TightyRighty.net

I have seen the furor which erupted over Barack Obama’s “lipstick on a pig’ comment. Having watched it in context, it is clear to me that he was not referring to our next VP Sarah Palin. It is equally as clear that John McCain’s comments about Hillary’s health care plan a year ago were about Hillary’s health care plan and not Hillary.

However, by the reaction from the crowd, I believe they thought Obama was referring to Palin, which raises the question Dennis Miller asked on his show yesterday – Is he mean-spirited or is he stupid?

I vote for stupid. “Lipstick” has had a lot of play in the media for the last week since Palin’s joke at the Republican convention. If you throw out the word in conversation, most folks will think of Palin. So for Obama to make this statement is politically insensitive. Imagine that – a politically incorrect liberal – there’s change you can believe in!

What would be the hue and cry if someone use a term related to race – like “community organizer”. Oh, I forgot, there already has been a hue and cry over this racially insensitive remark. Give me a break!

… for correcting me of the mistaken notion that my hometown newspaper is not a liberal tool. The Saturday front page headline stating that Sarah Palin’s Alaska pipeline is only a partial victory (I can’t quote it directly since I don’t have the paper and the headline on the DMN website is different) was clearly a shot at Palin’s claim she had gotten a (long delayed) Alaska natural gas pipeline project started. While it is true that there are no contracts in place from the oil and gas companies to tranport their gas via this pipeline, and there is currently a lot of posturing going on and much negotiation to be done, this is a significant achievement which has been a long time coming. How about a little credit where credit is due!

Why didn’t the DMN print a front page, above the fold headline that Barack Obama’s claim at the Saddleback Civil Forum to have worked across the aisle with John McCain on ethics reform was a partial truth? He told the Saddleback forum he agreed to work with McCain but he must have forgotten the Democratic leadership told him “no way” so then he leaked a memo to the press dissing McCain’s efforts. That “work across the aisle” prompted this response from John McCain:

“Dear Senator Obama: I would like to apologize to you for assuming that your private assurances to me regarding your desire to cooperate in our efforts to negotiate bipartisan lobbying reform legislation were sincere. When you approached me and insisted that despite your leadership’s preference to use the issue to gain a political advantage in the 2006 elections, you were personally committed to achieving a result that would reflect credit on the entire Senate and offer the country a better example of political leadership, I concluded your professed concern for the institution and the public interest was genuine and admirable. Thank you for disabusing me of such notions with your…decision to withdraw from our bipartisan discussion. I’m embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics I failed to interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble. Again, sorry for the confusion, but please be assured I won’t make the same mistake again…. Sincerely, John McCain.”

If this is bipartisonship and working across the aisle, we need a lot less of this.

Partial victory indeed!

That was my thoughts after watching our next Vice President deliver her coming out speech tonight. I thought she did a fine job introducing her family, extolling the virtues of John McCain, discussing her accomplishments as mayor and governor, and tweaking her opponents on many fronts, all with a smile.

This is clearly a woman of substance. Is she the most qualified person in the Republican party for the position? Most likely not. However, I do not believe we have the most qualified person in the country running on either ticket, particularly the top slot on the Democratic ticket.

I think Sarah Palin nailed it on the head when she commented that Barack Obama had time to pen two memoirs, but no meaningful legislation or reform. What has this guy done? For all of his elequence, he is an empty suit. I just don’t get what people see in him. If I’m hiring someone for the most powerful job in the world, I want to know they are up to the task bacause they have a history of achievement – not a grand vision and fancy words with nothing to back it up.

I am sure that after this triumphant entry into the spotlight, the lefties and their useful idots in the MSM will double their efforts to crush her. May God be with her and her family throughout this campaign.

In the movie Black Hawk Down, there was a scene where a captured American GI was talking to his captor, Abdullah Hassan, who made the statement “Without victory, there will be no peace.”  I am fully on board with this and think this is why the US lost in Vietnam and is struggling in Iraq.

Fortunately, Israel understands this concept also and is procecuting its battle with Hezbollah with extreme prejudice.  After today’s attacks in Haifa, I hope they bomb Lebanon back to the stone age.

A lot of namby pambies are whining about Israel’s response being non-proportional.  How much proportion do you need to take out terrorist command and control centers, resupply routes and terrorist personnel after the indiscriminate targeting of civilians by Hezbollah?  Let’s be serious here.  If Hezbollah lobs a few rockets into Israeli civilian areas, it is well within proportion to take out every military target Israel can identify – even targets next to places where Lebanese civilians may be sleeping, as in Qana.

I say “may” be sleeping, because the information that I have seen supports the theory that this was a staged event for the press, which fell for it hook, line and camera.

By the way, Hassan completed his statement by saying “there will always be killing.”  That being said, the only way to stop the killing is to eliminate all the killers.  I hope Israel follows through in this vein.

Those are my thoughts – where do you stand on this issue?

For many years (at least since I started cycling), Preston road and SR1461 in Prosper have been great roads to ride a bicycle on.  I can remember riding from my house in Richardson south on Greenville to Walnut Hill then west to Preston then north 30 miles up the 2 lane road thru Frisco all the way to CR 134 north of Celina.  What a great road that was – low traffic, good shoulder, great surface, etc.

That all ended Wednesday when the Collin County resurfaced Preston road north of SR1461 with chip seal (tar and gravel/rock).  Not the pea gravel chip seal which is rideable after a couple of weeks of being driven on by cars.  This is the nickel-sized chip seal which “chips” off easily due to its size and leaves a hole which makes it easier for the next rock over to chip off and leave a bigger hole.  Just check out FM455 east of Celina if you want to understand what I am saying.  That surface is unrideable on a road bike.

Based on the piles of rock I see on the side of SR1461, I assume they are also going to resurface SR1461 east of Preston road.  What a waste of good roads.  Both Preston and SR1461 are asphalt roads with good surfaces.  There are minimal cracks on these roads and there is relatively little deformation of these roads due to the ground shifting.  I don’t think that chip seal would address that problem anyway.  I should know since I (used to) spend a lot of time riding these roads.

Unfortunately, this is just a continuing trend in NW Collin County.  FM455 east of Preston was resurfaced with chip seal 2 years ago and has been unrideable since.  2478 (Custer road) north of 380 and FM455 west of Preston to the Denton county line were both resurfaced last summer and are still very rough roads.  The Collin Classic charity bike rally had to move their course east of Central Expy because these roads were so rough it negatively impacted particpation.  I know I did not ride the rally because of the roads it traversed.

As a result of resurfacing Preston, I expect bike traffic in our corner to the county to reduce to -0-.  Perhaps there will be one rider if I decide to put some fatter tires on my Santa Cruz and go out and punish myself.  Maybe I will fantasize I am riding the cobbles thru the Arenberg forest in Paris-Roubaix.  I wonder if E.L. Marks will have lower sales at Bobcat Kuntry, a favorite stopping point for the PBA Saturday morning ride?

Clearly, this is the end of the era of good cycling in NW Collin County.  This presents cyclists with a Hobson’s choice – do I get in my car and drive to a place where I can ride well surfaced open roads, or do I stay in town and risk life and limb to share good roads with automobiles.  My guess is that more cyclists will choose to stay in town on the good roads, which will only create more opportunities for conflicts with cars and their drivers.  Don’t blame us cyclists, we have been forced into this position by our state and local governments – by our tax dollars at work.

Those are my thoughts – where do you stand on this issue?

How come whenever Israel is attacked and defends itself, it becomes the target of worldwide and UN condemnation? Did anyone get onto the US when we defended ourselves after 9-11?

I think that Israel has made it clear that if you attack them, there will be a severe price to be paid.  I think this is the primary reason that Israel is not continually at war – its enemies know it does not fool around when it comes to defending itself.

Perhaps the US could apply this approach in dealing with the insurgency in Iraq.  I think if we took the gloves off and let our military fight without one hand tied behind its back, then we would make significantly more progress than we have to date.

What do you think?