Thursday, August 18, 2011

Jottings And Musings ( Including Santorum and Bolton Impress)

I can see why Rick Santorum did so unexpectedly well in the Iowa balloting-finishing well ahead of more fancied candidates. His interview with Greta van Susteren showed a person of ethics, a grasp of issues, and a well spoken and presented person. If the choice was, at the end of the day, between Bachman and Santorum, I would not hesitate to vote for Santorum. However that scenario is very unlikely and not of my choosing.


Stacy McCain, at "The Other McCain" blog, has an excellent write up on Santorum post Iowa (where McCain was in attendance). He makes the interesting comment that Catholic voters like having a point man in the race and expects Santorum to continue on for some time yet.


As presented previously I thought John Bolton also came across very well in his interview (Greta seems to be able to draw the best out her guests it seems). A possible VP choice I believe, but not as the presidential candidate. 


I don't think his personality is suited to "retail" politics, and although possibly unparalleled in his foreign affairs knowledge, his domestic issues viability is suspect. Palin/Bolton would have a lot to offer.


One of the best, most witty, and always topical site is "Voting Female Speaks". Not for the faint hearted and although the postings run stridently (in a positive manner) conservative, there is a tell-tale Puma lurking at the top of the page. I have great plans for these erstwhile Hillary aficionados (like me) and am waiting on a certain someone to toss her chapeau in the ring (hopefully) before I launch the master plan.


I devoured Doonesbury from the Carter years (being an unreformed liberal I found it especially amusing and witty and quite simply the most sophisticated strip since Pogo. During my comparatively recent  transformation to a recovering liberal Trudeau's strip lost some of its magic for me, understandably so of course. This especially with his jabs at Sarah Palin.


However Trudeau is back to his very best. His current run of strips where an ex-dictator from "Berzerkistan" is being incorporated in America life is just outstanding. Actually I have found over the years that the best satire can often come from "the other side". When in England I delighted in "Peter Simple" in the arch-conservative Daily Telegraph and  similarly arch-conservative Auberon Waugh in "Private Eye"


A thank you to all those who have honored me by taking the time to have a look, from time to time, at what is posted here. Given that there are, literally, millions of blogs, that 90,000 hits have been recorded in a relatively short period is humbling. The pace of support, especially for an occasional blog like this, seems to accelerating as 10% of that total came in in the last month.


A special shout out to the 20 who subscribe to this site (some have been here from the start) who make me feel guilty if I don't get items posted regularly, and of enough quality to keep them on board. 


The $20 in donations, whilst unfortunately not enough for me to take a cruise, based on the incomings this journal brings, were a surprise and a delight. Ideally that  sort of support can also accelerate, which would enable me to bring more features and regularity to the blog. But regardless, I plan to keep on posting as long as folks find the articles of interest.


Cheers,
Michael













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