Change?

Sen. Clinton as Secretary of State (or Sen. Kerry or Gov Richardson)? Madeline Albright on the transition team? I thought things were going to be different under Obama. These people are all AARP members of the DC Establishment. At least that's what Team Obama promised when they were canvassing the neighborhood. A week after the election and change is changing!

Closing Gitmo?

I saw a link that the Obama team is developing a plan to close the military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. So where are these non-Geneva Conventions prisoners going to go? Prosecuted in the civilian courts? That worked well for us in the 90s after the first WTC bombing. The courts are not the battlefield we should seek for this enemy.

Election Night

They don't show FOX News Channel in Canada - so I was stuck alternating between CNN, CBS, ABC, and NBC. I could only take each of those in small snippets. Luckily I also had to make time for dinner which meant no sound. I checked something out on NBC's online data to pass the time. There were only 4 cities that have professional sports teams of the NFL, MLB, NBA, or NHL teams that voted for McCain: Phoenix (home state excuse), Cincinnati, Jacksonville (Military Presence), and Oklahoma City (1st full season as a real home city). Too many times when I hovered over the county of the city with a pro sports team I saw drastic spreads - 70 to 30 or greater in favor Obama. That scares me as a conservative thinker - it takes a ton of non-urban counties to overcome that handicap. Additionally, with Chris Shays losing, there are ZERO Republican reps from the 6 New England States in the House. There are more Socialist Party Members representing New England States (Bernie Sanders - VT) than Republicans. Ouch. Only 3 from New York - out of 28! Conservatives are toast until they can figure out a way to be competitive in urban areas. Hopefully the pending tax increase that will start below the promised $250K income threshold will provide an opening.

Election Day

Tomorrow I'll be heading from the eye of the hurricane (Chicago) to where Sen. Obama wants to take us (Canada), not good from the omen perspective. If McCain isn't able to be saved by Joe the Plumber, he'll have plenty of things to reflect on. Why did we learn more about Joe the Plumber's tax problems than unrepentent domestic terrorist William Ayers? Why not emphasize the scale of Obama's tax increases? - 20% additional spending on top of our current record levels? Remind everyone that President Clinton needed all of 26 days in office to cancel the middle-class tax cut and replace it with a middle-class tax hike.

Can McCain win 270 electoral votes? I think he'll need to win Pennsylvania to do it, maybe Congressman Murtha will be the final spark that McCain needed. This area (referring to his congressional district) was REALLY REDNECK 10 or 15 years ago! In a media atmosphere so focused on race, how is Murtha not being run from Congress before the election? Oh, that's right. He has a D in his title.

My BCS Rankings

What a catch and surge by Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree to score the go-ahead TD with :01 left. The Big 12 and SEC are the strongest conferences this season and hopefully tomorrow's BCS standings will reflect that.

1. Alabama - they still have LSU next weekend and Florida in the SEC title game.
2. Texas Tech - they'll earn this spot if they stay perfect after facing Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.
3. Penn State - sorry, but the non-conference homestand of Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, and Temple will leave them at #3 if 3 unbeatens are still standing December 13th.
4. Florida - the only blemish is a 1-point loss on a missed XP.
5. Texas - finally fell victim to the Big 12 South schedule after defeating Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
6. Oklahoma - if only the Texas game was 30 minutes long.
7. USC - if only the Oregon State game started at halftime.