 day poll average.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:23 am 78. Zim:

“I suggest that you see this election as a debate between two political parties in the USA in 2008, with John McCain playing Bob Dole and Barack Obama playing Bill Clinton.”

There is absolutely no similarity between the two races, outside of you’re imagination that is.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:26 am 79. Joseph Somsel:

McCain’s speech was the least interesting of the last two weeks (except for Ridge’s). While I appreciate his military career, patriotism is necessary, but not sufficent for public office. Maybe Jimmy Carter was right.

As to nuclear power, the French took an American design and built a lot of them, all pretty much alike. Americans have been starved for domestic markets but the latest offerings are superior to the French offering. Of course, the Japanese own the formerly US designs now.

If you want a semi-technical analysis of why electricity storage is no panacea for wind or solar power and in fact supports nuclear and coal, check this out:

http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=1808

Here in California we have two really stupid propositions on energy that must be defeated - props 7 and 10.

When I hear politicans say “We will build more nukes!” I just respond, “Who ‘we’ Kimosabe?” Still, it is the right policy and long overdue.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:31 am 80. Ken:

Well, let’s look at that comparison, shall we? In 1996, there were literally no good GOP moments. The best thing that anyone could say about the Republican National Convention was that it wasn’t as “divisive” as that of 1992. Polls regularly showed Clinton with 55 to 60% of the vote. (His eventual win was by much less: 49% to Dole’s 41). The Democrats were upbeat.

This time, the polls are neck-and-neck. The Democrats are so desperate that Huffington Post has set up separate attack pages for each member of Sarah Palin’s family. Republicans are fired up.

Yeah, the elections are exactly the same.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:51 am 81. Eggplant:

cjm said:

“i don’t think you have to go 20 - 30 miles down to get geothermal power. maybe only 4 - 5; just remember that cooling was a huge problem in s. african mines after the first mile or so down.”

I’ve been in a South African mine and it was incredibly hot and humid (almost got sick from heat exhaustion). However the heat experienced in a deep mine is normally not due to geothermal heat but rather due to isentropic compression of the air, e.g. you could sink a mine shaft 29,000 ft from the top of Mount Everest and (in theory) it wouldn’t be that hot at the bottom of the shaft.

However there are examples of mines being very hot due to geothermal heat. For example, the mines of the Comstock Load under Virginia City, Nevada eventually became unworkable due to local geothermal heating. Supposably there is still lots of high grade silver ore under Virginia City but the only way one could economically access it would be through open pit mining.

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:01 pm 82. dla:

Mike Sylwester: it is a serious misunderstanding of the nature of American politics to believe that McCain (or anyone else for that matter) can stand and deliver detailed solutions.

First of all, nuclear power hasn’t stalled in the US over safety concerns - that’s an urban myth. The Feds have punted on the legislation to create waste disposal facilities. Instead of a real energy policy, the Federal and State governments have embarked on a conservation effort - conserve versus produce. Well you can only conserve so long….

Crafting a real energy policy, something missing since the days of Jimmy Carter, should be the sound bite in McCain’s speech.

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:15 pm 83. Tcobb:

Peterike
is it possible to somehow pass legislation that will proactively prevent these phony legal challenges?

Yes it is. The US Constitution explicitly states that the jurisdiction of the Federal Courts shall be whatever Congress says it is. If Congress wants to take away suits that are used to delay the building of nuclear power plants they can pass a law that removes such lawsuits from the jurisdiction of the Federal Courts. And insofar as State Courts are concerned, if the would-be builders of such plants have a permit from the NRC to build one, federal preemption will get those thrown out too.

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:15 pm 84. Triton'sPolarTiger:

dla writes:

“…nuclear power hasn’t stalled in the US over safety concerns…”

Quite right. I’m a nuclear engineer by education (BNE 1986 Ga Tech). Reactor design/development has been ongoing despite the chilly US legal/regulatory environment.

SIGNIFICANT improvements have been made in the years since B&W, Combustion Engineering and Westinghouse developed the common PWR and BWR’s now operating in the US.

Read: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/analysis/nucenviss2.html

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:27 pm 85. Mike Sylwester:

dla:
” …. nuclear power hasn’t stalled in the US over safety concerns …. The Feds have punted on the legislation to create waste disposal facilities. ”
————-

I mean “safety concerns” to include waste disposal.

I understand that McCain’s convention speech was not the place for a detailed exposition about nuclear-power technology. However, there was plenty of filler he could have removed from his speech in order to make room for two or three sentences of substance on this issue.

The same goes for many other major issues. McCain is not providing any focus or substance that is going to change voters’ minds. Close to 50% of registered voters already have made up their minds, and now he has to unchange those minds, and he won’t do it by more inspirational philosophy about his POW experiences that everyone already has heard.

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:34 pm 86. Mike Sylwester:

…. Close to 50% of registered voters already have made up their minds TO VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA ….

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:35 pm 87. Peterike:

Folks, what are we arguing about with nuclear power? Can one man make the difference and do it all? Of course, if he’s The Messiah.

I give you The Word from the Big O’s acceptance speech, and I quote:

“As president, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power.”

All by himself, yet. I guess that solves that little problem.

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:41 pm 88. steveH:

“The USA has stopped its development of nuclear energy because of safety concerns.”

No, it hasn’t; safe operation is not a core issue, it’s an excuse.

The problem with nuclear power generation is not with engineering; those issues have been worked out for decades.

The problem is political in nature. There’s no other explanation why Japan can go from the decision to build a nuclear power plant to turning the key in under three years, and why it takes ten to fifteen years to do the same there here. The gating items are legal challenges and (badly implemented) regulatory processes.

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:43 pm 89. CJ:

To “ex-democrat” :

It was Victor Hanson who mentioned that one recently. Al Gore flunked out of law school (Vanderbilt) and so is the only Democrat nominated for the Presidency or Vice-Presidency since Jimmy Carter who never got a law degree. Most of them never actually practised much law. To recap the list:

Obama (Harvard law school, Chicago law lecturer)
Biden (practised for about three years before getting elected to the Senate at age 29)
Kerry (Boston College)
Edwards (U. of North Carolina, famous contingency-fee ambulance-chaser)
Clinton (Yale law school, lecturer at Arkansas)
Dukakis (Harvard Law)
Bentsen (U. of Texas law school)
Mondale (University of Minnesota Law School, clerked at the MN Supreme Court, practised 3 years)
Ferraro (Fordham)

Now we’re back to 1980. The Peanut Farmer was the last Democrat candidate who hadn’t darkened the door of a law school.

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:43 pm 90. Peterike:

Oh, and that kind of clap-trap from Obama is what Liberals mean when they say the Republicans didn’t address economic issues and Obama did. And oh my how he went on….

I’ll help our auto companies retool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I’ll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I’ll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy — wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels.

And all with one hand tied behind his back. Sheer policy genius, that is.

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:44 pm 91. yonason:

HAVE YOU GOT ONE OF THESE ON O’BUMBLER? UH…UH…UH…UH…HOPE…CHANGE…UH…UH…UH…

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:55 pm 92. yonason:

James: Sep 5, 2008 - 3:15 am
….

“Quite fascinating in just yesterday Obama was interviewed by the press commenting on Palin’s speech. And he made quite a big fuss about the only thing the republicans do is attack and refuse to talk about the issues. And yet this simple tool reveals that one of the most frequently mentioned subjects in Obama’s speech was his opponent.”

Thanks. Maybe you could spread that around more? Like Dr.Sanity, Gateway Pundit (I’m sure he’d publish it), Flopping Aces, etc.,

Sep 5, 2008 - 1:00 pm 93. Orphaned Son of Liberty:

More from our good pal Mike Sylwester:

I understand that McCain’s convention speech was not the place for a detailed exposition about nuclear-power technology. However, there was plenty of filler he could have removed from his speech in order to make room for two or three sentences of substance on this issue.

Dude, the point is that this was a nomination acceptance speech. This was not the unveiling of the McCain energy policy. As Peterike has deftly pointed out, Obama’s statement in this area is hardly more substantive, but you’ve given him a pass. I’m sure you can find more fundamental things to criticise about a nomination acceptance speech that whether he did or did not say something substantive on nuclear safety and/or waste disposal. Rubbish!

Sep 5, 2008 - 1:03 pm 94. whiskey:

Ken is referring to Lindsay Graham. Possibly true, IMHO.

Mike S — the difference between today and 1996 is that the country is appreciably OLDER.

McCain’s age is a huge BENEFIT not a drawback, and Obama’s YOUTH a huge handicap. Seniors outnumber the youth vote by 8 million and vote at least 25% more than youth. A critical advantage.

It’s not like I’ve blogged about it or anything.

Obama is like “Gossip Girl” the TV show. Lots of hype and buzz, and about 2 million viewers week after week. McCain is like CSI, very little coverage in the press, yet the top rated scripted show week after week, year after year.

Sep 5, 2008 - 1:09 pm 95. programmer:

Hold your ground, hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you *stand, Men of the West!*

Sep 5, 2008 - 1:44 pm 96. Steve Spencer:

I just made this word cloud web application that takes two inputs and compares them. So Republican words are red, Democratic words are blue and words in common to the speeches are purplish.

http://www.bigfrog.net/wordcloud/

Sep 5, 2008 - 2:09 pm 97. NahnCee:

Wow. Whiskey is being optimistic. The Apocalypse must be near.

Sep 5, 2008 - 2:18 pm 98. spindok:

Another memorable quote from Wretchard:

“I think only men who have themselves been afraid can truly empathize with. There are places on that dark path which you know you could not have crossed through your strength alone. And whether you owe your emergence to luck or to God might be a matter for debate. But you know you do not wholly owe it to yourself. And this realization makes you less willing to blame others; less ready to stand in judgment of those who failed the test. It doesn’t make you lower the bar. But it makes you aware of how high that bar is.”

These are ancient themes and those who have not suffered cannot easily grasp the meaning here.

A long time ago someone penned these words:

Psalm 130

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;

2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.

3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.

6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

7 O Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.

8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

For the Hebrews this has been a Psalm of suffering, not of repentance. It is the song of one at the depths, reaching out for what John McCain found; love, redemption, faith in something greater. It is personal. It does not ask the Almighty to save one’s self from the tormentors (external or internal), it only asks for help in turning that into something greater.

John McCain has lived that life since. He devoted himself to love for something greater than himself but has never lost the humility and humanity he came to understand when confronted with the reality of how low we can sink and how high we can go.

Spindok

Sep 5, 2008 - 2:33 pm 99. flyover state resident:

“And I’ll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy — wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels.”

- Obama

Is anyone unclear on why Boone Pickens wants to get into wind power, etc?

Sep 5, 2008 - 2:38 pm 100. Jay:

The poll takers are having a very hard time contacting young people and many minorities since they have switched to cell phones with unlisted numbers.
If the election remains close there will be massive vote fraud for Obama. The Obamanites are determined to win this election at all costs. Voting machines will be rigged by the leftist hackers, voters will be intimidated, all sorts of games will be played much it of in the open. The idea is: it is are our turn to rule and you white racists must be put down.
They will also accuse the Republicans of cheating since they are gun toting red necks who worship a strange non leftist/secular religion. Since Jews vote Dem the anti-semites will evoke “neocons”!
The survival of the USA is at stake. Are you folks ready to rumble? As they say “talk is cheap”.

The media will of course ignore

Sep 5, 2008 - 2:47 pm 101. JJ:

“I just ran Obama’s speech through.”

When will you have the Obama “word cloud” posted?

Sep 5, 2008 - 3:24 pm 102. ex-democrat:

thanks CJ - and the opposite for the Repubs. what do you make of it?

Sep 5, 2008 - 3:26 pm 103. James:

Life of the Mind wrote:

Lifeofthemind wrote:
“James did get something right, although I don’t think he meant to.”

Oh, I got more than one thing right. I’d ask you to do some research on solar energy, the discoveries that have been made there, and the amounts of capital that are flowing into that industry.

Can solar solve all of our energy problems? Absolutely not. But the rates of progress in the industry in terms of price/performance are undeniable. Check out the funding received by and the personnel recruited by Nanosolar, as just one example.

Solar has tremendous potential for the United States due to the amount of sunlight falls on vast square miles of rather currently useless land in our southwest. It’s a resource that none of the other northern hemisphere industrial powers have in as much abundance as we do.

“The problems facing us in rolling out nuclear power are not technical but legal. The party of the trial lawyers have waged a 30 year campaign to obfuscate the issues, delay implementation and inflate the costs of nuclear power.”

This is true, but it’s much deeper than that. We DO lack technical skills in nuclear power compared to the French or the Japanese. French reactors are more advanced than ours. And secondly, and this is very important, because our nuclear industry has been neglected for so long we are REALLY lacking in skilled people for the industry. All kinds of nuclear engineering programs in our universities have been completely shut down. I worked for a number of years for a guy with a degree in nuclear energy, and his career in that field was destroyed by this and he never wasted an opportunity to describe to me what has been lost by our country in that field.

Fully developing our nuclear capacity in a cost effective manner won’t come easy. We can no more pass a law and have a bunch of nuclear power plants than the Chinese can pass a law and field Nimitz Class aircraft carriers.

And then there are the legal and political costs involved, as well, which you very clearly pointed out.

I’m for nuclear power, I’m for developing this capacity. But it’s silly to think we can develop massive capabilities quickly.

As to those who complain about the strain on the grid to our electrical system if electric cars come online, this is very much true. We will need to make up some deficit. However most people issuing this complaint entire avoid the most important fact about electric cars: they are vastly, vastly more energy efficient than gasoline powered cars.

Sep 5, 2008 - 4:06 pm 104. John McCain’s speech: tectonic plates begin to shudder… | News in brief:

[...] Lloyd Shepherd (late of Westmonster) has a very useful note on the fact that the media has obsessed on the poor nature of John McCain’s often highly personal speech. [...]

Sep 5, 2008 - 5:45 pm 105. Fat Man:

I once was lost but now I am found
I was blind but now I see.

Our sages, of blessed memory, said that, in hell, the inmates are given bowls of soup with spoons so long that they cannot feed themselves and so they are condemned to hunger in front of their food, in heaven, the arrangement is the same, but the inmates feed each other.

John McCain died and was sent to hell and found heaven.

Barack Obama is narcissus pinning to see only the image of his beloved.

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:13 pm 106. Stephen:

“Barack Obama has been leading John McCain in the opinion polls. For about the past week, Gallup has been reporting that about 48%-49% of registered voters say they favor Obama. On one day, the percentage reached 50%. Meanwhile, McCain’s numbers have been around 42%-43%.”

All of the publicly released polls to date have given much greater weight to Democrat respondents than to Republicans, in anticipation of a much heavier turnout of Democrat voters. This was a questionable weighting when they started doing it months ago and it is starting to look completely bogus now that the Republican base is waking up.

The candidates’ internal polling is showing them the real score, state by state and electoral vote by electoral vote. I think Obama’s internals have been showing him behind for some time, but that is only my guess. Okay, it’s my hope too!

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:54 pm 107. Presbypoet:

It is in the impossible time, we are closest to God. This poem was first lived in 1999, then later in 2004. Each time more refining. More intimacy with God.

Walking the Narrow Impossible Path

Danger from any misstep.
This path like walking the ridge
leading to Mt. Everest
a slip each way leads to death.

You demand I walk
this treacherous path.
You do not force me
yet I must obey You.

You call to me. “Relax.
Trust Me. Be not afraid.”
I look down.
I do not see you.

Terror seeks to seize my soul.
Terror seeks to freeze my will.
Terror seeks to keep me from you.
Terror seeks to keep me prisoner.

Like Peter on the water
I take my eyes from you.
Disaster strikes, I start to slip.
I cannot do this on my own.

You reach out your hand to me.
I cannot see you, but I trust you.
We walk this impossible path together.
I relax and give myself to you.

© Presbypoet, 1999, revised January 18, 2004

The fire John McCain has gone through, (literal on the deck of the Forrestal), has refined his character. Those who have not gone through fire cannot understand such as these.

Sep 5, 2008 - 8:21 pm 108. mark_b:

Construction of nuclear power plants is held up by deregulation.

California hounded the power companies to absorb excess losses related to Nuclear protesting and powerline siting NIMBY rather than allowing them to pass them on to the consumer during deregulation.

The power companies shrewdly saw this as an opportunity to create a virtual monopoly.

Nobody builds everybody profits.

Each state government saw the magic elixir, deregulation. Consumer’s loved it. Competition. Break up the monopoly. Look how cheap POTS got after the breakup of ATT in 1980ish.

Telephones are cheaper and faster to build than nuclear reactors so deregulation worked.

The utilities watched how deregulation worked in CA, made models and gamed their strategies to win. Merger mania ensued.

Supply was reduced by other means. EPA wants new scrubbers on the old coal plant? Shut them down.

The spot price of power would go up. Load dispatchers would be selling each other power in a private market and the companies were allowed to pass some of the cost to the consumer.

Eventually, it got to the point where one hot summer day some guy in Indiana sold some power to some guy in New Jersey. The load dispatcher told the supplier that the load was too big. Seller put it on anyway.

More current in lines=>
more isquarer losses turn to heat=>
wires stretch=>
resistance increases=>
more heat=>
wires get close enough to ground/tree=>
bus fault=>
reroute=>
cascading failure.

Two kinds of power are put on the grid. Real and Apparent. Real power is the kind you sell. Apparent is the kind you use to push power from seller to buyer. This is subjective to the weakest link and is why it is managed by humans.

All of a sudden the government was all to helpful. New power plants are being constructed with the NRC helping the process along.

Some power companies taking advantage of the opportunity to expand generation. Others are enjoying their virtual monopoly status.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:44 pm 109. Mad Fiddler:

What is the problem with Electric Cars?

Answer: They need Electricity. This is a problem because that electricity has to be generated by some technology, in some real location, and transported from the locus of generation through the grid to the millions of outlet plugs where the owners of electric cars purpose to recharge their vehicles.

We have lots of hydroelectric dams, many of which are way past their “expiration dates” with tens of thousands of acre-feet of impounded water poised to ravage the downstream communities that have relentlessly shouldered their way up the river courses as developers and land-rapers sought virgin sites to parcel out to eager home-owners.

Look at California. Many of the hydroelectric dams are now cited by environmental groups who assert that the dams are anchored in seismically unstable landforms, or at least strata insufficiently studied. There are pressure groups opposed to any new dams on grounds of their effects on fish spawning and land fauna habitat degradation. There are other pressure groups who want to have existing dams demolished and carted away for the same reasons - “screw the humans.” And besides the nutball humans, there are real problems, such as the cycles of drought and flood that alternately enfeeble the dynamos and threaten to overwhelm the dams’ structural integrity.

And of course, fossil fuel generation of the electricity has the same problems for the environment whether the amps are powering vehicle or toothbrushes. The real advantage (that might sorta offset the inefficiency, maybe, kinda) were that the generating station represents an easier cleanup job because it’s a point-source rather that a diffuse set of infinitesimal pollution sources.

I’ve read that the Greens in Germany hold a sufficient portion of the Bundestag that they’ve managed to outlaw nuclear generation of electricity within the German borders. So they end up having to purchase a sizeable fraction of their electrical power from neighboring France, which generates close to 80 percent of its output from Nuclear facilities, thank you very much.

MORONS.

We have too many Morons here. The city of Berkeley has paid to have some very large highway signs made up and mounted at places where major thoroughfares enter their municipality, declaring that Berkeley is a Nuclear Free City.

Idiots.

Have they rejected the use of diagnostic and therapeutic radioisotopes? Cancer therapy by Cesium-137? Anti-static Polonium 210 brushes for photographer’s camera lenses? Where do they think these things come from?

Luddites.

Our country’s energy options will be crippled so long as a sizeable portion of the voting public cannot distinguish between a proton and a crouton.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:53 pm 110. Mad Fiddler:

Let’s recall that many states have granted monopolies to utilities companies, especially power generating companies. They are GUARANTEED a profit, in order to guarantee their economic viability and survival. This is offset by the fact that most are publicly traded, so ANYONE can choose to purchase shares of the stock, and enjoy the benefits of the company profitability.

There are at the same time, privately owned companies generating and providing power, operating in the same market economy as those state-protected monopolies. Humans being what they are, friendships frequently bridge the gulf between these groups, and from time to time friends manage to set up devious, unwholsome and secret collusions artificially to drive up energy prices, creating some spectacular profits for a few, by screwing many hundreds of thousands. Go back and look at the so-called “energy crisis” that was the defining event of the grotesquely corrupt administration of the California gubernator immediately preceding the Honorable Mr. Schwartzenneger.

I recall seeing a front page article “under the fold” about early spring of 1999 which warned that rolling brown-outs were expected to become frequent by that summer. Oddly, that was the last mention of the problem until the crisis suddenly exploded. Turned out later that it was a purposely manufactured crisis, arranged by criminal conspiracy among several power generating companies.

It was an open secret, discussed frankly even in the newspapers that supported the Gray administration, that interviews with and access to the governor’s office required a hefty contribution to the governor’s campaign fund as a starting point.

Hard to imagine sensible energy policies emerging from that setup.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:11 pm 111. James:

Mad Fiddler wrote:

“What is the problem with Electric Cars?

Answer: They need Electricity. This is a problem because that electricity has to be generated by some technology, in some real location, and transported from the locus of generation through the grid to the millions of outlet plugs where the owners of electric cars purpose to recharge their vehicles.”

You seem to be making the case for electric cars. What you seem to be saying is that we already have a vast infrastructure for delivering this form of energy, right to the homes and businesses of consumers, without using a goofy system of expensive trucks and drivers to move all of the gas to our gas stations. Which of course we need to waste time going to. Which also coincidentally are placed on very high value land in high traffic areas.

And I didn’t even get to the problems of getting the oil to the refineries to make that gasoline. We spend a substantial amount of money just providing security to this very long and fragile supply line that runs to the other side of the world. This not only includes the security and risk assessments of our energy companies, which is substantial. A huge portion of what our Navy does is serve to protect our access to oil. And then there is the money, diplomatic efforts, and military subsidies to our “friends and allies” in oil producing regions in order to keep things secure enough for us to continue pumping the stuff out of the ground.

To make it all the more wonderful, oil money is what fuels a big part of Islamic militancy and the Russian military. And, in our own hemisphere, Chavez’ agitating. So we are basically pouring billions of dollars every year into the world in order to protect our supply lines which at this point exist in order that we can safely send over $1 billion dollars per day out of our economy to the other side of the world.

That’s one heck of a system! And I have a difficult time that compared to that someone can see an electric car and worry about the need to make some minor upgrades to our electrical grid. Certainly, anyone concerned with US national security should be concerned about it; unless of course you see some kind of cool benefit in all the foreign aid and transfers of cash to some frankly rather dangerous people. Please, the next time you fill up the fuel tank in your car, take the time to think about Putin’s new army: you paid for it.

Sep 6, 2008 - 1:49 am 112. Mad Fiddler:

Dear James,

Actually, I’m trying to parrot what I’ve run across as warnings against any comforting assumption that electric cars can be a cure for our dependence on oil.

The point made by people who’ve been studying these matters much more rigorously than I, is that electric cars STILL use energy, which must be generated SOMEHOW.

Think about all the energy generated by the internal combustion engines of several hundred million vehicles, and try to imagine how many ADDITIONAL hydroelectric dams would be needed to provide that much additional energy, as an alternative to gasoline and diesel.

… energy FAR beyond what can be supplied by our existing hydroelectric dams.

And that’s only to substitute electrical power for *TODAY’S* demand, without even considering the constant gnawing hunger for MORE!

The most distinct advantage I can glimpse in using electric is that it might mean that the increased demand on the hydroelectric generating capacity could be spread around the clock, by increasing the STORAGE capacity within the system. Right now, the electrical grid is frequently strained to the point of failure by brief peak demands at sunset as the lights come on, or on hot afternoons when all the air conditioners kick in. Presumably, electric vehicles represent a demand that can be spread out over time, during non-peak periods. Still, building capacity in the electrical generating and distribution infrastructure to switch even HALF of our cars and trucks to electric drive represents an enormous capital investment.

No easy solutions.

And yet, because of Ms. Palin, I am strangely elated!

Sep 6, 2008 - 2:24 am 113. Mad Fiddler:

But I have to agree with your point that using our home-grown electric generating capacity - hydro AND fossil fueled plants - does a lot to wean us away from Putin, Chavez, and the arab pukes.

Sep 6, 2008 - 2:28 am 114. V.B.Bart:

Promise. Hope. Believe. Care. Can. Together. Power. Workers. Progress. Change.

I ran several of Obama’s speeches through Wordle, and came up with the unscientifically selected constellation of major recurring words you see above. Indeed, he presents himself as The Messiah of Socialism/Marxism using a combination of quasi-religious language of emotion, and the lexicon of marxism. The country should be scared of this guy. Very scared!

Sep 6, 2008 - 3:36 am 115. James:

Mad Fiddler,

I understand your concerns about the additional drain of on our electrical grid should electric cars be developed. I think it’s possible that you might be imagining this to be a more significant amount of energy than it actually is.

Sure, looking around at all the vehicles moving around and thinking of all the oil we burn in them is a very staggering amount of energy. However, electric engines are by their nature much more efficient than internal combustion engines. Dramatically more efficient as the cooling system on any car and the heat of the exhaust system clearly indicates.

I agree with you that there have been a variety of studies issued, or perhaps more appropriately, a lot of people have claimed that there are such studies. I think it’s safer to say “there’s a meme in the conservative community that electric cars don’t have much potential and a lot of drawbacks.” This meme resonates very well amongst conservatives for a number of reasons. Most conservatives love their cars and have a natural skepticism towards various greenie claims (for good reason.)

Secondly, let’s face it: a lot of established, powerful interests have a desire to keep us buying oil. We’re talking about a huge amount of money. Clearly, they have every desire to keep producing big profits from the skills and equipment that they have invested in. This might sound like just griping about “big oil”; it’s not. It’s just a recognition that they will naturally want to perpetuate their domination.

You’re absolutely right that electric cars do allow for the use of off-peak capacity to our grid.

The big breakthrough will undoubtedly come with solar power. I encourage you to look into the progress made in this field, as it has been substantial. The price of this technology is falling at an impressive and highly sustained rate. Clearly, it’s not a “round the clock” technology, but it will do a lot to increase our daytime industrial supplies.

Sep 6, 2008 - 4:09 am 116. James:

V.B.Bart:

Yes, it’s really a fascinating analysis tool. I ran the entire text of the front pages of Kos, DU, and Huffington Post through Worlde. The results are quite interesting.

Of course, you will get a lot of returns such as “REPLY” and “NEW” and “COMMENTS”. If you right click on such common returns, and click on REMOVE, you can pull those words out of the cloud.

It’s astonishing to me to see just how often SARAH PALIN is mentioned. She’s also a huge topic on the right-wing blogs. Obama supporters may wish to insist she’s a nobody, they may wish to diminish her, but they absolutely cannot stop talking about her.

Obama has two strengths: his ability to mesmerize and his ability to link McCain to Bush. He has one weakness: his lack of experience and lack of a record. She does exactly what McCain needs: she takes fawning media attention away from Obama. And the minute people try to focus on her inexperience, that meme can instantly be flipped back on Obama’s experience.

Obama’s campaign cannot afford to make Palin the issue because she can either direct that attention back at his biggest weakness and/or seize that attention and do her own mesmerizing. Palin simultaneously takes away Obama’s greatest weapon and reveals his greatest vulnerability.

And, if what I’ve read is any indication, the lefties are taking the bait. Hook, line, and sinker. She expertly produces a rage in them while at the same time not appearing particularly harsh or attacking to independents. And she’s energized the base like no other candidate I could have imagined.

Would I like a more experienced vice-president? Oh, I suppose that I would. But if anyone was REALLY all that interested in valuable experience, the democrats wouldn’t he selected Obama. There’s all sorts of highly capable and respectable democrats who are more qualified than Obama. Experience and qualifications were never the interest of the democrats and if they try to make it an issue now it will only backfire on them.

Sep 6, 2008 - 4:22 am 117. JFSanders:

“Barack Obama has been leading John McCain in the opinion polls. For about the past week, Gallup has been reporting that about 48%-49% of registered voters say they favor Obama. On one day, the percentage reached 50%. Meanwhile, McCain’s numbers have been around 42%-43%.”

Polls are a tool to direct people who think themselves too intelligent to be swayed by propaganda.

You will get more truth from reading runes than you will get from a poll.

It is not a secret that Gallup and Zogby are left leaning and Rasmussen is only slightly centrist.

Polls work to sway undecideds who wish to be seen as “cool”.

Prattle away Mike S. It is make work that will keep you from doing any real harm.

Jim

Sep 6, 2008 - 6:52 am 118. Ken:

Whiskey:

Just to avoid playing guessing games, I was talking about John Kerry.

I can see that Graham is from South Carolina, but I don’t quite see how he’d have benefitted from a Bush win.

Having said that, if it WERE Graham, and McCain found out, I’d be ecstatic. I’d like to see that jerk thrown to the curb.

Sep 6, 2008 - 8:17 am 119. starling:

I made a “Wordle” tag cloud of responses on Oprah’s discussion board to her decision not to have Sarah Palin on her show. To say that Oprah’s fans are disappointed is to vastly understate their sentiments.

Sep 6, 2008 - 12:26 pm 120. Visualizing Speech | Neptunus Lex:

[...] uses the word cloud generator to determine which words most often came up in the speeches of Sarah Palin and John McCain at the [...]

Sep 6, 2008 - 8:07 pm 121. V.B. Bart:

@ James @ 6 September, 4:22 AM

You very cogently note Obama’s strengths and weaknesses. I would add one more major weakness: Obama’s close connections over the long years with the far Left and its radicals. We all know the litany by now (though, Heaven knows, not from much of the MSM): the many connections with Communist groups or individuals throughout his life, starting with his mentor/father figure, Frank Marshall Davis, and on to more radical connections, Wright, Pfleger, Ayers, Rezko, Khalidi, etc. There is only one MSM publication (that I know of anyway) that has looked deeply into all of this: Investor’s Business Daily’s Editorial Page. Hats off to them! They’ve done an excellent series of more than a dozen articles about Obama, The Audacity of Socialism, that is a must read.

Sep 7, 2008 - 5:11 am 122. Bob Murphy:

There are a lot of concerns about energy independence for the US in this and other Belmont Club threads.
But here’s a thought.
I am a transport writer and I saw an interesting Media Release from the US EPA in about 2000 stating that average fuel consumption for US light vehicles had falled to a 20 year low.
That was due to the swing towards SUVs and big pick-up trucks which were not subject to the same fuel economy requirements as cars.
The EPA went on to say that if all SUVs, all light vehicles had to achieve mandated fuel economy requirements for passenger cars the US would not need ANY Middle East oil.
That’s without any other changes.

Sep 7, 2008 - 9:12 pm 123. Corp Cactus:

Amit, that’s too smart and a half…

Sep 8, 2008 - 12:00 am 124. Mike Sylwester:

I must admit publicly that so far (today is Sep I have been really wrong about the opinion polls.

Sep 8, 2008 - 11:02 am 125. Mike Sylwester:

I wrote: (Sep EIGHT).

I don’t do smiley faces.

Sep 8, 2008 - 11:03 am 126. NahnCee:

Mike, you’re wrong so often, maybe you should start doing smiley faces. Then you could act like it was all a joke.

Sep 8, 2008 - 3:44 pm 127. Financial Blog » Friday, 09/05/08 10:01 PM:

[...] Running Palin’s and McCain’s speeches through the word cloud… [...]

Sep 10, 2008 - 9:50 am 128. Information Design Watch » Political Word Clouds:

[...] recent political speeches in the U.S. presidential race. Richard Fernandez at Belmont Club compares Sarah Palin’s Republican Convention speech to John McCain’s while the Times compares Democrats to Republicans with an additional breakdown of key words by [...]

Oct 8, 2008 - 1:38 pm

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