Labor Day Weekend

We are all watching the news of Hurricane Gustav. I am a ham radio
operator with a keen interest in emergency communications. I have taken
several courses and participated in several training events since
January 2002 when I first obtained my license. We can all hope that the
lessons of Katrina will be heeded. My state, the State of Oklahoma, is
on standby. The Amateur Radio Emergency Service groups in three regions
are on standby for disaster relief. Several locations within Oklahoma
are prepared to receive evacuees. Oklahoma City has already started
receiving patients from target zone hospitals and surrounding areas.
Gustav has strengthened to a Category 4, one more category stronger than
Katrina and some forecasts indicate a possible flirtation with category
5. The Federal Government has already sent money and aid to New Orleans.
My only hope is the storm will not hit somewhere else and leave other
folks in a lurch because all the aid is in New Orleans.

And the nominee for Vice President is....

Sarah Palin. What a surprise. I have never heard of her.I just think it is incredibly smart of John McCain to choose her. I researched her online after I heard her nomination. She has no experience in foreign relations, national defense, homeland security or any other major national issue. But that is alright, because John McCain has all of the experience. What does she have that brought her to McCain's eyes? She is a Republican conservative that is not afraid to take on the big businesses when she is forced. She will show that McCain is an equal opportunist and she will likely bring certain women's issues to the front burner from which most conservatives tend to shy away. She started at the grassroots level as a part time mayor of a small Alaskan town. From there, she campaigned for issues and positions that brought to her the governorship of Alaska. On that note, her public service experience could equal or surpass that of Barack Obama.

I say, Congratulations to Sarah Palin. Good choice for John McCain.

Who Will McCain Pick?

The process for selecting your running mate could be the one thing that ends your bid or maintains your string contender status. John McCain has that very task at hand. In most people's minds, Barack Obama may have made a significant tactical error in selecting Joe Biden as his running mate. He failed to realize the weight this VP would carry. This same nominee that claims John McCain as a friend. One that all but endorses McCain as President. Now he has to find reason to not allow McCain to win. With all the quotes available to the media of Biden praising McCain, Biden will have a tough sell ahead of him. McCain can capitalize on this obvious error. He can and should select a running mate that will help balance McCain, one that will not be a position of uselessness, but one that will take on tough causes and make tough decisions and will have an active role in day to day government business.

McCain's pick should be able to understand:

• The US economy and maintain its competitiveness on the global scale
• Homeland Security - After 8 years, Bin Laden is still on the loose. Even when and if he is caught, there will be another threat. Iraq has taken too much focus away from Afghanistan.
  
• National Defense - Clinton's gutting of the military is still being felt, even though Bush has restored defense spending, the setbacks of Clinton are far-reaching.
• The Environment - even though the leftist global warming has a hard time holding up to scientific confirmation, we need to be good stewards of nature and the earth. It is, afterall, the only one we have.
• One that can keep McCain in good standing with fiscal and domestic conservatives. McCain has never been the darling of the conservative party. He needs that balance. He reaches over the party line more than enough, he needs a running mate that can and will show him the value of conservative positions on the issues.

Now I ask, who among the possible candidates and choices can fit that bill?

Hillary's Speech

I was a tad surprised at Hillary Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night in Denver. Rather than plead for a last minute reprieve, the made an impassionate plea for her supporters to support Barack Obama. With the federal lawsuit filed last week in Philadelphia challenging Barack Obama's basic but legal qualifications to seek and hold the Office of the President of the United States, Hillary missed an opportunity to embolden her own supporters and maybe even siphon off some of Obama's supporters. Either way, the Office should be reserved for someone that truly cares about the country and our standing in the world arena.

I am not a huge McCain supporter, but I feel he will best serve this purpose. The decision of his Vice President will tell a lot about McCain and his ability to defeat the Socialist Democrat Party of the U.S. The eyes of the conservative voter are watching you Mr McCain. The eyes of the swing voters are on you, too. What are you going to do?

Federal Lawsuit to Disqualify Obama

A federal lawsuit has been filed to disqualify the candidacy of Senator Barack Hussien Obama.
My big question has nothing to do with the veracity of the lawsuit. They make some very interesting claims. Whether or not they are valid is for a judge to decide. My biggest question is why the national media have completely overlooked this interesting situation. Just like the Whitewater Real Estate Scandal, the media is missing the boat again.

What do you think of the situation. Visit the site reporting all the facts and make your own decision.