All the talk about the inauguration tomorrow got my political science nerd juices flowing. I decided to look and see what other countries in addition  to the United States have Presidential inauguration ceremonies. Want to guess how many? Out of 193 recognized sovereign states in the world, 13 of them have inaugurations. 13! And of those, (as far as I can tell) all began after the United States. The inauguration to me has always been somewhat special because of the peaceful transfer of power that takes place. In many of the other 192 countries of the world, a change of government means at minimum a period of political instability, and often that a coup has just taken place. The Presidential inauguration represents the crowning achievement of the American political system. While the people have changed and there has been some maturation of the system as it grows, the fact that every four years we swear in a new executive to lead the country and NO ONE DIES is pretty remarkable. No matter your political leanings, you have to admit that’s pretty dang cool.

Happy Inauguration Day!

I’ve made it pretty clear in the past who I am supporting in the current election and who I will be voting for but I haven’t written anything on the election for a while.  With Obama officially winning the nomination on the Democratic side and McCain naming Sarah Palin his running mate I figured it was a good time to check in.  So here are a few thoughts in no real order. . .

Biden – My opinion of him can be summed up thus, “at least he’s not Hillary.”  Frankly, while he has a bit of a brain/mouth filter problem that could lead to a few embarrassing moments, I don’t think he’s really a bad choice, he doesn’t hurt Obama at all.  If Obama had picked Hillary, that would have been a deal breaker.  Fortunately, that had the proverbial snowballs chance.

Convention speech – They wanted a spectacle and they got it.  Fireworks and a packed house at Invesco made for a pretty impressive showing this last week for Obama’s acceptance speech.  I don’t care if it is a sappy sentimental play, I eat up all that unity stuff.  I love that Obama was talking about the myth of Red America and Blue America and that Republicans are patriotic and Democrats want to sell out the country.  It’s stupid.  As much as I can’t stand Hillary, think Kusinich is a nut job, and laughed at anyone who thought Ron Paul was ever a legitimate candidate, I never once question the commitment of those people to our nation.  We have spent the last 8 years drawing lines in the sand and dividing the country between left and right we have lost focus on actually solving problems the country is facing.  Why does, for example, Pro-Life simply mean Anti-Abortion?  I’m with Obama, lets leave that debate for another day and focus on reducing teen pregnancy and unwanted pregnancy rates.  Lets stop fighting about how we got into Iraq and focus on getting out and finishing the fight in Afghanistan.

My Buddy – I don’t understand why so much attention is being paid to which candidate sympathizes with the “little guy” better.  I don’t care who would be more fun to have a beer and watch a game with.  I’m not interested in having a beer with the President.  I’m interested in a President who is wiser and smarter than I am because he controls the worlds largest nuclear arsenal.  I tried to dig out an old West Wing clip on this but couldn’t track it down (though not for lack of trying, YouTube is ruining my sleep patterns).  It is what I refer to as the “Surgeon Argument.” If you had life threatening cancer, would you rather have a surgeon who is an ass but has a 100% cure rate or a surgeon who is your good buddy but known for being a little bit of a klutz?

Sarah Palin – When McCain picked Palin as his veep he ensured a historic election no matter the winner.  Unfortunately, I think he’s going to end up regretting the decision.  I do think Palin is a better pick than Mitt Romney and she is definitely more palitable than Hillary as a woman in politics.  She also runs circles around Leiberman in the personality category.  However, picking a candidate for her strong history of ethics reform usually works better when that candidate isn’t herself in the middle of an ethics investigation.  Palin is currently the subject of a probe in Alaska to find if she orchestrated the dismissal of the State Police Commissioner after he refused to fire Palin’s former brother-in-law (who is currently involved in a custody battle with Palin’s sister after their divorce).  I like the little I know of Palin and think she is the kind of woman who, with a little more exposure/experience, could have had a chance at being a legitimate candidate (certainly women are capable of leading a nation, it’s just going to take a special candidate to break through).  Palin is too easy of a target for the left to tear appart though.  If she hadn’t been so involved and tied to the Bush presidency, I actually think Conoliza Rice wouldn’t have been a bad choice

I’m sure in the coming weeks, I will no doubt have more to say.  Especially now that summer is over and I have time to think about some of these things.  Anyway, anyone else have any thoughts on the above?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Though I’ve never seen a corpse try so hard to resuscitate itself.

When I was going into Quiznos today for lunch the lady who went in right before me held the door open after she stepped inside.  This seemingly inconsequential nicety represents a much more profound truth that is the reason I’m not worried about the future of the country.  There is a lot of fear right now about a coming recession that is going to hit all of us very hard.  Personally, I don’t think it is going to be as bad as people say, but I’m not exactly a paragon of financial knowledge so don’t take my word for it.  That said, the sky isn’t falling.  If a recession really does hit and the economy slows, there will be a few hard years, maybe some tight budgets, but we will pull through and be alright because we are a country of people who inherently want to be nice to each other.  Sure there are greedy and less altruistic people who are only interested in others based on what they have to gain, but by and large, people want to help each other out.  We know that at the end of the day, come recession or economic boom, we are our best assets.  I think as Christians this is one of those great times where we can lead the way as the example of how to treat each other with love and respect, to show the light of Christ to those around us who might take a big hit.  This is also the reason that I’m increasingly drawn to support Obama for President.  As was referenced by Ted Kennedy today (who thought I would see the day where I agreed with that guy!), Obama is offering people a platform of change and hope.  He is hearkening back to Presidents like Reagan and JFK who lead the country through dark times with messages of hope.  Men who reminded us of why we, America, are the greatest country in the world.  I don’t mean that in an arrogant ethnocentric way, but rather in the sense we can be that City on a Hill, that Camelot, serving as a beacon to a world full of war and famine.  He is the only candidate that I see as someone who gives us a legitimate chance at a New Politics, a political landscape where we no longer are bickering over party lines but having substantial discussions of foreign and economic policy.  Maybe we can finally do something about Stage 2 subsidies, maybe we can finally find a real, lasting solution to illegal immigration.  Maybe we get policies that are more than just vote grabs.  We have had nearly 10 years of fighting over which party is the most corrupt and sleazy and with Obama we get someone who has no reason not to throw open the gates and run a transparent government that values truth and openness over deceit and bureaucracy.  This is the future I want to live in, this is the country I think we can be.  Will you join me?

You may notice I have deleted the Fred Thompson link I used to have on the side of this page. I did that because, well, Fred seems to have completely disappeared off the face of the planet (seriously, can anyone at least confirm that he isn’t dead or passed out in an Iowa cornfield?). So this puts me back in the unfortunate position of once again having to pick a candidate to support in the upcoming (yeah, upcoming as in a year from now) presidential election. Before Iowa I was hesitant to be too vocal just because the field was so broad and there was little point in seriously scrutinizing any of the candidates because there were just so many of them. Well, I’ve made my pick. . . Barak Obama.

*ducks behind a table in case any passing Republicans try to throw something at my head*

Seriously though, if it is Huckabee and Obama, I’m voting for Barak. I came to this conclusion as a result of a mix of things I like about Obama and dislike about Huckabee. First off, my biggest concern with Huckabee is, unfortunately and ironically, his faith. Not that I doubt his convictions or take issue with his faith in general. Rather it is his hints at taking back America for Christ. Now, this is a admirable goal and one I can support. . . coming from the pulpit. I’m concerned that if Huckabee is the President it will be four more years of “God told me. . . ” politics. There is a reason state and religion should be separate, they don’t play well together. Politicized faith is how we end up vilifying peaceful mainstream Islam and entrenching ourselves in an us vs. them world view. Would I like to live in a country where the majority of people were honest and sincere Christians? Of course! But I’m not willing to hand the keys to the country over to someone who thinks that by “taking back” America we can fix it.

Now on the Obama side, I think he is the most exciting candidate I have seen in my “grown-up” life. I don’t agree with every single one of his policies but he does something that I don’t see any other candidate doing. He isn’t playing to his party base, he is going out and telling people it is time to move beyond right and wrong, liberal and conservative, etc and come together to find solutions to the issues we face as a nation. He is seeking to inspire people to be active members of their community and seek political compromise. Maybe you believe in higher taxes, maybe you believe in reduced spending, maybe you believe in both, but regardless of how you feel, we need to figure out how to cut the national debt. Maybe you believe in privatizing social security, maybe you believe in universal health care, whatever, we need to sit down as a nation and figure out a plan that is a long term solution, not just another patch job. I like that he wants to trade increased salaries and more resources for more accountability in schools. I like that he says we need to stop wasting time and make some tough decisions about immigration. You can argue he doesn’t have the experience of Hilary or Gulianni or McCain but the fact he comes from outside the political machine is one of the things I like most about him. Now, traditionally, “outsiders” haven’t always garnered the most support in Congress once in office but I think people are getting fed up with capitol tit for tat. I really do believe in the idea of a post-partisan movement. I laugh at the fact I’m questioning my identification as a Republican now that I’m arguing for a Democratic presidential candidate but I think this has been a long time coming. I think the way the Republicans took a dive off the right end of the party line and the Democrats have done nothing but domestic saber rattling over the last four years is leading people to re-examine their traditional party affiliations. I think that is why Libertarian candidates have seen a rise in popularity and I think that is (part) of why Ron Paul has enjoyed so much success on the internet. I think back to the movie Bullworth where Warren Beatty played a politician who’s political campaign takes off when he starts “telling it like it is” and forcing people to examine their views. I think it is time we stir the pot a little and get people to examine what it means to be a conservative (eg sound fiscal policy, limited government, empowering individuals) or a liberal (eg transparent government, true freedom of speech [yes, even for those crazy "hate mongering" Christians you despise], etc.). Anyway, Coffee Cat is getting ready to close so I’ll wrap this up for now. I was going to write a few more posts about some photography stuff I have going on and some other ideas I have running through my head but those will have to wait for now. Ciao!

Fred Thompson for President

. . . someone who gets it.