The Occasional Observer

I've been traveling for work this week, so I have been unable to post. So here's my rant:

Like SHK and Fredo said, why did Bush wait to can Rummy? Doing it even a few days before the election could have made a big difference. Why? This might have tempered the huge protest vote.

George Allen is an idiot. He could have easily won re-election if he would have campaigned on the issues. As noted earlier, it's a good thing he's not going to mess up the '08 election now.

Many of the Dem gains in the house in red or purple states are moderate or even conservative Democrats (e.g. Heath Shuler). This was a smart move by the Dems. Republicans could learn a lesson from this and support moderate candidates in blue states. They might even be able to pick up a few seats!

As many have said many times, the GOP needs to return to its conservative base. I even heard Bill Kristol acknoledge that the majority of Americans are self-described conservatives.

Lincoln Chafee - good ridance.

Conyers is scary. Mock impeachments in the Capitol's basement?

I can't believe Massachusetts keeps re-electing Teddy Kennedy. Why won't he just go away?

The Dems also did a good job of taking on seats that the GOP thought were safe. Republicans can learn from this too.

Lieberman should send a thank you to the GOP for helping him win re-election. Will he throw his hat in for '08?

On a local topic: Brooke Ellison for NY State Sentate? Her whole campaign was, "I'm in a wheelchair. Vote for me." I have no idea about her position on anything. How does being a wheelchair have anything to do with holding public office?

And my final rant:
The change we need to make in Iraq is to untie the hands of our soldiers. Let them actually fight our enemies without having to ask permission to shoot. I was talking to a stranger at a rest stop this morning. He initiated conversation with me by commenting that we should start learning to speak Arabic based on the election results showing on the TV. During our conversation, I learned that he has a grandson in Iraq. As we talked about this issue, he said that we had the same problem in Vietnam and that it was lost here, not there. All of this COOing crap in the military has to end.

End Rant.