Code Stupid Part II - Commander Zed is Kevin Clark of ISM

The Fictional Commander Zed Chumpsky of my previous post is played in real life by Kevin Clark of International Solidarity Movement.


According to the Chicago Tribune Story - International Solidarity Movement which managed to get some people killed in Lebanon - ask Kevin Clark - needs some light shined on its role in the felonies committed during Easter Mass at Holly Name Annex on Easter Sunday.

From The Tribune article:

"If Cardinal George is a man of peace and is walking the walk and talking the talk, he should have confronted George Bush and demanded an immediate end to the war," said Kevin Clark of International Solidarity Movement, who attended the service to serve as a witness for the protesters.

I hope that Attorneys for the Archdiocese of Chicago, Serious News Reporters, Chicago Police, the Cook County States Attorney and the Office of Homeland Security give Kevin Clark and International Solidarity Movement an intensely close, personal, thorough look at his role in this act of violence on people at worship.


Click my post title for more on International Solidarity Movement - you gotta ask yourself if Kev and ISM is tied to Tony Rezko! You gotta. Kevin Bacon and all that.

Code Stupid! Anti War Protesters Spray Blood on Holy Name Easter Worshippers

Commander Zed Chumpsky Phoned in the Imperative.
Baldwin Plum put the Action Team to Work!















Our Heroic Girls for Peace went to work for Peace and sprayed blood on Mass Goers ( the Heart of any Violent Conflict) as soon as they finished their Smoothie Big Gulps! Give Peace a Chance - make sure the really stupid quit twitching, first.

QUESTION: Did the protesters drop any money in the collection plates, prior, during or after martyrdom?

N.B.

( Photos of Martyrs above are representative of the quality of character evident in the act reported - the Tribune holds right to actual photos of the Easter Bunnies 2008)



Click My Post Title for the Chicago Tribune Story of anti-war protesters who sprayed blood on themselves and worshippers during Easter Mass at Holy Name Cathedral here in Chicago. Get a load of the pictures of these mopes!

It is too bad that the protesters chose Holy Name Annex when they might have opted for a sure ticket to Martyrdom* by committing the very same act at St. Gabriel's Catholic Church in the Canaryille Community ( close-knit ethnic blue collar demographic). Here, at St. Gabe's, another sobriquet might be substituted for 'martyr' and the subsequent encomiums incumbent upon being one might apply.**

*

The term martyr (Greek μάρτυς "witness") initially signified a witness in the forensic sense, a person called to bear witness in legal proceedings. With this meaning it was used in the secular sphere as well as in both the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Bible.[1] The process of bearing witness was not intended to lead to the death of the witness, although it is known from ancient writers (e.g. Josephus) that witnesses, especially of the lower classes, were tortured routinely before being interrogated as a means of forcing them to disclose the truth. During the early Christian centuries the term acquired the extended meaning of a believer who witnesses to his or her religious belief and on account of this witness endures suffering and death. The term in the English language is a loanword and used only with the extended meaning of someone who has been killed for their religious belief. The death of a martyr or the value attributed to it is called martyrdom.

In the context of church history, from the time of the persecution of early Christians in the Roman Empire, being a martyr indicates a person who is killed for maintaining his or her religious belief, knowing that this will almost certainly result in imminent death (though without intentionally seeking death). Christian martyrs sometimes declined to defend themselves at all, in what they see as a reflection of Jesus' willing sacrifice. However, the definition of martyrdom is not specifically restricted to the Christian faith.

Usage of "martyr" is also not uncommon among Arab Christians (i.e. anyone killed in relation to Christianity or a Christian community, e.g. Pierre Amine Gemayel), indicating that the English word "martyr" may not actually be a proper equivalent of its commonly ascribed Arabic translation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrdom

**

The metaphorical use of the word to refer to the worst place in a region (e.g., "the arsehole of the world") is first attested in print in 1865; the use to refer to a contemptible person is first attested in 1933.[1] But as with other vulgarities, these uses of the word may have been common in oral speech for some time before their first print appearances.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asshole

'Typical White Person' Gaffe, Conviction, Endgame for Obama?

'Typical White Persons" - Gettysburg July 4, 1863



Barack Obama is a politician: Schooled, Glib, Impressive, and all too Human. His remarks about his white Grandmother being a 'typical white person' generally would be considered a safe slide to the base; but, this being a Presidential Campaign, Obama was tagged out.

Reaction to the document of his lecture on Race in America is being generally greeted with high praise. I thought it was thin beer - a political dodge to avoid speaking to his years of friendship and discipleship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright a Black Liberation preacher whose theology is a tangle of Marxism and Gospel.

Instead of explaining the appeal of Black Liberation theology to his heart, Obama lectured America with a moral equivalence dualism: Wright harbors hate; so does Obama's white Grandmother. That works with radical lawyers making lawsuits for criminals against police and plays very well in the press: Mr. 'A' murdered seven people, by incinerating them in their home, but he says that police 'tortured' him in custody.'
It works in court and in the press, but I do not believe that it will work at the polls.

Obama was in the 'jackpot' over Wright, Rezko, and his long and friendly association with domestic terrorists Ayers and Dohrn and so it seemed to make sense to throw out a moral equivalence defense.

This is the court of public opinion and not one where clever applications of statutes and ambiguities can garner a victory over right and wrong. Lecturing the country on what the typical black, white, red, brown, and grey American knows full well, lives day-to-day, deals with day-to-day, and emerges almost universally triumphant day-to-day. Americans treat each other with respect, dignity and fairness. Deeds not words, as Obama cited in his text.

Barack Obama's speech was a calculated political tactic. It failed. His subsequent remarks about his Grandmother being 'a typical white person' - fatal.

John McCain: With Nick Sarkozy, America & France Again Get Cozy: Women and World Affairs at Kean Gas

PHOTOS FROM REUTERS: Regular Guys married to stunning women and France and America - together again!


With wet snow making it easy to catch the Easter Bunny laying out baskets early tomorrow morning, Gino Ford and I debated whether or not a 'regular guy' could have Run-way Models of the female variety all over him like a cheap suit.

'Look, we are trolls. We make way under 70 Large a year, work long hours, got at least three kids in Catholic Schools and College, taxed up the ying-yang, then we come home bolt down dinner, get up to the gym, or the park, or where ever the kids are playing a sport, or maybe going to music, Irish Step Dance, Beverly Art Center lessons, getting honey-do stuff done and then catching a game on cable - plays hell on our looks - well yours anyway Hickey'

'True, my once drum-like taut and tawny skin has taken on a plucked turkey-like quality and my hair, what's left of it, is whiter than Obama's Granny, but a good guy can be attractive to a beautiful woman.'

'Sure, I'm married to one - hey, she might read this on line, don't be a smart ass, Hickey, and sneak in what we're saying. You will! I know you! You have always been a gold-plated a. . ; - No Really - Honey, this is theoretical stuff! My wife is gorgeous! Get that in. Look, we been going steady since she got out of St. Joe's in Canaryville. Don't get me in Dutch. All I'm saying is regular guys - good guys don't hook up with knockout covergirls. Those skinny broads with pissed off expressions and such!'

'How about Mike Cullen? God, he's a stand-in for Larry the Cable guy and he's married to a knock-out? How about John McCain? Ever see his wife?'

'Yeah. but he's a U.S. Senator. Still, our local politicians are mutts and they hooked some eye-candy. Joyce, Sheehan, Maloney, Dart and Hynes are all politicians and about as good looking as a burlap bag full of belly buttons and they married some good lookers. I see where you're going with this.'

'To France, Gino! Even a Frog can be a good guy. Their new President, Nick Sarko! He's been married to a string of Hotties and he's still a good guy. The First French President to actually like Americans - even when we liberated Paris in WWII, DeGaulle hated Americans. This guy is like he's from over by Hegewisch. He's got a Moogie name Sarkozy. I'll bet he's got tons of cousins over around 130th & Baltimore and a ll the alphabet streets.'

'Point taken. A Good guy can date and even marry a hottie. There's hope for you Hickey, yet. On second thought - you ain't such a great guy. If I take any heat from my bride over your typing on the Web, Bub, you'll find a little something from Gino in your Easter Basket. A Mount Carmel Kiss. You know how those feel.'

'Happy Easter Gino!'

John McCain and Nicholas Sarkozy met again in Paris. When John McCain takes the Oath of Office, France and America will once again live the promise and commitment to Freedom forged by Lafayette and Franklin. Vive la France!

Click my post title for an article about Mccain and Sarkozy - here's a taste:

McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for the November election, was in Paris as part of a Senate Armed Services Committee fact-finding mission that also visited Iraq, Israel, Jordan and Britain.

He said he had thanked Sarkozy for French participation in combat operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan and said he had talked about climate change, including the importance of nuclear power in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

He praised Sarkozy, who has put great effort into improving relations with Washington after the falling out over the U.S.-led war in Iraq under his predecessor Jacques Chirac.

"I think relations with France will continue to improve no matter who is president of the United States because this president is committed to greater cooperation and values our friendship," he said.

John McCain: McCain Will Get Keystone State Democrats

In a sign of just how divisive and ugly the Democratic fight has gotten, only 53% of Clinton voters say they'll vote for Obama should he become the nominee. Nineteen percent say they'll go for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and 13% say they won't vote.



Sixty percent of Obama voters say they'll go for Clinton should she win the nomination, with 20% opting for McCain, and three percent saying they won't vote.


ABC News’ Political Punch Blog: Keystone Democrats Set To Defect



By Jake Tapper



In the new Franklin & Marshall College Poll (read it HERE) some good news for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and some troubling news for Democrats.



Clinton leads Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, 51% to 35% -- increasing her lead from February, when she was up 44% to 37%. She leads among young voters, wealthier voters...voters in virtually every demographic group, with the exceptions of Philly voters and non-whites.



In a sign of just how divisive and ugly the Democratic fight has gotten, only 53% of Clinton voters say they'll vote for Obama should he become the nominee. Nineteen percent say they'll go for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and 13% say they won't vote.



Sixty percent of Obama voters say they'll go for Clinton should she win the nomination, with 20% opting for McCain, and three percent saying they won't vote.



Grim.

MSNBC: Keith Olbermann -America's #1 Juice Bag

Frustra laborant quotquot se calculationibus fatigant pro inventione quadraturae circuli


Hi C? Nope. Capri Sun? Damn tastey! Keith Olbermann? Now, your talking Margaret! America's Number One Juice Bag!


This morning, just before the first blizzard of the Spring darted down on Chicago, I walked up to Kean Gas for coffee. I checked the headline of the Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun Times, and The Southtown Star to see if MSNBC's hours of hysterical screaming and repeating about a Senator Obama's Pasport Broachment being the Hindenburg, Pearl Harbor, Lunar Landing, Nixon Resignation, Sox ( Red and White) Win! banner story of our times.

Nope Nothing.Click my post title for The Swamp: Chicago Tribune's Mike Dorning's fine report on this little story.

Here, Keith - let me explain it to you. Now, I am just a regular guy, mind you. I wear socks when it snows -like today; make sure that I opened the garage door before I back out - that stuff. Here's how it is:

1. You are - and the whole gang at MSNBC as well -shilling for Barack Obama. No sweat. He is a great guy. I'm backing John McCain.

2. Obama is in the jackpot because of his judgment in his friendships with Tony Rezko, Rev. Wright, convicted domestic terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn and just not being ready to make a run for the Presidency. Hence, they want a tail for you clowns to chase and workup some self-righteous flatulence to fill air-time.

3. You have the personality of a dial tone.

4. A square can not be a circle - hence the Latin axiom above.

5. Nothing that you say matters much to people who actually work for a living, pay taxes, Honor their Country, attend religious services, practice what they preach, get really outraged by anything Radio Heads or Baritone Bozos, like yourself, have to say.

6. Stay out of Quaker Meetings - the inner light only goes so far.

7. The Dalai Lama told me and the crowd up at Keegan's Pub that, once he is finished with Red China, he is coming to MSNBC and give you the public ass kicking of the New Millennium - of course that was at the South Side St. Paddy's Parade and he had put away four or five Guinness Bombs. But, just the same. Keep an eye out for that baldy chap in Red Robes. The Man has a set of Guns on Him!

8. The Easter Bunny . . . we'll let that one simmer for a while.

John McCain: Extraordinary Foresight - McCain on Churchill's Vision

John McCain's forthcoming book Hard Call: Courageous Decisions by Inspiring People (Gibson Square, published April 3) received rave reviews in the Telegraph. Click my post title for the full treatment.

Here is an excerpt from this historical study of great people whose judgment, based on life experience, set-backs, courage and ability to find the best solution to seemingly insurmountable obstacles, changed history.

Senator John McCain, the maverick advocate for change in American strategy in Iraq that brought about the dramatic shift in combat casualties from horrific to manageable, focuses on the courageous vision of Sir Winston Churchill.

John McCain explains the genius for vision:

Wondrous as it may seem, genuine foresight is not really the mark of special genius that is inexplicably bestowed upon the few and withheld from the many. It is rather more human than that. Most often, as was the case with Winston Churchill, a man of intelligence and imagination, foresight is the result of painstaking inquiry and the disciplined application of reason to acquired knowledge, in order to see a previously unseen pattern or opportunity.


A steely commander: Winston Churchill in 1914
People who have shown extraordinary foresight are often rather unconventional. They take calculated risks. They aren't afraid to be bold. People whom history has proclaimed as visionaries have often appeared more reckless than their contemporaries.

( emphasis my own)

John McCain is a risk taker, much like his subject Winston S. Churchill.


In 1913, as Sea Lord for the Crown, Churchill studied the expansion of German Naval Power and set into motion strategies and tactical imperatives that would counter act a shift in naval supremacy:

It is important to remember that at the time Churchill was preparing his navy for war by using his intellect, industry and the often irresistible force of his arguments, he was only in his thirties.

Yet in challenging the weight of generations of experience, he saw what others could not. He believed possible what they dismissed as impossible. And he was able to do it because he had compensated for his lack of experience by teaching himself everything he needed to know.

While naval budgets were premised on his firm intention to build two ships for every one Germany commissioned, he offered to suspend or limit ship construction should Germany do the same. When Germany rejected the offer, he proceeded with his plans.

In a speech to Parliament in 1913, defending the budget he had proposed, Churchill observed that other powers did not need a navy to defend themselves. An island nation did. "They build them so as to play a part in the world's affairs. It is sport to them. It is life and death to us."

Churchill had worried that the fleet had no protected wartime anchorage near waters where it would confront the German ships. He located one at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys, where the fleet could keep a watchful eye on the Heligoland Bight, through which the Kaiser's dreadnoughts would have to pass in the event of war. When war did come, Churchill and the fleet were ready.

Germany recognised that its High Seas Fleet was no match for the superior force Churchill had assembled. For the first two years of the war, it sought to avoid a clash involving the entire fleets of both nations, hoping to diminish the British fleet piecemeal. It never succeeded.

One one hand, Senator John McCain, a risk taker,but sober student of history, offers sound judgment and boldly makes a stand and on the other, Democratic challengers for the White House advocate retreat in the face of challenges.

John McCain: Al Queda on The Run

I was going to post something satirical about Arianna Huffington's address to the 'All Things Cool' Conference funded by the Take Back America.Org folks who marched on Washington D.C. yesterday, but they did such a great job themselves that it would have been overkill. You can not beat Cadillac Commies and Lexus Lefties for the pure fun of self-satire. Dressed to their 'Fabulous Nines' they were going to march and 'Take Back America,' but there was so much great finger food in the VIP tent that they decided to give the streets to the people.

Marches across America, protesting the 6th year of America's War on Islamist Terror drew enough people to pack a phone booth in Custer Park, IL. The Surge is working - stick to Race; you are doing just a bang-up job on that!

In Chicago, pigeons and bag ladies competed with protesters for face-time on Channel 5. The Chicago Police had all their Home Land Security Ninja suits but nothing to do in them.

Because the Surge is working in Iraq, all the Hollywood Revolutionaries could stay and eat the finger food like they were eating the rich.

Meanwhile, Senator John McCain and British P.M. Howard Brown met to discuss the global war on Islamist terror and McCain reported that Al Queda is on the run:

He acknowledged that Britons, along with Americans, were sometimes "frustrated by our lack of progress" in Iraq but insisted the situation had "improved dramatically" in the last year.

Britain has remained the U.S. government's closest ally in Iraq, although its continued military presence there is unpopular at home. It currently has about 4,000 troops stationed in southern Iraq but plans to reduce that to about 2,500 later this year if conditions allow. It has reduced troop levels in the last two years, as its military commitment in Afghanistan has increased.

McCain said he met with the Labor Party prime minister as a senator and as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, not as a Republican presidential candidate.

He said he admired Brown and appreciated the prime minister's commitment to maintaining the "unique relationship" that exists between the United States and Great Britain.

McCain also applauded Brown's leading efforts on climate change and said he hoped that new global limits on greenhouse gas could be reached with China and India.

The senator was scheduled to meet with opposition Conservative leader David Cameron next before traveling to Paris to meet with pro-American French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Nick Sarkozy - he's gotta have relatives in Hegewisch! Love that guy!

Brits Bash Barack's Babcia Bus Bounce!

Let the Heel-ing Begin! Rev. Al swings by to compliment Barack for his deft toss of Granny Dunham - The white Nana, Babcia, Busha, Blue-Hair, & etc. - under the metaphorical bus! We're rolling now!

The British Press thinks little of Obama's toss. Click my post title for The Spectator piece.

Hat Tip to Redbeard of Ankle Biting Pundits

John McCain: Americans, or Demographic Victims?

There is a clear choice in our upcoming Presidential Election - a unified America of serving citizens, or Balkan Republic of demographically cut interest groups. John McCain or the Democratic Candidates.

Senator Obama's Phildelphia Lecture on Race identified groups of voters that he needs to shore up the gaps widening in his campaign.

While explaining Black America to America, Barack Obama tossed some Hope to ethnic white blue collar voters ( how about that for a sociological disection of persons), Hispanics and Jews.

JIM VANDEHEI & JOHN F. HARRIS (click my post title for thefull report) reported that:

For working-class whites — whose coolness toward Obama helped tilt Ohio to Hillary Rodham Clinton — Obama spoke with understanding about why they dislike busing and affirmative action. “Like the anger in the black community, these resentments aren’t always shared in polite company,” he said.

For Hispanics, who have sided with Clinton in the vast majority of states this election, he lashed pundits scouring polls for signs of tension between “black and brown” and said the two communities face a common heritage of discrimination and inadequate public services.

Finally, Obama sought to connect with white Jewish voters — potentially one of the rawest nerves of all amid the Wright controversy — denouncing those blacks who see “the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.”

It will take weeks, at least until the April 22 Pennsylvania primary, to know whether all of Obama’s political and cultural base-touching succeeded.

John McCain speaks to all Americans, not balakanized identity groups clamoring for their piece of the pie. 'When, oh when, will America have moral capacity to elect a third generation Laplander Swedenborgian?'

John McCain laid out these points last year for all Americans.

Americans have lost faith and trust in their government - Americans have lost trust that their government and its elected officials will serve the Nation's interest and not their own. Special interests have too much influence in Washington. Americans want a courageous leader who will stand up to the trial lawyers and labor bosses and other special interests, govern by principle rather than political expedience, keep their promises, and solve problems instead of leaving them for our children. Restoring Americans' confidence in their government is what's at stake in this election.

Americans want judges who will strictly interpret the law and not legislate from the bench - The next president will appoint many federal judges and perhaps even a Supreme Court justice. The recent victory on partial birth abortion is an example of how important the Supreme Court is in protecting our values and interpreting the law as it is written. America needs a president who will provide strong moral leadership. A Democrat president will appoint judges who make law with disregard for the will of the people, but to the cheers of those advancing a liberal social agenda. America needs a leader who recognizes that that the people and states should decide what's best, not the courts. The future of the U.S. Supreme Court is what's at stake in this election.

We are the Captains of our Fate, or Victims. Clear choice to me.

John McCain: McCain Admonishes China Over Tibet Outrages

STATEMENT BY JOHN MCCAIN ON TIBET



For Immediate Release
Contact: Press Office

Tuesday, March 18, 2008
703-650-5550



ARLINGTON , VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain today issued the following statement on the situation in Tibet :

"The unfolding tragedy in Tibet should draw the attention of the entire world. I deplore the violent crackdown by Chinese authorities and the continuing oppression in Tibet of those merely wishing to practice their faith and preserve their culture and heritage. I have listened carefully to the Dalai Lama and am convinced he is a man of peace who reflects the hopes and aspirations of Tibetans. I urge the government of the People's Republic of China to address the root causes of unrest in Tibet by opening a genuine dialogue with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Reports of shutting down YouTube and confiscation of SIM cards are disturbing and reports of multiple deaths are far more so, especially in a year when China is preparing to host the Olympic Games. I urge the Chinese authorities to ensure peaceful protest is not met with violence, to release monks and others detained for peacefully expressing their views and to allow full outside access to Tibet ."


Click my post title for Chicago Tribune Report on Tibet Demonstration

John McCain: Steve Huntley Lays Out The Democrats Problem Facing a Uniting Leader in John McCain

Click my post title for Chicago Sun Times Steve Huntley who presents the catalogue of the Victimology ( they like them 'ologies')of the National Democratic Party.

A position that touts victimization is pretty weak argument for support. Voters, like Regular Democrats in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio and elsewhere, vote for effective programs and candidates, but the Democratic National Committee has been handcuffed to an ideology of want and despair for decades.

Jackie Gleason's recurring charcter, 'The Poor Soul,' seems a pretty good example of the DNC's opinion of most Americans: a hunch shouldered, sad-eyed, pouty victim awaiting his next shower of torment. The American Mope.

Steve Huntley writes today:

Democrats might well remember something else: That you reap what you sow. And four decades of identity politics and grievance culture are, to borrow a phrase from the pastor, coming home to roost.

Read Steve Huntley. The candidate who can unite our country is in Iraq doing what a President should do and the Democratic Candidates are talking - still.

John McCain against the Mopes. I'll take McCain.

McCain March Madness

'The Basket is a good Piece off, so, Cathal. Your leap is fine, but premature,Boyo!'


Sorry. That's not basketball it is Irish Football.

Happy St. Paddy's Day - That's All-Ireland County Kerry defeating County Mayo on the path to the Sam Maguire Cup! Irish Hang-time!


Illinois is already taking their togs and towels to the laundry, but you can still fill in some basketball brackets, Mateys!

Click my post title for the link to McCain March Madness - no where near as goofy as the Democratic Campaigns but Madness all the same.

Once you complete each region, you will be taken to the next region and the final matchups. Please also fill in a prediction for the total points scored in the championship game as a tiebreaker. Once you have completed your picks, please click "Submit" and your bracket will be saved. You can edit your bracket until Thursday at noon (Eastern).
Scoring: You will receive 1 point for each correct winner in round 1, 2 points for each correct winner in round 2, 4 points for each correct winner in round 3, 8 points for each correct winner in round 4, 16 points for each correct winner in round 5 and 32 points for correctly picking the 2008 champion. Prizes will be awarded to three Team members with the top scores. First place will receive a McCain 2008 Fleece, second place will receive a McCain 2008 Hat and third place will receive a McCain 2008 Lapel Pin.


You can also see John McCain's Bracket picks.

Remember - this is for fun and not venture capitalism.

Obama's 'Quiet Riot' Remarks Ring a Bell Anyone?

Back in June, Barack Obama made, what I thought to be, a rather callow and divisive remark while giving a speech at Hampton University:

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Tuesday that the Bush administration has done nothing to defuse a "quiet riot" among blacks that threatens to erupt just as riots in Los Angeles did 15 years ago.

The first-term Illinois senator said that with black people from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast still displaced 20 months after Hurricane Katrina, frustration and resentments are building explosively as they did before the 1992 riots.

"This administration was colorblind in its incompetence," Obama said at a conference of black clergy, "but the poverty and the hopelessness was there long before the hurricane.

"All the hurricane did was to pull the curtain back for all the world to see," he said.

Obama's criticism of Bush prompted ovation after ovation from the nearly 8,000 people gathered in Hampton University's Convocation Center, particularly when he denounced the Iraq war and noted that he had opposed it from the outset.

Repeatedly, he referred to the riots that erupted in Los Angeles after a jury acquitted four police officers of assault charges in the 1991 beating of Rodney King, a black motorist, after a high speed chase. Fifty-five people died and 2,000 were injured in several days of riots in the city's black neighborhoods.

"Those 'quiet riots' that take place every day are born from the same place as the fires and the destruction and the police decked out in riot gear and the deaths," Obama said. "They happen when a sense of disconnect settles in and hope dissipates. Despair takes hold and young people all across this country look at the way the world is and believe that things are never going to get any better."

He argued that once a hurricane hits or a jury renders a not guilty verdict, "the frustration is there for all to see."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=3246610

Given the recent interest in racial politics in the last few days, I wonder if Rev. Jeremiah Wright helped to script that speech.

Click my post title for my Blog posts from last June - when McCain was 'toast.'

John McCain: Palm Sunday in Iraq - Service and Straight Talk

I just got back from Palm Sunday early morning Mass at Sacred Heart, an Old French built mission chapel on the far south side attended by folks from many parishes who find the earlier services to their the liking and schedules.

While I was at Mass, John McCain was landing in Iraq for his eighth visit to that unhappy nation, where American kids are fighting terror and bringing peace to neighborhoods for the first time in decades.

John McCain's opponents, Senator Barack Obama who hit an unassailable wall in his campaign bricked and mortared by the the outlandish and hateful rhetoric of his Pastor and the burgeoning bundles of evidence leaping out of the Rezko Corruption Trial and Senator Hillary Clinton working to get pace with Obama's meteoric start in the collection of votes and delegates, while stamping out the flaming little brown bags of offensive hip-shots from her husband and surrogates.

What was it that Senator Clinton told her angry crowd last week about the 'The Man in the Arena?' John McCain is squarely in the Arena.

John McCain goes to Iraq and his opponents orchestrate damage control to cracks and holes in their 'America Needs Change' flats and scenery.


Click my post title for more on John McCain's Service and Straight talk in the Arena.

John McCain: 35 Years of Freedom to Serve his Country - Obama is Finished

John McCain 2008 Launches 'Journey to Freedom' Commemorating the 35th Anniversary of John McCain's Return Home from Vietnam

Contact: Press Office, 703-650-5550; www.JohnMcCain.com



ARLINGTON, Va., March 14 /Standard Newswire/ -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today launched a new web video entitled "Journey to Freedom," commemorating the 35th anniversary of John McCain's release on March 15, 1973 from the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" after being held for 5 ½ years as a prisoner of war.



The web video features fellow former POWs LtCol. Orson Swindle, USMC (Ret.) and Cdr. Paul Galanti, USN (Ret.), as well as John McCain's mother, Mrs. Roberta McCain.



John McCain is a decorated navy captain with a distinguished personal record and family history of service to our country. The son and grandson of two Admirals, McCain spent 5 ½ years as a POW in Vietnam. He commanded the U.S. Navy's largest squadron. His Naval honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross.



VIEW THE NEW WEB VIDEO HERE: http://www.johnmccain.com/journeyfreedom; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypn76M0Wm-k


A group of John McCain's fellow former POWs released the following letter commemorating the 35th Anniversary of his release:



Dear Friend,

March is a memorable time for the Americans who were released from captivity in North Vietnam during the month back in 1973. The pathway to freedom began in February, as the war in Vietnam was concluding for America.

John McCain, one of those American heroes, returned to freedom on March 15th, 1973, released from Hanoi that day along with other very happy American Prisoners of War. His journey home was the continuation of a remarkable story with chapters yet to be written. Having survived life-threatening and disabling injuries, along with the brutality of the POW experience, John had steadfastly resisted communist efforts to exploit him and his fellow POWs. John's homecoming began a new phase of his life. His courageous service and his political career are well known today, and now he is the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party to be the next President of the United States.

We are but representatives of over eighty former POWs who shared those heady days of freedom and those years of captivity and suffering with John McCain. Collectively, we are proudly doing all we can to help our dear friend, John McCain, become our next commander in chief. We are campaigning with him, helping him raise money, speaking on his behalf and, in constant conversations, promoting his candidacy among our friends and family all over the country. We are doing so because we believe in John McCain.

Our convictions about John's character were born in the crucible of adversity. We have witnessed his courage, integrity, character and intellect. We know and respect his sense of honor and his tenacity in the face of grave danger and prolonged hardship. These qualities, combined with his life experiences, make John ready for the enormous challenges facing the leader of our country. No one -- no one -- is more qualified to be president, to lead our country, to protect our nation and our children and grandchildren. We know him. We know his strengths, his love of country and his commitment to serve it. He has been severely tested, and we have witnessed him under pressure. We trust his judgment and his ability to lead our country in these difficult times.

We are joined in that trust by over 130 retired Flag and General officers who are members of Senator McCain's Military Advisory Council. They know and have worked with John McCain over the past three decades dealing with major national security challenges. They know leadership and they know danger and challenges. They know experience. They know quality. And they chose John McCain for president.

We must elect a leader who is ready on day one for these difficult and dangerous times. We need a leader who will insist that we win in the struggle against radical Islam. John is committed to let our troops win! We need a leader who will take on the big problems that most politicians seek to avoid. Leaders take on the tough issues. John McCain is that sort of leader. He knows the American spirit -- he has lived it like no other candidate. He knows we can do better and that America's best days are ahead.

Sincerely,

Commander Everett Alvarez, USN (Ret.)
POW for 8 1/2 years

Colonel Bud Day, USAF (Ret.)
Medal of Honor
POW Over 5 Years

Rear Admiral Robert Shumaker, USN (Ret.)
POW for 8 years

Colonel Leo Thorsness, USAF (Ret.)
Medal of Honor
POW for 6 years

Commander Paul Galanti, USN (Ret.)
POW for over 6 1/2 Years

Captain Mike Cronin, USN (Ret.)
POW for over 6 years

Major General John Borling, USAF (Ret.)
POW for over 6 1/2 years

Captain Richard Stratton, USN (Ret.)
POW for over 6 years

Lt Colonel Orson Swindle, USMC (Ret.)
POW for over 6 years.


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Click my post title and Make Yourselves Proud!

Side Note I caught Hannity and Colmes after St. Cajetan 7th Grade presented Living Stations of the Cross - Anthony Reya was stunning as Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews and Danny Bohlmann his oily best as Pontius Pilate the Hand Washer - Clare Hickey was a 'Give Us Barabbas Crowd Guy and one of the Ladies at the Cross. Good Theatre and Great Lenten Service! Clare played 'Jail Break' with the Warrior Mob around the Church so beat it for home.

I wanted to catch The Wire Finale, but was snagged in the surf by the announcement that Senator Obama would speak to his Pastor's Ant-American and racist sermons. Normally Fat Boy Hannity and Skelator Colmes get short shrift from this Boyo. But I watched. Obama, thank God, did not talk to to the motor-mouthed Mick Hannity, but to Major Dude Something. Hannity never lets anyone get a word in edge-wise, especially if Hannity has determined the guest is not an 'America' - like Willie Cunnigham.

Senator Barack Obama blinked like a five year old locked over the weekend in Beverly Cigar, while answering Major Dude from Fox News. I like Barack Obama. Whoever is handling his campaign is arrogant and smug. I can just hear the Progressive NPR Low-Talker -'Ignore your critics Barry, if they ask you any questions, They are the racists.' I would say that this marks the end of a pretty good run for the Office, But it is very clear that Senator Obama is not ready The Presidency of the United States.

Chicago Daily Observer - The Only Place for Balanced Opinion

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!


One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.


"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

Lewis Carroll - He was no Cathleen Falsani


Thirsty in a very dry land, parched readers looked to drink from the water of a clear pond of thought and opinion, but there was ne'er a drop to drink. Chicago was a journalism desert until August 8, 2007.

And Then!!!!!!!

A leading Chicago Philanthropist funded the operation of an Internet news source that offer a varied and balanced forum of opinion for Chicago and the Nation.

The Chicago Daily Observer was launched in late summer of 2007 and continues to provide the best source of opinion on politics, religion, social mores and topical events.

Operated by local genius Thomas Roeser and business innovator John Powers, Chicago Daily Observer manage and edit the vast array of offerings from every point of view and level of talent - from Don Rose and Dennis Byrne all the way down to Pat Hickey.

Thomas F. Roeser is an 18th Century man of letters and parts gracing an age marked by convenient convictions and Wal-Mart world views. Tom Roeser, a life long Catholic and corporate leader,with a discerning eye that scans the offerings from the written word, drinks deeply from the best in thought and shares the best of what he has consumed in voice that levels the conversation with democratic largess.

Here is a posting of Tom's August 8th launch of Cdobs - Chicago Daily Observer. What Tom initiated with John Powers runs sprints in the lanes of opinion every morning.

Not long ago after I spent most of my blog (www.tomroeser.com) complaining about the abysmal quality of our local daily newspapers, a reader known as Lovie’s Leather wrote to say “why don’t you either shut up or start a newspaper of your own?” I don’t know what happened to Lovie’s Leather but he gave me an idea. I visited with a number of people and after a year we have funds were collected to start this five-day-a-week Chicago Daily Observer… which will be a for-profit Internet publication—free to you but paid by ads and other income-producing devices that will allow it to stand tall in the free market.

We have opened our doors to capture a “center-right’ treatment of the news…some breaking news, some commentary—but all, we hope, in the spirit of Chicago’s great newspaper tradition. We’ll have some well-known names in this issue and the succeeding ones…including Dennis Byrne , Russ Stewart, Jeff Berkowitz, Ben Joravsky, talk radio commentators you are familiar with—Deborah Rowe, Teri O’Brien, hopefully Eileen Byrne (who just got married)...as well as the inimitable Frank Penn, decorated veteran of Vietnam and a former Chicago police officer, Charlie Johnston, probably one of the finest grassroots practitioners in Illinois, Terry Sullivan who helps run an educational enrichment center in the inner city—Midtown, Nicholas Hahn III, the bright young just-turned-20 kid who in his efforts to conservatize DePaul and make it once again the Catholic university it somewhat dishonestly proclaims itself to be, has been named one of the five leading conservative young leaders in the U.S. by the Young America’s Foundation.

Others will include Peter Fitzgerald, Chris Dudley, Ben Joravsky (who will supplement his Reader duties to write in his interesting way on TIFs and other things), Joe Morris and Kathy Posner to name a few. Democrats won’t be ignored with contributions upcoming by people like Jack Franks, the bright young state representative and committee chairman from McHenry and Tom Dart, the young, vigorous sheriff of Cook county. More will be added by the day, Frank Avila, Frank Coconate—many others…

The idea got started with a lunch I had with Ron Gidwitz, entrepreneur and civic leader, whose innovative run for governor of Illinois impressed me. Not enough to support him at the time but as I got to know him, I was highly stirred by his encyclopedic understanding of government in the city and state, bracing ideas with a free-market twist and his courage in articulating them. Ron and all of us agree that the role of government must be subordinated to the free market. After that, I “drafted” John Powers, the young co-founder of Pay-Pal who has become our president. He is one of the brightest young men in Illinois. John is responsible for a lot of snazzy devices in our product—maps that pinpoint where in the Chicago area events are happening that interest us. In the future, for example, if you want to find a good charter school you just need to hit a button and they’re there…or a neighborhood with less crime than yours…hit the button and you’ll see them all. John is responsible for all those wonderful innovations.

Ron, John and I have a lot of fun putting this project together and we intend to see it grow and become a true alternative to the liberal promulgating four major daily newspapers in this market. In a sense, we hope to be something like a local version of www.realclearpolitics.com by giving you a taste of different views
that…for some reason (I wonder why?)...have been omitted from our newspapers.

Here in the Chicago area have two city newspapers. One is the Democratic party’s newspaper of record and frenetic Barack Obama cheering section. The other is all too often (although getting better) a paper torn between its liberal reporting staff and its editorial board. We have two regional dailies…but guess what? All follow the same generally liberal line. For this huge metropolitan area that is so diverse, they supply precious little diversity. By merely existing, we supply diversity. I hope you stick with us. I hope that today’s will be the worst edition we put out—since by doing we all get better. Welcome aboard!

Thomas F. Roeser
Chairman,
Editorial Board

Give my post title click for the best and most varied in Chicago thought

John McCain: Chicago Welcomes John McCain!

Join Illinois McCain Chairman Jim Durkin and Senator John McCain. What Have You Done To Make Yourself Feel Proud? Here's an Opportunity Not to Miss!

Friday, March 14th



5:30pm Young Professionals Event (under 35)

Hilton Chicago

720 South Michigan, Chicago, IL

Pam Kinsey, 847-446-9102

$100 per person





Soren Dayton

John McCain 2008

sdayton@mccain08hq.com

Office: 703-650-5636

Cell: 703-300-7465

Fax: 703-350-4506

John McCain: McCain's Taxes make sense - Obama's & Clinton's Do Not

You read…You decide.

Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican you might want to know just what the candidates have in mind for ‘our money’.

That's what taxes should be labeled up front..... ‘OUR $’ !



Proposed changes in taxes after 2008 General election:

CAPITAL GAINS TAX

MCCAIN

15% (no change)

OBAMA

28%

CLINTON

24%

How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.

DIVIDEND TAX

MCCAIN

15% (no change)

OBAMA

39.6%

CLINTON

39.6%

How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama or Clinton become president. The experts predict that "Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit."

INCOME TAX

MCCAIN

(no changes)

Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $31,250



OBAMA

(reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)

Single making 30K - tax $8,400
Single making 50K - tax $14,000
Single making 75K - tax $23,250
Married making 60K - tax $16,800
Married making 75K - tax $21,000
Married making 125K - tax $38,750

CLINTON

(reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)

Single making 30K - tax $8,400
Single making 50K - tax $14,000
Single making 75K - tax $23,250
Married making 60K - tax $16,800
Married making 75K - tax $21,000
Married making 125K - tax $38,750

How does this affect you? No explanation needed. This is pretty straight forward.

INHERITANCE TAX

MCCAIN

0%

(No change, Bush repealed this tax)

OBAMA

keep the inheritance tax

CLINTON

keep the inheritance tax

How does this affect you? Many families have lost businesses, farms and ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will not only lose them to these taxes.

NEW TAXES BEING PROPOSED BY BOTH CLINTON AND OBAMA

* New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet

* New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already)

* New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity)

* New taxes on retirement accounts

and last but not least....

* New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries!!!

Can you afford THIS? You’d have to be a crazy socialist to voluntarily vote for these kind of taxes!

In case you want more information on Obama's tax and spend agenda:

If Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) Could Enact All Of His Campaign Proposals, Taxpayers Would Be Faced With Financing $874.35 Billion In New Spending Over One White House Term:

Updated February 14, 2008: Obama's National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank Will Cost $60 Billion Over Ten Years; Equal To $6 Billion A Year And $24 Billion Over Four Years. Obama: "I'm proposing a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that will invest $60 billion over ten years." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks On Economic Policy, Janesville , WI, 2/13/08)

Obama's Health Care Plan Will Cost Up To $65 Billion A Year; Equal To $260 Billion Over Four Years. "[Obama] campaign officials estimated that the net cost of the plan to the federal government would be $50 billion to $65 billion a year, when fully phased in, and said the revenues from rolling back the tax cuts were enough to cover it." (Robin Toner and Patrick Healy, "Obama Calls For Wider And Less Costly Health Care Coverage," The New York Times, 5/30/07)



Obama's Energy Plan Will Cost $150 Billion Over 10 Years, Equal To $15 Billion Annually And $60 Billion Over Four Years. "Obama will invest $150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote development of commercial-scale renewable energy, invest in low-emissions coal plants, and begin the transition to a new digital electricity grid." (Obama For America, "The Blueprint For Change,"www.barackobama.com, Accessed 1/14/08, p. 25)



Obama's Tax Plan Will Cost Approximately $85 Billion A Year; Equal To $340 Billion Over Four Years. "[Obama's] proposed tax cuts and credits, aimed at workers earning $50,000 or less per year, would cost the Treasury an estimated $85 billion annually." (Margaret Talev, "Obama Proposes Tax Code Overhaul To Help The Poor," McClatchy Newspapers, 9/19/07)

Obama's Plan Would Raise Taxes On Capital Gains And Dividends, And On Carried Interest. Obama's tax plan includes: "[i]ncreasing the highest bracket for capital gains and dividends and closing the carried interest loophole." (Obama For America, "Barack Obama: Tax Fairness For The Middle Class," Fact Sheet, www.barackobama.com, Accessed 1/8/08)

Obama's Economic Stimulus Package Will Cost $75 Billion. "Barack Obama's economic plan will inject $75 billion of stimulus into the economy by getting money in the form of tax cuts and direct spending directly to the people who need it most." (Obama For America, "Barack Obama's Plan To Stimulate The Economy," Fact Sheet, www.barackobama.com, 1/13/08)

Obama's Early Education And K-12 Package Will Cost $18 Billion A Year; Equal To $72 Billion Over Four Years. "Barack Obama's early education and K-12 plan package costs about $18 billion per year." (Obama For America, "Barack Obama's Plan For Lifetime Success Through Education," Fact Sheet, www.barackobama.com, 11/20/07, p. 15)

Obama's National Service Plan Will Cost $3.5 Billion A Year; Equal To $14 Billion Over Four Years. "Barack Obama's national service plan will cost about $3.5 billion per year when it is fully implemented." (Obama For America, "Helping All Americans Serve Their Country: Barack Obama's Plan For Universal Voluntary Citizen Service," Fact Sheet, www.barackobama.com, 12/5/07)

Obama Will Increase Our Foreign Assistance Funding By $25 Billion. "Obama will embrace the Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme poverty around the world in half by 2015, and he will double our foreign assistance to $50 billion to achieve that goal." (Obama For America, "The Blueprint For Change," www.barackobama.com, Accessed 1/14/08, p. 53)

Obama Will Provide $2 Billion To Aid Iraqi Refugees. "He will provide at least $2 billion to expand services to Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries, and ensure that Iraqis inside their own country can find a safe-haven." (Obama For America, "The Blueprint For Change," www.barackobama.com, Accessed 1/14/08, p. 51)

Obama Will Provide $1.5 Billion To Help States Adopt Paid-Leave Systems. "As president, Obama will initiate a strategy to encourage all 50 states to adopt paid-leave systems. Obama will provide a $1.5 billion fund to assist states with start-up costs and to help states offset the costs for employees and employers." (Obama For America, "The Blueprint For Change," www.barackobama.com, Accessed 1/14/08, p. 15)

Obama Will Provide $1 Billion Over 5 Years For Transitional Jobs And Career Pathway Programs, Equal To $200 Million A Year And $800 Million Over Four Years. "Obama will invest $1 billion over five years in transitional jobs and career pathway programs that implement proven methods of helping low-income Americans succeed in the workforce." (Obama For America, "The Blueprint For Change," www.barackobama.com, Accessed 1/14/08, p. 42)

Obama Will Provide $50 Million To Jump-Start The Creation Of An IAEA-Controlled Nuclear Fuel Bank. Obama: "We must also stop the spread of nuclear weapons technology and ensure that countries cannot build -- or come to the brink of building -- a weapons program under the auspices of developing peaceful nuclear power. That is why my administration will immediately provide $50 million to jump-start the creation of an International Atomic Energy Agency-controlled nuclear fuel bank and work to update the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.." (Sen. Barack Obama, "Renewing American Leadership," Foreign Affairs, 7-8/07)

John McCain: McCain's Creedence Clear on the Issues Revival -Giving Us the Unscripted Straight Talk

I never liked paying for a performer who had a cut-and paste show. I remember being dragged to a Neil Diamond concert in the late 1970's at the old Auditorium Theatre here in Chicago.

Neil had a formula 'Hot August Night' or some such nonsense - very loud, tinsel-ly, important and bone-crushingly boring show. I slowed down to sixty MPH and let my date out of my 1967 Rambler American, immediately after Neil's sweat-stained 'Thank You!' never to see the young lady again -'I thought we were going to the Italian Village After?' What we want and what we get are two very different things.

Shortly, there after I took a lovely red-head to Creedance Clearwater Revival fronted by the Straight-as- Calvert's in a Cheap Saloon John Fogerty! Magnificent.
'Born on the Bayou' indeed. I married that delightful young woman.

The DNC performers, Senator Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are giving scripted and pre-packaged Pop Concerts. Huge productions, great expectations - so-what finish.

Now, John McCain has been shouting out 'Stuck in Lodi' again! He is the real agent for change because he gives straight talk the venue it deserves up close and personal.

Granite State Giant and Venture Capitalist Patrick Hynes offered to me:

There is a lot of talk these days about “a different kind of campaign.” And yet very little being offered by our friends on the left seems substantively different from everything they have offered for decades.

Sen. McCain truly is offering a different kind of campaign—one that will take direct voter engagement to an unheard of level.

While some candidates rarely even take questions from the media, Sen. McCain will continue to take question from the people. From today’s New Hampshire Union Leader:

Speak on it, my Fortunate Son!

Yesterday, Sen. McCain held the first town hall meeting in what is to be an unprecedented presidential campaign centered around coast-to-coast town hall meetings.



Sen. McCain said yesterday that his experience listening to and speaking directly with voters in New Hampshire led him to adopt that format for his national campaign. He wants an unscripted dialog with the American people, including those who disagree with him.



"If you don't have that, I don't think it's legitimate to say you're listening to the people," he told us.



And so New Hampshire has done more than breathe life into McCain's once condition-critical campaign. It has transformed that campaign, and with it the way national presidential politics will be conducted this year (and perhaps thereafter?).





http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=McCain+reborn:+Taking+NH+nationwide&articleId=c8b84c62-9e62-4975-9834-fe87d6aa858c



Union Leader: McCain Reborn: Taking NH Nationwide



Editorial

SEN. JOHN McCain's presidential campaign was reborn in New Hampshire . So it is fitting that his general election campaign be launched here, and in true New Hampshire fashion.



Yesterday, Sen. McCain held the first town hall meeting in what is to be an unprecedented presidential campaign centered around coast-to-coast town hall meetings.



Sen. McCain said yesterday that his experience listening to and speaking directly with voters in New Hampshire led him to adopt that format for his national campaign. He wants an unscripted dialog with the American people, including those who disagree with him.



"If you don't have that, I don't think it's legitimate to say you're listening to the people," he told us.



And so New Hampshire has done more than breathe life into McCain's once condition-critical campaign. It has transformed that campaign, and with it the way national presidential politics will be conducted this year (and perhaps thereafter?).



How is it that so small a state (only 1.3 million people) could have such a large impact on presidential politics? It is not simply our place in the presidential nomination calendar. After all, Iowa has had a smaller effect.



It is that the political process in New Hampshire is different -- and better -- than the process anywhere else.



Nowhere in America is government more closely controlled by the people. Nowhere in America are the people more widely and directly involved in politics generally and governing specifically.



Consider: At 2.9 million people, Mississippi has more than twice New Hampshire 's population. And yet only 29,700 more people voted in Tuesday's Mississippi presidential primary than voted in January's New Hampshire primary -- 559,242 to 529,542.



Sixty-one percent of New Hampshire 's registered voters -- and more than half the entire adult population -- turned out. Mississippi has more registered voters, 1.78 million, than New Hampshire has residents. But only 31 percent of them voted on Tuesday in an election of real importance.



Sen. McCain does well in New Hampshire because our political process is designed to cut through the fog produced by spin machines and image consultants and put voters in direct contact with the human beings running for the highest office in the land -- and when the voters size up Sen. McCain in person, they see a man they can trust and admire, even if they disagree with him on important issues.



Sen. McCain takes a risk in bringing New Hampshire-style campaigning nationwide. But that is the kind of politician he is. He won't hide behind a phalanx of staffers and consultants. If he can show the American people that strength of character directly, he can win them over, just as he won over New Hampshire .

John McCain wears flannel shirts. McCain and Fogerty know how to please an audience!