No crash yet

I watched the debates. I'm not sure what America gets out of it. Most people already have their mind made up. They watch with their bias and they see the debate accordingly. Proof is Junior never won any of his debates as far as most pundits and other folks were concerned and it didn't make a lick of difference. The polls didn't move. Maybe it convinces two or three people this time around and in these times, maybe that's enough. But I don't think so. I think what most people watch it like they watch ice skating. We're waiting to watch them stumble. To fall on their tushes and make the decision easy for us. To their credit, no one went crashing to the ice. Though it feels like that might happen this week with the VP debate.

Todays' headline political move.

I've got to admit that this is a fascinating move by McCain. The speak is, "I can't debate right now, I've got better things to attend to." The actual thought seems to be is, "I'm losing again. Let's make a bold move to look like I care about people."

Unless he goes back to Washington and miraculously pulls together a solution to the economic crises in the next two days, I think he's going to lose ground on this one.

It's not like this is a surprise debate. The two camps got together and decided point by point every element of this thing from who would stand where to how long per question to what topics were going to be covered.

It's a bold move, but in the end, I think he's just going to look like a chicken backing out.

And about this bailout business. I've got a fourth grade understanding of economics. I can't figure out what the right thing to do is. I think I'm just like everyone else. I'm simply waiting on the sideline, hoping that I don't lose what little I financially do have. But I've never had a lot of faith in Junior and this doesn't seem like the time tostart.

Six weeks left.

These are interesting times. I'm finding myself more of a politics and news junkie than usual. I'm watching cable news. I'm surfing all kinds of sites. I hope all of you are paying attention. We've already taken so many wrong steps. 2000 felt like an important election, but this time around I feel like we may be dealing with the most important presidential election of my lifetime. This drama at its best.

Some thoughts.
1. The talking heads on cable news sometimes have a really tough job. I've seen Palin totally blow an answer on a question. And she'll have to answer for it, but there's usually someone on tv trying to spin and clean up for her. And sometimes, it strains all reason. I don't know whether to yell or laugh. And bit by bit, as these people spin, they lose credability. If it weren't so incestuous, they wouldn't be invited back.

2. Whoever gets elected faces incredible challenges. Junior has left piles of steamy dung sitting all over the globe. And the next president will have less authority because of it. So much effort will be wasted cleaning up that the bold new iniatives America really needs are probably not going to happen.

3. There are a couple reasons to pick one candidate over another. Policy is one. Qualifications and personality are others. And qualifications are purposely vague, but if I had to be honest, I feel like I am probably just as qualified as the republican vp choice. True, I've never ran a state or even been mayor of a town. But I do have a degree in international relations. Given a minimum of prep, I think I could take her in a debate.

Girl

When you're at the ultrasound, the technician always ask if you want to know if it's a boy or a girl. Wifey is the type who definitely wants to know. She's the practical type. She's the type who finds it difficult not to skip to the last chapter of a book. And in this case, she's right, it's the practical thing to do. It gives us a little more time to imagine we can plan and control things.

But to be honest, I sort of wanted to close my ears and not know. It was enough that he or she was healthy and growing. In that second before the technician told us, I had a moment where I could picture his or her life years in the future, and in large part it being determined by the simple fact of gender. Wow. Maybe it shouldn't be so, but so much is dependent on that simple immutable fact. The expectations are different. (And you're kidding yourself if you don't think women have it worse.)

So it's going to be a girl. Awesome.

Where are we after 7 years?

It's been nearly a month since I've posted. That's more a function of the craziness at work than the lack of interesting things to say. Or at least, my thoughts in the last month have probably been no more or no less interesting than they've ever been, but I've just had no time to post those thoughts.

Just some quick thoughts on the seventh anniversary of 9/11. It remains the most shocking thing on the American psyche. I'm sure if you close your eyes, you can still picture the planes crashing and the eventual collapse of the towers. We all shared something at that moment. The whole world did. But that moment is long gone and as a people we're just as divided as we've ever been before and after that moment.

Something more should have came from that experience. The world should have become a better place, but those opportunities were lost. We didn't get Bin Laden. And it seems like there are more conflicts in the world than ever. We didn't really learn anything.

At the least, we should have rebuilt. Seven years later and there is still a gaping 16 acre hole in the middle of Manhattan. Seriously. We should have been well on our way to developing a new symbol. We should have shown the world that we learned a lesson, but we would not be conquered. Check out the new building we put up in its place. Not that it necessarily should have been done in seven years, but there should have been some progress by now. THe way it sits right now, my two year old will probably graduate college before they're done. Embarrassing.