Partisanship

Sorry, but this makes no sense whatsoever.

The follow are two consecutive sentences from a statement by John McCain on 9/29/2008:

"Senator Obama and his allies in Congress have infused unnecessary partisanship into the process. Now is not the time to fix the blame; now is the time to fix the problem."

If Senator McCain was not "fixing the blame," then what was he doing?

The Mythical McCain-Month

In "The Mythical Man-Month," software manager Frederick P. Brooks Jr. explained that adding workers to a software project that was behind schedule would only slow the project down, and not speed it up. This happens because adding new workers forces the existing workers to stop what they are doing to explain to the new workers what has been done, what needs to be done, and what is being done, as well as the increase in time needed for communications among a greater number of workers.

For similar reasons, John McCain's decision to suspend his campaign in order to travel to Washington to intervene in the Congressional efforts to fix the current mess in the nation's credit markets can only slow things down, and not speed things up.

McCain admits he knows nothing about economics, and has also admitted that, as of two days ago, he had not yet read Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's three-page bailout proposal. It will therefore take a great deal of time to bring McCain current on the economic and political issues at stake, as well as the history and current state of the negotiations within Congress and between Congress and the executive branch.

Unfortunately, McCain can't tell the difference between leadership and showboating, which is why he will almost certainly make things worse instead of better.

Pit Bull with Lipstick

What scares me most about Sarah Palin is not her ignorance, inexperience, or ideology, but her inability to work with or even listen to anyone she doesn't already agree with. That, coupled with what has been described as her viciousness and vindictiveness, is frightening.

The messes made by Bush in Iraq, FEMA, the Dept. of Justice, and the U.S. economy came from his willingness to listen to (and reward with jobs) the people he liked and agreed with, while ignoring (or firing) the people he didn't like.

For Palin, Trooper-gate, the mass firings after she became mayor, and just about everything else I've read about her demonstrates that, given power, she would do the same as Bush did AND MORE.

She lacks not only the skills and experience to lead, but the temperament as well.

Which McCain to Vote For?

The McCain-Palin campaign is now offering the American people a variety of different John McCains to vote for.

You can vote for the McCain who promises to "change Washington," or you can vote for the McCain that has spent 26 years in the Senate in Washington and voted along with the Bush administration 90% of the time over the last eight years.

You can vote for the McCain who says that the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, is not qualified to be President after only four years in the U.S. Senate, or you can vote for the McCain who says that his running mate, Sarah Palin, is qualified to be President after two years as the governor of the fourth-smallest state (by population).

You can vote for the McCain who is knowledgeable about foreign policy, or you can vote for the McCain who can't remember whether Iran is arming Sunni muslims or Shia muslims in Iraq.

You can vote for the McCain who wants to promote bipartisanship, or you can vote for the McCain who runs attack ads comparing Obama to Paris Hilton.

So many choices.