Michael Bates

Include me out

It's numbing. The adulation, the elation, the mirth, the idolatry, the reveling in every possible facet of Obamaness. And that's just the response of the mainstream media.

President Kennedy and the Mob

Plans are moving forward to complete the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement. Known also as the Mob Museum, it will be an interactive attraction “dedicated to the history of organized crime and law enforcement.” One of the displays, in the organized crime section of the museum rather than the law enforcement area, should feature President John F. Kennedy.

Roland will fit right in

Senate majority leader Harry Reid can be such a tease. On Sunday, the Nevada Democrat suggested that Illinois Gov. Blagojevich’s appointment of Roland Burris to replace The One in what is facetiously called the world’s greatest deliberative body might not be welcomed with open arms.

Requiescat in pace, Uncle Sam

2008 will be known as the year the United States set aside any pretense of free enterprise. A nation that had flourished with the concept of limited government economic intervention turned to the seductive allure of massive federal intrusion. Washington will now more than ever redistribute wealth in the name of compassion, pick winners and losers, and decide how the fruits of your labor will be spent.

Roddy, We Hardly Knew Ye

Our president-elect said in 2002: “. . . right now, my main focus is to make sure that we elect Rod Blagojevich as governor. . .” Obama’s White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, has bragged that he, Obama, and two another party loyalists “were the top strategists of Blagojevich’s victory.” Like other major Democratic politicians, Obama had absolutely no doubts about the character of the man they made governor. That’s their story and they’re sticking with it.

Bring back test patterns

The head of NBC told an investor conference Monday that his network may have to cut back on its programming. “Can we continue to program 22 hours of prime-time? Three of our competitors don’t. Can we afford to program seven nights a week? One of our competitors doesn’t,” he said.

Fun and Game Boys at Guantanamo

Raul Castro is, at 77, Fidel’s kid brother. When Fidel’s health forced him to take a break from full-time dictator duties, he installed baby brother as president.

Slummin’ with Barry

Mrs. Clinton assumed full taunting mode in a January Democratic presidential candidate debate. She aggressively battled "bad" Republican ideas, she told Obama, "when you were practicing law and representing your contributor, Rezko, in his slumlord business in inner-city Chicago."

A nation of Peter Pans

Author J. M. Barrie gave literature Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up. Government, by encouraging people to not assume the responsibilities of adulthood, is fashioning a nation of Peter Pans.

Why the race was lost

Castro this week described Obama as “more intelligent, cultured and levelheaded than his Republican adversary.” The American people agreed. So let the finger pointing commence. In no special order of consequence, here are a few probable reasons for the GOP loss:

The young will pay for a President Obama

It’s lamentable that Obama and Biden only tell the truth when people give them money. It was at a San Francisco fundraiser that Obama voiced his belief that residents of small towns in Pennsylvania and elsewhere “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Birds of a feather Barack together

An ABC News/Washington Post poll shows more than half the respondents don’t think Barack Obama’s association with unrepentant 60s terrorist William Ayers is a legitimate issue. It’s old news. Such reasoning suggests that in about 30 years Obama can serve on boards with bin Laden, visit Osama’s home and take political contributions from him, just as he’s done with Ayers. After all, that 9/11 stuff will be old news by then.

Another Great Depression?

It looks as though John McCain is respectfully campaigning himself into the footnotes of history. Polls with Barack Obama winning by double digits are an indicator. So are predictions of a Democratic landslide by longtime GOP operatives such as Ed Rollins. McCain backers stand up at rallies to voice their exasperation that he’s not doing enough to win. Obama presents a clear, though hackneyed, message; McCain appears tentative and inconsistent.

Patriotism, taxes and charity

Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden was interviewed on ABC’s Good Morning America last week. With hair plugs set perfectly and dental caps gleaming – or was it the other way around? – Joe was asked by Kate Snow if those odious folks known as the rich should pay more in taxes. His reply:

The truth is not dishonorable

John McCain ran an ad criticizing Barack Obama for supporting sex education for kindergartners. The reaction of Obama and his media sycophants was so vociferous that you might have thought abortion had been curtailed. The ad was described as a total fabrication, swill, truly vile, and one of the sleaziest spots in history.

Obama’s politics of new ideas

Barack Obama maintains he’s the candidate of new ideas. When clinching his party’s nomination, he boasted that it’s “our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face.” The senator’s acceptance speech at the convention noted, “Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.”

Obama condemns (wink, wink) sleazy politics

For readers who might not yet have memorized last week’s column, it consisted of observations from the Democratic Convention’s first day. My intent was to provide something similar this week, but those darn GOPers refused to cooperate and held an abbreviated session Monday. I’m awaiting press reports that Hurricane Gustav was George Bush’s fault.

Convention observations

The first day of the Democratic convention produced fewer attacks than anticipated on the Bush-McCain administration, as it’s now called. Maybe Daddy Yankee’s endorsement of John McCain threw Democrats off their stride. Undoubtedly they’ll make up for lost time over the next three days. Some thoughts after Day 1 of the convention:

Dictatorship we can believe in

Barack Obama wants to be president. Given his authoritarian tendencies, will that be enough for him?

The power of one

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who passed away this week, meticulously documented Communist oppression in his books. The subject was one with which he was all too familiar.