Victor Davis Hanson compares the recent media craze over Barack Obama with the Pet Rock phenemenon. The comparison is not flattering to Obama - or the rocks for that matter.
In fall 1975 I remember sitting in the Stanford student lounge watching two apparently educated and bright students compare their pet rocks, as the craze spread all over Silicon Valley and then went national. By summer few would admit they had purchased one. Never underestimate the ability of mass wired consumer society to go hysterical.
Something like that happened with the Obama campaign in mid-February, as he became the new generation's pet rock. No one knew what he had done; no one knew what he would do; no one cared whether they knew; all only wanted to be a part of it. It was a sort of self-described "movement" to "change the world," that offered absolution for all sorts of sins, real and imagined, of commission and omission, an atonement for past and present, here and abroad.
And now, as some people wake up from their pet rock purchase, they are seeing they've de facto nominated someone rated about the Senate's most liberal senator based on three years of experience there. The Democrats have boxed them into a situation of running a candidate that has out-sourced all negative attacks to the New York Times, political junkies and columnists, in order to remain above the fray and loyal to the "new" politics of change and hope.
Certainly Hillary Clinton is hoping - heck, she's betting - that Obama is a passing fad that is already over. Hence the faux offers of letting him ride on her ticket as a fifth wheel. But there is a nagging doubt that is worrying the Democrats. Obama is not winning the big states that really decide elections because of their huge electoral college votes. He is winning in small states with caucus processes. That, not the Pet Rock, passing fad thing, may be the thing that finally ends the Obama phenomenon.
Because the establishment will not back him if he can't demonstrate the ability to carry the big states. They'll back him, Pet Rock or not, if he can. If not, all bets are off. Pennsylvania may be his Waterloo.
The media is increasingly reporting the possibility of a Clinton-Obama ticket as floated by the Clinton campaign. That would be her on top of the ticket despite being behind in delegate count. Even Reuters is seeing the cynicism behind this move by the Bubba and Hill comedy team.
Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat who has endorsed Obama, derided that suggestion. "The first threshold question about a vice president is, are you prepared to be president?" Kerry told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
"So on the one end, they are saying he's not prepared to be president. On the other hand, they're saying maybe he ought to be vice president," Kerry said.
Campaigning on Saturday, in Mississippi, the former president was quoted as saying his wife and Obama would be a dynamic duo, "an almost unstoppable force."
The candidate said last week she and Obama may end up on the same ticket, with her on top.
Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell, a Democratic who has sought to rally support for Clinton in his state's April 22 primary, backed the idea of Clinton and Obama teaming up. "It would be a great ticket," Rendell told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, an Obama backer, mocked the idea.
"It may be the first time in history that the person who is running number two would offer the person running number one the number two position," Daschle told "Meet the Press."
The magnanimity of the Clintons is astonishing, isn't it? All Obama has to do is accept a position behind Hillary and Bubba and all is forgiven. Put aside the fact that this is a rather blatant attempt to pry some support away from Obama by whatever means necessary and there is nothing left at all of the proposal. Because the second place candidate does not negotiate from a position of strength in a situation like this.
In short, it is just another Clintonian ploy.
CNN has a video report about the increasing numbers of women who are buying and training with handguns . One (male) instructor interviewed for the story says the women are better students than men are because they have better hand-eye coordination and they listen to instruction. Part of the segment is devoted to video training that mimics real world scenarios, not just paper target shooting.
I'm not surprised at all that women are very good with guns, by the way. My 15-year old daughter can literally draw a smiley face on the head of a silhouette target with a .22 caliber pistol. That is a little disconcerting to watch, trust me. She also always double-taps when she is shooting and the bullets punch holes that often make one oblong hole.
I try to stay on her good side.
The newest unmanned aerial vehicle in the US and British arsenals are about to go operational in Afghanistan. The Reaper will be controlled by operators sitting in a facility near Las Vegas, Nevada, but will be capable of killing in real time half a world away. The taliban will have ample reason to fear the Reaper very soon, indeed.
Britain's armed forces are sending pilotless "robot" strike aircraft into battle for the first time, allowing controllers sitting at a computer outside Las Vegas to drop guided bombs on the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The "Reaper" unmanned aerial vehicle marks a major watershed for the Royal Air Force and has been rushed into service after senior defence chiefs identified it as a vital weapon in the fight against Taliban insurgents.
Analysts believe that armed drones such as the £10million Reaper are the beginning of the end for human bomber and fighter pilots, and that increasingly sophisticated UAVs represent the future of aerial warfare.
When the RAF bought its first three Reapers from American manufacturers last year commanders intended to use them only as spyplanes, but senior commanders have now decided to fit them with 500lb guided bombs and Hellfire guided missiles, turning them into Britain's first unmanned combat aircraft.
The pioneering airstrikes are expected to take place in southern Afghanistan within days, once formal export clearances are confirmed by the U.S. Government.
The RAF already has almost 50 personnel operating similar American drones from Creech Air Force Base in the Nevada desert, outside Las Vegas, as part of an exchange programme.
Now they will switch to flying the RAF's own Reaper drones, dropping weapons via satellite link on targets around 7,000 miles away in Afghanistan.
I've posted about the Reapers before. There are links on that post to various reports about the aircraft.
Specialist Monica Lin Brown, a US Army medic from Lake Jackson, Texas, will receive the third highest ranked decoration of the United States, the Silver Star. In a gallant action in Afghanistan, SPC. Brown ran through an active firefight to aid fellow soldiers wounded in an ambush. She shielded the wounded soldiers with her own body while administering aid to them.
A 19-year-old medic from Texas will become the first woman in Afghanistan and only the second woman since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest medal for valor.
Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia province in April 2007, the military said.
After the explosion, which wounded five soldiers in her unit, Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the military said.
"I did not really think about anything except for getting the guys to a safer location and getting them taken care of and getting them out of there," Brown told The Associated Press on Saturday at a U.S. base in the eastern province of Khost.
Brown, of Lake Jackson, Texas, is scheduled to receive the Silver Star later this month. She was part of a four-vehicle convoy patrolling near Jani Kheil in the eastern province of Paktia on April 25, 2007, when a bomb struck one of the Humvees.
"We stopped the convoy. I opened up my door and grabbed my aid bag," Brown said.
Specialist Brown deserves that medal. She earned it with a display of valor under fire that honors the highest traditions of the United States Army.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph
On March 9, 1862, the USS Monitor, described as a 'cheesebox on a raft', met the CSS Virginia in the first naval battle between two ironclad warships. The hard fought battle was a draw, but a new era had begun. Designed by John Ericsson, a Swedish engineer, the Monitor had all of her vital machinery located below the waterline with only her turret, pilothouse, smokestack and a few fittings exposed to enemy gunfire. Two 11-inch Dahlgren guns - the most powerful weapons in the Naval inventory - were housed in the rotating turret.
The USS Monitor sank in rough seas on December 31, 1862 carrying 16 members of her crew to the bottom. The turret and a number of other artifacts have been recovered from the wreck and are on display in Newport News, Virginia. The resting place of the USS Monitor is designated as a National Marine Sanctuary.
Well, not the long-dead author himself, but the spacecraft named in his honor. The Europea-built robotic freight spacecraft roared into space from the launch facility in French Guiana early this morning. The craft is set to rendezvous with the International Space Station in about two weeks or so. It carries some 7-1/2 tons of supplies for the station. Plans call for it to remain docked for six months as it is emptied, then refilled with trash from the ISS. Eventually, the freighter will be guided to a safe reentry over the Pacific Ocean, but should burn up before it reaches the earth.
KOUROU, French Guiana (AFP) - The European Space Agency on Sunday carried out the maiden launch of a massive robot freighter designed to rendezvous automatically with the orbital space station.
The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), a nearly 20-tonne payload the size of a London double-decker bus, blasted into the skies aboard a beefed-up Ariane 5 launcher, an AFP reporter saw.
After being placed in orbit, the cylinder-shaped craft will deploy its solar panels and gently find its way to the International Space Station (ISS) and berth with it.
The launch had initially been scheduled for Saturday but was postponed for further checks.
The ATV will deliver seven and a half tonnes of food, water, pressurised air, fuel and personal items to the ISS crew.
The European Space agency will spend the next two weeks testing the vehicle while waiting for a berth to clear at the ISS. The shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to be taking up the docking facility for a while.
Columbus, Ohio had the distinction of shattering a record that has stood since 1910. Not that they wanted to, mind you. Around 20 inches of snow has fallen in a massive storm. The 1910 record was 15.3 inches. The entire area was pounded by this latest winter blast before the storm moved east.
The heavy winter storm dumped more than 20 inches of snow on Columbus on Saturday, while blizzard conditions shut down highways and stranded air travelers in the region.
The storm eventually swept into the East Coast, battering Pennsylvania and New Jersey with a line of thunderstorms. By early Sunday, tens of thousands were left without electric power.
High winds in Ohio whipped the snow into 3-foot-tall drifts in some places and cut visibility to less than a quarter mile, the National Weather Service said.
"We will get through this," Gov. Ted Strickland said Saturday. "The snow will stop, the wind will cease, and the sun will shine. But until that happens we need to be smart, take care of ourselves and attempt to be helpful to others."
Well, yes, the sun will eventually shine, but it would not be a good idea to put away the shovels just yet. Accuweather is reporting that a fairly weak Alberta Clipper is now racing across the northern tier of the US. That one is more of a nuisance than a threat. But another strong winter storm is heading for the Pacific Northwest and is expected to sweep across the country next week. Cheerful thought.
Maggie's Farm has a wonderful appreciation of the SR-71 Blackbird written by Major Brian Shul, one of the few men to fly the 'sled', as she was known to those who loved her.
Politics | Gaius Sunday, 9 March , 2008 | 
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