Since when did Halloween become THIS BIG of a holiday? Are you kidding me? Houses decorated in September?! Horror movies on television for an entire month? Children's specials other than Peanuts' "The Great Pumpkin?"
We've all come to terms with the commercialism of the Christmas season, the cultural misguidedness of Cinco de Mayo and the Valentine's Day guilt-trip. Halloween is just supposed to be about kids getting dressed up and going around the neighborhood to get candy. Another chance for college students to party.
Now Halloween has grown beyond all reasonable proportions. Why? I think that since some of the scares of the 1990s -- predators going after children, poisoned candy, etc. -- that we've tried to come up with some alternative activities for the holiday. Everyone got into the act, and now we have an overblown holiday. I know of a family going to a Halloween gathering at their doctor's office. Me? I try my best to stay away from the doctor's office.
Okay, enough ranting. Pass the chocolate.
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It's open season on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. It was bound to happen, but how deep it gets will depend on how she handles the next week or so and how her reaction plays with voters. If she remains above Barack Obama and John Edwards by double-digits in the polls in mid-November, then the verbal assaults will peter out. If the polls get closer, then the attacks on the front-runner will grow in volume and ferocity.
I did not watch the debate at Drexel University, so I can't comment directly on Clinton's performance. But the reviews are bad. She reportedly stumbled terribly in answering questions about the New York governor's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and was evasive throughout.
Edwards had what could be the quote of the campaign so far by saying that people wanted straight talk from their leaders. He's absolutely right in that regard, and it will be interesting to see if polling takes away from her and gives to him.
Criticizing the Clintons, Hillary or Bill, has traditionally been hazardous to one's career. And dissing the front-runner, by nature the favorite to win, is also unwise. That's why many Democrats have been reluctant to put the screws to her during the campaign. But it now looks like the long knives are being drawn.
But you ain't seen nuthin' yet. Maybe.
Let's say her evasiveness proves costly at the polls, and Obama or Edwards pulls ahead in the race for the nomination in January. The dogpiling on Hillary Clinton, and maybe Bill, will be tremendous. There are many Democrats who blame the Clintons for their loss of power this decade, and they're right to some extent. There are many other very active party enthusiasts who are far to her left who distrust her instincts on issues like Iraq and the War on Terrorism. If Clinton falls behind early next year, they're going to tear into her like nothing you've ever seen.
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It's been way too early for the considerable Democratic optimism about next year's election. There was too much time for their candidates and congressional leaders to mess things up, and they're obliging.
Now the pendulum appears to be swinging toward the GOP, with conditions in Iraq improving and the economy absorbing a number of recent hits without major problems.
Again, it's too early. There's plenty of time for things to turn back against the Republicans, too. Another good reason why the campaign started way too early.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
America's Talent is at Home
We live in a celebrity-conscious environment where we are led by the media to worship movie stars, great baseball players and powerful politicians. But this week's wildfires in Southern California have proven once again that the true talent of America is right here at home.
The praise for the firefighters and volunteers has been immense and deserved. The integrated command structure within the county of San Diego and the state of California has, from at least the outside, appeared to work well. Local leaders, from San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders to county Supervisor Ron Roberts and many others, performed marvelously -- and both were somewhat struggling with their reputations in the months before the fires struck. The local media, although hampered by ever-shrinking staffs, did quite well.
Compare that to our political leadership in Washington, D.C. where they're arguing over whether the fires were caused by global warming, ignoring the fact that the issue is a long-term phenomenon and that many of California's worst Santa Ana wind-related fire events have occurred in late-October. Sen. Barbara Boxer might not dare set foot in the county again after a hysterically poor performance. And compare with the national media, which I criticized in the previous post for making it appear that the entire southern half of the state has burned down.
Our heroes are right here in our hometowns. The guys who go off to fight fires and travel to foreign lands to battle terrorists, the women who streamed to shelters to help the unfortunate evacuees, and the businessmen who donated everything from bottled water to diapers. The folks who stayed home from work to keep the roads clear and helped care for the children of those whose services were needed.
We are what makes America work. The 300 million of us right here at home. Individually living our lives and making, for the most part, correct choices without help from the so-called elite in Washington, D.C., New York or Los Angeles.
---
You see small signs all over San Diego about how generous people are. I accompanied my wife to an area supermarket on Sunday, and there were pallets upon pallets of bottled water stacked up around the store -- inside and out. Ready to be donated. Unneeded, because so much water had already been delivered to those in need.
An amazed woman who lived in an area hit by the fires called a radio talk show in disbelief about how much help was arriving. She listed just about every organization she could think of and said they just kept coming and coming and coming.
---
Californians should "Google" Jerry Sanders' background. Learn about the guy. He's probably our next governor.
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Maybe I've missed it -- and it's a good thing if I have -- but I've yet to hear anyone screaming about how we're paying for the care of a bunch of illegal immigrants in the Burn Unit of the UCSD Medical Center. Several of these unfortunate souls were caught in the path of flames of the Harris Fire near the border. Four died. Others were hospitalized, at taxpayer expense.
As much as the big issue of illegal immigration needs to be solved, the smaller issue of sometimes needing to take care of someone in need can take precedence. As a generous nation, this is one of those times.
---
Yeah, October is still the beautiful month. Sometimes the price is steep.
The praise for the firefighters and volunteers has been immense and deserved. The integrated command structure within the county of San Diego and the state of California has, from at least the outside, appeared to work well. Local leaders, from San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders to county Supervisor Ron Roberts and many others, performed marvelously -- and both were somewhat struggling with their reputations in the months before the fires struck. The local media, although hampered by ever-shrinking staffs, did quite well.
Compare that to our political leadership in Washington, D.C. where they're arguing over whether the fires were caused by global warming, ignoring the fact that the issue is a long-term phenomenon and that many of California's worst Santa Ana wind-related fire events have occurred in late-October. Sen. Barbara Boxer might not dare set foot in the county again after a hysterically poor performance. And compare with the national media, which I criticized in the previous post for making it appear that the entire southern half of the state has burned down.
Our heroes are right here in our hometowns. The guys who go off to fight fires and travel to foreign lands to battle terrorists, the women who streamed to shelters to help the unfortunate evacuees, and the businessmen who donated everything from bottled water to diapers. The folks who stayed home from work to keep the roads clear and helped care for the children of those whose services were needed.
We are what makes America work. The 300 million of us right here at home. Individually living our lives and making, for the most part, correct choices without help from the so-called elite in Washington, D.C., New York or Los Angeles.
---
You see small signs all over San Diego about how generous people are. I accompanied my wife to an area supermarket on Sunday, and there were pallets upon pallets of bottled water stacked up around the store -- inside and out. Ready to be donated. Unneeded, because so much water had already been delivered to those in need.
An amazed woman who lived in an area hit by the fires called a radio talk show in disbelief about how much help was arriving. She listed just about every organization she could think of and said they just kept coming and coming and coming.
---
Californians should "Google" Jerry Sanders' background. Learn about the guy. He's probably our next governor.
---
Maybe I've missed it -- and it's a good thing if I have -- but I've yet to hear anyone screaming about how we're paying for the care of a bunch of illegal immigrants in the Burn Unit of the UCSD Medical Center. Several of these unfortunate souls were caught in the path of flames of the Harris Fire near the border. Four died. Others were hospitalized, at taxpayer expense.
As much as the big issue of illegal immigration needs to be solved, the smaller issue of sometimes needing to take care of someone in need can take precedence. As a generous nation, this is one of those times.
---
Yeah, October is still the beautiful month. Sometimes the price is steep.
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