I found this on DZSokol’s blog and was surprised that, despite dueling comparisons between Sarah Palin’s experience and that of Barack Obama, this simple yet glaring truth had escaped me.

You couldn’t get a job at McDonald’s and become District Manager after 143 days of experience.

You couldn’t become chief of surgery [at a hospital] after 143 days of experience.

You couldn’t get a job as a teacher and be principal after 143 days of experience.

You couldn’t join the military and become a colonel [or even 1st Leutenent] after a 143 days of experience.

You couldn’t get a job as a reporter and become the nightly news anchor after 143 days of experience.

BUT…

From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate. That’s how many days the Senate was actually in session and working.

After 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to be Commander In Chief, Leader of the Free World, and fill the shoes of Abraham Lincoln, FDR, JFK, and Ronald Reagan. 143 days.

And, strangely, a large sector of the American public accepts this. We wouldn’t accept [it] in our own line of work, yet some of us accept [it] for the President of the United States of America.

Come on folks, we are not voting for the next American Idol!

So the next time someone tells you that Obama has more experience than Palin, please feel free to set them straight.

Another Sarah Palin political cartoon from Ken…

I’ve never been much of a hot dog afficionado, but in my youth I suppose I consumed my share. And, as a kid growing up in south Florida, I learned to garnish them with ketchup and mustard. No kraut, no pickle relish, no onions, not even chili. Just ketchup and mustard. And I liked ‘em that way! But when I joined the Air Force, I discovered that people from different parts of the country preferred all manner of garnishment on their dawgs. But I stayed true to my roots, although I learned to incorporate pickle relish and enjoy an occasional chili dog.

My wife, on the other hand, is from Chicago, and if you know anything about Chicagoans, you know they take their hot dogs seriously. In fact, the Chicago metropolitan area boasts more hot dog restaurants than McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger Kings combined!

The “Chicago Style” hot dog got its start from street cart hot dog vendors during the hard times of the Great Depression. Money was scarce, but business was booming for these entrepreneurs who offered a delicious hot meal on a bun for only a  nickel. They’d start with a Vienna Beef hot dog, nestle it in a steamed poppyseed bun and cover it with a wonderful combination of toppings: yellow mustard, bright green relish, fresh chopped onions, juicy red tomato wedges, a kosher-style pickle spear, a couple of spicy sport peppers and finally, a dash of celery salt. This unique hot dog creation with a “salad on top” and its memorable interplay of hot and cold, crisp and soft, sharp and smooth, became America’s original fast food and a true Chicago institution.

Regular readers may be asking themselves why I’m writing about hot dogs when Dawn and I are freshly minted, card-carrying vegetarians. Well, while grocery shopping over the weekend, we picked up a package of veggie-dogs and a pack of whole wheat buns. I don’t know, a quasi-dog sounded worth a try. And, without thinking, I asked if we needed ketchup and mustard.

“Ketchup?” my wife asked as if I’d said something shocking. “You don’t put ketchup on a hot dog!”

“Well, I do,” I said defensively.

“No you don’t,” she said, moving on.” No one puts ketchup on a hot dog.”

That got me wondering if I’d been committing a blatant technical foul all these years, so I did some research and came across the following not-so-serious hot dog etiquette courtesy of the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council:

Don’t…
Put hot dog toppings between the hot dog and the bun. Always “dress the dog,” not the bun.

Click to read more ...

Got this from Mike this morning…

Who Am I?

I am under 45 years old,
I love the outdoors,
I hunt,
I am a Republican reformer,
I have taken on the Republican Party establishment,
I have many children,
I have a spot on the national ticket as vice president with less than two years in the governor’s office.

Who am I?

Click to read more ...

Here’s another political ‘toon from Ken…

Several readers sent this asking that I post it. Watch it to the end.

Knowing how much I enjoy editorial cartoons, my brother Ken sent me a folder full featuring lady of the hour Sarah Palin. Here’s one…

Article removed by editor.

It’s been seven years. Perhaps the emotions you experienced that day - terror, disbelief, anger - have faded. Perhaps you think that day is a horrible part of our history to be filed away. It’s not. The enemy is reforming and will strike again. The war against evil is now and forever a part of our lives. We must be vigilant. We must use all means to defeat the enemy or he will surely defeat us. That is the nature of war. And make no mistake - we are at war.

We must remember the act of war that brought us here. Take a few moments to watch this video. Do you remember that day? Were you angry? Are you still angry?

We are Americans. We honor our dead and we give aid and comfort to those who have suffered. But then we return to the battlefield to engage and defeat the aggressor. He is still there, plotting, planning to attack again. The war is not over…

Remember those who perished that day. Say a prayer for those who carry on without them. Never forget.

This photo from friends John & Deb Phair of their dog “Sophie” made me chuckle. Sophie is a beautiful Coton de Tuléar, usually meticulously groomed. I fell in love with her the moment I first saw her. Well, who knew? She’s not only a little princess; she can rough it in the wild with the big dogs, too!

“You sorta get dirty fishing but it gives me some quiet time.”

This video from Michael D is a representation of a letter purportedly published July 7, 2008 in the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Having grown up in Miami, I appreciate the feelings of Cubans who fled their homeland for America following Fidel Castro’s military coup and I understand how they might see alarming parallels between the changes promised by Castro and Barack Obama. I don’t know whether the letter was or wasn’t published or how accurately the video portrays its sentiment, but as Michael points out, it’s something to at least think about.

Thomas Hawk used the texts of John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s acceptance speeches to make wordles of each. McCain’s wordle is on top, Obama’s is on the bottom.

A “wordle” enables you to see how frequently words appear in a given text, or see the relationship between a column of words and a column of numbers. You can tweak your word “clouds” with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. Though not intended to provide reliable analytic insight, many people have found unexpected uses for wordles, from presenting the “gist” of a text to displaying personal identity.

What do McCain’s and Obama’s wordles tell us? I dunno, but wordle users are bound to find something meaningful buried within them.

Make your own.

Okay, the conventions are over and now the candidates will likely show their true colors. Two months of bitter fighting is sure to ensue.

Meanwhile, the rest of us can lighten up a bit and poke fun at both sides. Soooo…

In his well crafted acceptance speech last night, John McCain described his perceived mission: to shake up the Washington status quo and redirect its gridlocked “me first” divisiveness toward the “Country first” purpose to which he believes we need to return. In the process, he accepted his and his party’s share of blame, acknowledging “we were given the chance to change Washington but instead let Washington change us.”

I found that admission profound because we all should realize by now that we can’t set about correcting our failures without first accepting our share of responsibility for causing them. Too often candidates simply point at their predecessors, blame them for all our problems, and pledge to lead us to the promised land. You and I know that it isn’t the incumbent President or his administration that put us behind the proverbial eight ball; it’s Congress. So it’s refreshing to see a candidate admit that, as a member of Congress, he’s been part of the problem.

In case you missed the speech last night, I’ve included MSNBC’s video of it for your consideration along with a link to the complete transcript. I especially appreciated the last ten minutes. It’s worth a watch regardless of your ideological or political preferences.

You know, there are certainly issues on which I vehemently disagree with McCain. But I think his record of taking on both parties for the benefit of his country and fellow Americans makes him an overall better choice for President. And I think Sarah Palin, another maverick, is a breath of fresh air sorely needed in Washington. The alternative? Two more Congressional lawyers who, like those before them, promise to sweep away all the problems caused by the previous administration. It’s been done before with little success. It’s time for a decidedly different approach.

If you missed Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s speech last night at the RNC, you missed a rare treat. After Rudy Giuliani fired up the delegates, Palin delivered an introduction to who she is, what she’s made of and gave notice to her Democratic opponents that it’s “game on.”

I’ll admit that I was more than a little curious how she would come across. After all, Sen. Barack Obama is a gifted speaker and has mesmerized the media for months with his artful rhetoric, and I hoped Palin’s speech would compare favorably. But Palin set my mind, and that of much of America, at ease with a fiery speech that spanned more than 35 minutes and had the crowd on their feet for much of it.

If you’re a veteran, you had to shed a tear during the last five minutes. If you have, or know someone with a special needs child, you shed a tear when she talked about her four month old baby boy, Trig, born with Down Syndrome. And if you were hoping to learn where she comes from, what she believes and what she wants to bring to the White House with John McCain, you had to feel satisfied when she left the podium. Her one-liners alone were worth the price of admission!

So far, I’m impressed. I realize Americans have become callous and distrustful of anyone associated with politics and for good reason. But if ever there was someone like you and me — an everyday hockey mom who goes to work every day, a Washington outsider who’s administered and balanced a state budget, fought corruption and bucked the system — it’s Sarah Palin. If you watched her speech, you know what I mean. She’s what we all wish we had in government but didn’t believe exists.

I’ve linked to the Wall Street Journal’s transcript and provided MSNBC’s video of her speech for those of you that missed it or want to watch it again.

I’d say the Republican base — along with Hillary supporters, women and a lot of Independents — are energized and looking forward to her debate with Joe Biden! Impressed? I am.