As I mentioned yesterday, we cannot survive another Carter.  This shows that Obama is even worse.  Iran supports terrorism and wants to wipe Israel off the map.  But it doesn't "pose a serious threat"?!?  Such comments make me wonder if he'll ever be ready to be President.  Is his mistaken position on Iran due to his inexperience or his extreme liberalism?

When McCain wound being the presumptive nominee for the GOP, I vowed not to vote for the presidency.  I would go to the polls on November 4th and cast a vote for everything else, but not for president.  I figured since neither candidate respresented by views, why bother voting for either of them.  I could vote for the Liberterian candidate, but that would be the same as not voting.  I also reasoned that I would be somewhat content with a McCain victory and if he lost, that the US would survive a one-term Obama presidency.  Just as we survived Carter.

Or have we?

The ramifications of Carter's term in office are still affecting the US, specifically his foreign policy.  By allowing the mullahs in Iran to keep American hostages for more than a year, he emboldened the Islamic extremist movement that resulted in 9/11.  The fight still goes on but some people want to give up.  People like Barak Obama, who conceded defeat in Iraq when our troops were surging ahead.

So I'll be voting for McCain in November, not because of his record, but because America cannot survive another Carter.

So Obama picked Biden, a man who's been in government longer than McCain.  It was probably a good move by Obama, they needed some experience on that ticket.  But, so much for change.  The Obama campaign has shown that it's not about getting fresh blood into the system, but getting a Democrat into the White House.  Which is all that matters anyway.  So "Change" is out, but there's always "Hope."

There are times when I wonder if the editors of the Freep are just really, really, extremely stupid or they are out to completely ruin Michigan.  I almost spit out my morning coffee, which would've negatively affected my laptop, after reading that the Freep is calling for a higher gas tax.  Yes, a higher gas tax.  Having not learned the current lesson - people drive less when the price of gas goes up, leading to lower tax revenue - they think a fix is to raise taxes.  The money quote, however, has to be this gem:

Any gas tax increase could be temporary, until the state figures out a better way to pay for transportation.

Does anyone believe either part of that sentence?  Temporary?  Once you start a revenue stream, incoming or outgoing, it's extremely difficult to stop it.  As for our current state leaders finding another way to pay for road construction, I won't hold my breath.

No one reports on legal immigrants because they are here, um, legally.  If you want to come here and be a productive member of America, you are welcome to join us.  Just as my great-grandparents did many years ago.  But they blended in, learned to speak English, worked hard, and didn't expect a hand-out from the government.  Diversity has nothing to do with it.

The country will learn to vote using multilanguage ballots, decipher cultural differences in medical care, teach children in many languages, make justice equal for all.

No.  You will learn to speak English if you want to vote in our elections or be educated in our schools.  Cultural differences in medical care?!?  I don't even know what that means.  Sure, there are genetic differernces that need to be taken into account when treating different races (something that the PC culture won't heed).  But cultural?  That would do more harm than good.  The motto of political correctness.

The Freep opines on the preceived slowness of Michigan adopting "alternative" energy sources and asks this question (emphasis mine):

Is a law that re-regulates the utility industry, mandates more alternative energy sources and promotes energy efficiency really that scary?

Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  A thousand times, yes!  Let the market work.  Government intervention usually has negative effects.  The current energy crisis has been directly caused by government regulation.  The Freep's answer?  More regulation.  Brilliant!

Detroit is severely lacking in the leadership department, and more than just in the schools.  The mayor has lost all credibility with his alleged affair, alleged assault, and alleged confirmed violation of bond.  The city council is under investigation and when they weren't, their behavior was not exemplary.  Even at the state level, leadership skills are nowhere to be found.  Everyone is sitting and waiting for someone else to fix the state.  We need new leaders across the board.

The Freep is worried that His Dishonor's attempt to block the city council from ousting him will be detrimental to Detroit.  Too late.  The entire fiasco has hurt Detroit.  Amazing, considering how bad Detroit's reputation already was.  Leave it up to Democrat to make a bad situation worse.

The Freep has a couple of editorials on education in Michigan.  One by a union president who complains that the teachers are being ignored:

While we applaud the efforts of New Detroit and the United Way, as well as the commitment of Detroit Public Schools Superintendent Connie Calloway, to include organized labor in new education support programs, all too often we are ignored.

Perhaps it is because we are labor. Perhaps it is because the strategies we propose take real commitment on a number of fronts.

No, you're being ignored because you aren't doing your job.  A job teachers did well enough fifty years ago, but now care more about their salaries than their students.  He has it right that everyone is blaming everyone else - the parents blame the teachers, the teachers blame the school boards, the school boards blame the politicians, etc.  But the front line is the teachers.  They shouldn't expect to be handed more money for doing a poor job.  Then there's this:

When I had the opportunity to ask U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings about universal early-childhood education, she replied that it was a state responsibility. That's passing the buck. She was, in effect, saying that since Michigan's economy is hurting, Michigan kids don't need quality early-childhood education.

She's right!  There's nothing in the US Constitution that says the federal government is responsible for education.  We should get rid of the US Department of Education.  Get rid of one level of bureaucracy and use the money to help fund the schools.

Cities and counties are now feeling the same pain that the auto industry has felt over the last decade.  Bloated retiree benefits are weighing down Macomb.  It shouldn't be up to businesses or governments to provide retirement benefits, medical or otherwise.  Privitizing social security and having a similar system for health care would alleviate the burden of basically completely supporting retired individuals.  It should be the responsibility of the individual, not a business or county.