Weak Blog Week

Yep, this is one of those obligatory, "I've been too busy to blog posts." I really don't like posting these things, but I don't want people to think that I've either a) given up blogging, or b) fallen into a hole.

Fear not for my sanity and safety.

The main reason I've been silent is that I'm absolutely slammed right now. Church is always the priority, but I'm also teaching a class and taking a class. When those all collide, I find myself scrambling to stay ahead. I have a major research paper due Thursday [which consumed my non-preaching weekend], in addition to some Bible lessons I'm writing for a magazine [soon and very soon, I'll have those to you Sheryl]. It's rough, but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

And part of my one week absence could be blamed on this new blog layout. Yeah, it looks pretty sweet but it requires that I get pictures that go with every post. So since that process takes from 5 to 10 minutes, I tend to see it as too time consuming and put it off. So I hope you enjoy the visual stimulation that accompanies my musings.

I do have plenty of things to post about when things calm down. So wait patiently . . .

Whom Do You Trust?

So the bail-out of the financial industry failed in the House. Republicans and Democrats are blaming each other. The Dow is flaming. Interesting afternoon.

As many of our leading politicians passionately plead for support, there were massive objections coming from their constituents. It's not surprising that House Republicans fled from this deal: it's politics, plain and simple. By objecting to a bill connected to both the President and the Democratic leadership, they've probably secured for themselves more congressional seats this November. What's truly remarkable here is the large numbers of Democrats that rejected it. For the majority party to sponsor a bill and not get the votes to pass it shows just how political this situation has become.

This flop doesn't help McCain in the least; his handling of the economic situation has been lacking; but this was even more disastrous for House Democrats who have projected their discontinuity for the country to see.

Ignoring for a moment the specifics, the fascinating observation I claim here is the overwhelming distrust in our national government right now. Our country is facing a crisis and who do Americans look to in order to solve the problem? Obviously, President Bush has lost his influence, and his administration's plan garnered instant mistrust. McCain tried to step up and show leadership in this crisis, but nothing came from it. Obama chose to sit this one out, opting instead to win the White House with the hope he can lead in January. And neither of the two major parties were capable of commanding the leadership to provide a solution.

I'm not sure if this leadership vacuum can be blamed on a volatile election year or if it truly proves that there are no selfless political leaders in our time.

Still, doesn't it seem that this country has absolutely no faith in its political leaders?

24 Important Hours

On a national level, I'd say that time from tomorrow afternoon through Friday evening has the potential to be the most important hours in our country since September 11, 2001.*

First, I suspect that in that time frame, Congress will either pass or set the foundation for a $1Trillion bail-out. I'm not sure I've had anything to say about this on the blog, but even though I am more libertarian in my view of government, I believe that letting these institutions bite it would prove more harmful to the country than if the government stepped in. Sure, blame here can be levied equally to the industry and foolish home-buyers, but without the bail-out many people who have practiced fiscal responsibility throughout these times could be harmed in the process.

Even though we Generation Xers and Millenials have never witnessed the American economy in such dire straits, our nation's economy has tended to fluctuate like this every twenty years or so. Four years before I was born, the US economy was in the crapper to the extent that Nixon attempted to manhandle it into submission. He instituted price controls and eliminated our country's connection to the gold standard. While it temporarily worked, it helped create the inflationary struggles that we always associate the 1970's. Additionally, study American economic history throughout the 18th century until the Great Depression, and you'll understand that amount of fluctuation that accompanies our economic system.

I guess what I'm saying is that no matter how bad this gets, our country has seen worse [and more than just the Great Depression]. The congress will get this things passed, and historians will debate it for decades to come. My opinion: if this bail-out goes through, there will be ripples, but we'll be OK.

Second, even though McCain is trying to get it rescheduled, I'm assuming that the first Presidential debate will go off as planned Friday night. This has been a rough week for the McCain campaign (which I think is one of the reasons they decided to "take a break"), and some of the polls have him losing distance between Obama. Personally, I think the 9-point separation is a little suspect. I lean to believe those that still claim that the race is within the margin of error. Regardless, Obama definitely has the momentum and this is why this debate is critical.

I predicted earlier that McCain would be the better debater, and he needs to be more than ever. He doesn't need to dominate Friday night; a draw would be sufficient. But if he's not on his game and comes off as confused or uninformed, it could cement an Obama White House.

I think that by the end of the weekend, both the economic and political picture will be much clearer.

*True, the time I'm referencing is more than 24 hours, but it's the only way I could use the pop-culture tie-in.

And She's Still Hot

True, it's probably a tad embarrassing to post a celebratory birthday greeting for the wife a day late. But settle down: she's cool with it.

I started teaching a new class at the alma mater last night and have been pushing hard to prepare for it. We took a few hours off yesterday afternoon and had a great birthday lunch at Red Robin out in Milford, then returned home where I was back to prepping until leaving for school last night. After class [which runs to 10pm] I called Kelly on the phone and we talked until I pulled up out front. We spent the next couple of hours talking about our life, expressing thanks for all that God has done for us.

So since we spent so much time chatting, I had no post up here for her birthday. But thankfully, Kelly is the kind of person who isn't disturbed by her husband's tardiness.

So happy 31st plus a day, babe. And The Office is back tomorrow night, so even if you were mad at me, you'll soon forget.

p.s. The picture with this post is from my nephew's birthday a few weeks ago where they rented an inflatable jumping apparatus. Kelly was the first adult in.

Road Trip

I'm in an incredibly busy season of life right now: I'll be teaching a new class starting Tuesday, I'm taking a class at Xavier, in addition to regular Echo stuff. Still, when a chance presents itself to hop in the car and drive to Toledo with my two favorite ladies, then everything else goes to the back burner. Kelly was the keynote speaker to a Christian writers conference today, so Kaelyn and I joined her for the experience.

We drove up yesterday and headed to Maumee Bay State Park along Lake Erie. The beach was deserted, the weather was perfect, no admission charge,— and Kaelyn loved it. While Kelly spoke at her conference today, Kaelyn and I ate Chinese food and took in some local sights. We spent a few hours at the Toledo Botanical Gardens [might I add: no admission charge] throwing sticks into a pond. We drove back tonight, all of us a little exhausted because of being thrown off our routine by a night in a hotel room.

Even though I feel a tad stressed as I sit here tonight because of the workload ahead of me, I'm somewhat recharged because I had a great time with my girls. NOThing [emphasis: "Not One Thing"] makes me smile like Kelly and Kaelyn. We have the best times together.

My life . . . is a great life.

When Tech Fades

When I attended Bridgetown Junior High School* in 1990 [the days when Mark Wahlberg was a rapper, Arnold Schwarzenegger was an actor, and Will Smith . . . was both], I had no girlfriend which meant I had a little discretionary money to spend. I decided to go the Radio Shack in the shopping plaza at Glenway Avenue and Bridgetown Road [remember, this was also before the days of Best Buy or even internet purchasing so RS and KMart dominated the westside] in order to move to the cutting edge of technology: a handheld, two-inch color television. My main motivation was so I could watch those first two days of the NCAA basketball tournament during study hall.** I ended up using it during other classes without ever getting caught.

I've held onto to that little TV since then. It came in rather handy, especially for watching sporting events before the days you could check the scores out on your cellphone. If I knew I had to be out and about and wanted to see how a game was going, I'd slip the little TV in my pocket, carrying the piece of mind that I was still connected.

Sure, I don't use the TV much anymore; I keep it in a drawer upstairs. But I used it again during the windstorm. As I mentioned in an earlier post, our cable/internet was out on Sunday afternoon and I wanted to keep up with how bad the Bengals were getting killed. While watching that afternoon on my little 2" screen, one of those commercials about the HD switch in February 2009 came on. In the midst of my viewing I came to a sad realization:

In about five months, my little TV will be a plastic brick.

Even though it still works perfectly well almost twenty years after it was manufactured, it will be useless after the Super Bowl. I know this makes me seem old, but it's kinda depressing. That TV was a link to my teen years. And unlike some letterman jacket, I had a pragmatic reason for keeping it around.

So I guess I'll keep it until February and then see if there's any practical use for it then [like the government was just kidding about this whole switchover thing]. Otherwise it'll either be thrown into Kaelyn's old technology toy-pile or will end up in Mount Rumpke.

Someone reassure me that change is good.

* Bridgetown Junior High School is now known as Bridgetown Middle School. Still wondering what the big deal was about changing that name. I think that a school holding 6th through

** I was thinking about all that study hall I had from 7th through 12th grades. For the most part, it guarenteed that I would never take any books home with me because I could get my homework finished during that period. In retrospect, I suspect I would be much smarter today had not my school district given me government allotted education time so I could not have to think about school at night.

Our Festivities

This past Saturday our little church got a lot done.

We'd been planning on being involved in the Walnut Hills Festival since last year. Echo even signed on as an official sponsor for this year's event. In this planning, we didn't realize that our new commitment to the Walnut Hills Soup Kitchen would require our involvement on the same day. But instead of trying to find someone to cover for us at the Soup Kitchen, (heeding Kelly's suggestion) we decided to try and do them both.

So from 9am-5pm last Saturday, we interacted with our community in two different locations. One crew manned our booth, playing games and making crafts with almost 100 kids. The other crew prepared dinner for about 125 people. Both events went off without a hitch.

I was so proud of our people, I've still not gotten over it.

A few special shout-outs here.

First, to Larry, who once again submitted to his higher calling as a stage manager and helped keep the main-stage acts moving in and out with ease. He's become a staple there; I'm sure some people think he's part of the production crew. And he kept at it all day. That's our Larry.

Second, to my wife Kelly, who worked her tail off to organize the operations of both the soup kitchen and the booth. Even when I had no idea what was happening, she did. And it allowed me the opportunity to be incredibly flexible throughout the day. Because of her role, I never doubted that things were running smoothly in both locations.

Third, to the in-laws as well as Ed and Sheryl, who kept Kaelyn occupied throughout the day so we could devote our full attention to the task at hand.

And finally, to my friends at Echo, who are committed to this community, catching a vision that will help transform our city.

Good work, y'all.

Blackout

I haven't really posted since last week. We had a busy Saturday with the Walnut Hills festival [more on that later] and then came the first hurricane I've ever experienced in Cincinnati.

I'll admit, I was a little oblivious to the whole thing until Sunday night. In the afternoon, as 70mph winds started to hit the city, the only thing we lost here was the cable [a blessings in disguise, as the Bengals were not worth watching]. One of the great things being on the downtown grid is that power never goes out. I talked to a neighbor the other day who said she's lived here almost twelve years and the power has never gone out. I'm guessing if it didn't go out Sunday, we're good to go for anything. Ah, the benfits of downtown living.

So while there are many in our area who have struggled to have a normal way of life this week, we were lucky. And when compared to the plight of those who have to recover from actual hurricanes, I'm thinking we're all fortunate.

I'm Saying There's A Chance

I usually like listening to Jim Rome, but it's been a little much this week as he's been killing Ohio State, saying they'll be blown out by Southern Cal tomorrow in L.A.. Sure, little or no Beanie Wells spells a tough road for the Bucks, but they could shock the country tomorrow. What leads me to believe this?

1. USC isn't is good as everyone thinks. Yeah, that big win at Virginia looks impressive, but the Caviliers aren't the same team that made it to the Gator Bowl last year.

2. Ohio University was a trap game. The Buckeyes had a great showing against Youngstown State [considering Coach Tressel laid up so as not to thoroughly embarrass his old school] and lost Wells to injury. You know every kid on OSU's roster was looking ahead while the Bobcats were playing their bowl game in Columbus. So it makes sense that the game would be close. So I'm not as worried about that poor showing as some people were.

3. OSU hasn't shown them anything. While USC had but one warm-up game, OSU had two. If you looked at the gameplan, Ohio State was incredibly conservative, using a bread-and-butter offense. I expect much more tomorrow. Don't be surprised if Terrell Pryor touches the ball a few times tomorrow, and not just when behind center.

4. The OSU defense is solid. Most of these guys will play on Sundays after college. And they've only given up one score this year, and that was adjusting to a new mobile QB who entered the game after the starter got injured; the defense immediately adjusted and shut them out the rest of the game. While everyone's been hyping the Trojan defense, forgetting that this will be the toughest defense Mark Sanchez will have played against yet, USC will have difficulty scoring as well.

5. Beanie will play. I'm not really sure if Tressel is playing games about his status, but I imagine that Wells will be suited up and go Willis Reed on the Trojans and give his team a lift.

Don't get me wrong here: I'm not saying the Buckeyes rout. I'm just doubting that they'll be blown-out. And if they can stay in it, they have an excellent chance.

ADMISSION: I was so wrong. I am starting to doubt Jim Tressel. Even counting the John Cooper years, this is probably the worst loss I can ever remember as a Buckeyes fan.

Another September 11th

I always spend some time on September 11th watching television specials concerning the tragedy. I just have to watch. Even seven years later, the magnitude of that day is stifling.

My coworkers and I sat crowded around a small television that morning in awe of the scene. But the distinct memory I carry with me is the instant the second plane hit the World Trade Center. It was in that moment that we realized that this was no accident— America was under attack.

My heart still breaks about that day. May we never forget.

The Shack Book Review [Part Two]

I will admit that this rather lengthy post is written specifically to the Christian who is further along in their faith. New Christians or non-Christians might view this as petty and/or confusing, so those people might want to avoid this post altogether.

INTRODUCTION

Considering I wrote Part One of this review almost two months ago, you might need to glance back to see my original criticism of the best-selling book The Shack written by William Young. There you can also find a brief synopsis of the story. Since I'm not going to repeat it here, you might be a little lost without referencing Part One first.

Among my dislikes of The Shack listed there were a) it's poorly written fiction, b) it attempts to speak authoritatively under the guise of fiction and c) it hides behind an emotional narrative to present its theology. As more and more people are starting to read this book, I thought I'd finally get around to citing specific texts with which I had problems. I will admit that even though I took these notes while reading the book, I already passed it on to someone else, so I apologize if I don't fully recall the exact context of these quotes. And I typed a couple of pages of notes, so following is merely a handful of my concerns.

GOD SPEAKS

Upon receiving a written note from God, we read an inner-thought process of Mack reflecting on THE Written Word of God. We read,

"The thought of God passing notes did not fit well with his theological training. In seminary he had been taught that God had completely stopped any overt communication with moderns, preferring to have them only listen to and follow sacred Scripture, properly interpreted, of course. God's voice had been reduced to paper, and even that paper had to moderated and deciphered by the proper authorities and intellects. It seemed that direct communication with God was something exclusively for the ancients and uncivilized, while educated Westerners access to God was mediated and controlled by the intelligencia. Nobody wanted God in a book, just in a box. Especially an expensive one bound in leather with gilt edges, or was that guilt edges." [Page 64]

There is an edge to this quote. While made somewhat tongue-in-cheek, it's really the premise for what will follow throughout the rest of the book. It is a slighting of God's Written Word that will set the stage for "real, personal interaction with God." At its best, this statement is anti-intellectual; at its worst, it's a revolt against the submission to the Scriptures. Listen, I get it: some people worship the Bible more than God Himself, but you're not doing anyone a favor by disparaging the process here. Although this quote is subtle, I think it's deliberate. It's intended to presumptively backhand anyone who dares to criticize the experiential revelation that is to come. Young does a huge disservice to the concept of Biblical inspiration/interpretation by this needless one paragraph jab.

DID GOD FORSAKE JESUS?

On page 96, there's dialogue between Papa (God the Father) and Mack about the crucifixion of Jesus. Here's how it plays out:

PAPA: "We were there together" MACK: "At the cross? Now wait, I thought you left him — you know— 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?'" PAPA: "You misunderstood the mystery there. Regardless of what he felt at that moment, I never left him."

I would argue that Young misunderstood the mystery there. Despite many interpretations/references claiming otherwise, Jesus was indeed forsaken by God on the cross; not out of spite, mind you, rather as the fulfillment of his life as substitutionary atonement. Examine the scene at Calvary— an event without parallel— with the sun being darkened, and earthquake, the temple curtain torn, and dead people walking the streets. Our sin needed to be accounted for and the Holy God, in his judicial role, had to enact justice. That doesn't speak ill of God. It actually reflects poorly on us who forced God to have to take such a position.

Again, you might counter that this is no big deal, that substitutionary atonement isn't the point of this book. But it's the point of Christianity, so it needs to be noted.

ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIP

The thrust of Young's book is the emphasis on relationship with God above everything else, stating on page 101 that the Trinity can be summarized as love and relationship. At the conclusion of the weekend, Mack said to the Spirit, "This weekend, sharing life with you has been far more illuminating than any of those [Seminary] answers." The Spirit responds, "And you will hear and see me in the Bible in fresh ways. Just don't look for rules and principles; look for relationship— a way of coming to be with us" (page 198).

While many Christians would swallow this whole, we need to realize the term "personal relationship with God" is merely a contextualization of the gospel message— a way of explaining the interaction between God and humanity. Notice that I said, "A way of explaining" and not, "THE way of explaining." The emergence of "the personal relationship" language can be dated after the Second World War, originating in American society then spreading globally, to reach a society that started to value the individual more than the communal.

This might be shocking, but "personal relationship with God" is not found in the Bible. In the NIV translation (produced in the early 1970's), the word "relationship" is only used three times in the entire book. Even the paraphrased Message Bible only uses "relationship" once in this kind of context. Throughout the Scriptures the predominant view of our interaction with God is explained in legal or covenantal terms. Unfortunately, this terminology turns most of us off because we'd rather not wrestle with that view of interaction with God— he as Judge/King and we as violator/servant.

Sure, we prefer a "personal relationship with God" because we'd rather view God in a human-to-human relationship; the thought of a judgmental God can be frightening and it reeks of old-school Christianity. So instead of viewing Jesus as the atonement of our sin, we think of him as our buddy. But regardless of how much disdain we carry for this "legal" interaction with God, it is consistently found in the Scriptures. And perhaps this is why The Shack is so popular: it embraces an interaction with God that we find comforting rather than frightening.

CONCLUSION

I could talk much more about all the qualms I had with this book, but I feel like I've said my peace. Hopefully you understand my opinion here: this is a flawed piece of fiction. Again, allow me to reiterate: I'm not saying that people shouldn't read this book, but we ought to realize that this is just one person's perspective on faith and it does not present a consistent explanation of the gospel message. If you're interested for a more compelling piece of literature, I suggest the Bible. It's good stuff.

If The Shack has made your relationship with God "more real," that's great. But I would challenge you to ask yourself why.

Walnut Hills Festival

Good news: I know what you can do this weekend.

The 2nd [or 3rd?] annual Walnut Hills Festival takes place this weekend on East McMillan Street at Peebles Corner.* This year, Echo is a sponsor and we're going to have a booth set up with kids games and crafts. We could always use some extra hands if you want some booth time. But more than that, come on out and see our neighborhood on its best day. Plus, the extended forcast is calling for good weather— no rain in sight.

I usually joke with people that the festival is when you'll see more white folk at Peebles corner than any other day of the year . . . except for the Flying Pig marathon . . . when they're running like hell to get through there. Too many people only see this section of our community by car. There's some great architecture in the business district, and they'll be a stage with plenty of entertainment. Seriously, what more could you ask for?

So block out some time between 11:00am and 6:00pm and join us. Fun times for all.

*You can park in the Krogers parking lot, entering at Gilbert just past McMillan.

More Stuff No One Cares About But Me

Sports-geek stuff here, but allow me to gloat.

Even though I've decided not to play fantasy football this fall, I'm a fantasy baseball addict. For six years now I've been in a keeper league. I'm usually competitive [my worse year was when we planted the church], winning one championship and making back-to-back playoff appearances in that time-span. This has been a rough season as I had two high draft picks turn out to be useless. With six weeks to go, I was in fourth place out of six teams in my division and I had reached that critical point: do I have a fire-sale or hang on in an attempt to make the play-offs? I decided to hang in there.

Glad I did.

We have five head-to-head match-ups per week. So in those last thirty games, I went 29-1 to win the division. That, friends, is finishing stong. It's been fun coming home after church on Sunday nights to see how my guys finished up, giving me a little piece of happiness in the midst of losing Cincinnati sports teams.

So we'll see how I do in the play-offs, but half the fun was getting there.

*And about the picture with this article: for some reason, I've always named my fantasy baseball teams "Manchester United" for my favorite professional soccer team— an even greater testimony to my dorkiness.

Live Bloggin' The VMA's

The MTV Video Music Awards, that is.

Well, I'm running a little late, but Kelly and I are watching it on DVR delay. So if you're RSS'ing this one . . . you might have to click to the site to catch the full take.

• Apparently the awards are taking place in Miley Cyrus' closet this year.
• Britney, Britney, Britney— despite what the paparazzi might tell you, we're over you.
• Rihanna does a Thriller impression.
• So here's Russell Brand. I read an interview about this being his chance to make it here in the US. After the opening monologue, I'm thinking we revoke his visa.
• Ah, now I get it. MTV gives Brittney the first award to try to force her back into relevance. I'm not sure people will but that [did Viacom produce her latest album?]
• First Lesson I Learned Tonight: Weezy = Lil' Wayne
• [Kelly and I both surmise] the Jonas Brothers were relegated to the side lot because MTV wants their demographic but didn't want the teeny-boppers in the actual arena.
• I can't believe that Katy Perry has any staying power. I'm thinking she'll be forgotten in a year.
• Second Lesson I Learned Tonight: The Million Dollar Man = Lil' Wayne
• I likes me some Paramore.
• Russell Brand: still tired.
• Not sure about Pink's outfits, but I think she's who Katy Perry wishes she could be.
• Jordin Sparks stands up for promise rings [after Russell Brand spent the majority of his jokes have centered around the Jonas Brothers and theirs] and will probably get more publicity than his jokes.
• About Christian Aguilera: First, the best singer in the house decides to lip sync. Second, she does a song that sounds like it was written for Rhianna. Third, I know she can't be thirty yet, but she almost seemed old.
• How's about some L.L. Cool J Goin' Back to Cali?
• Two awards for Britney? Fool me once, shame on you . . .
• So is Kid Rock a country music performer now? I'm so confused . . .
• OK, the fix is in: Britney wins video of the year. If MTV ever had any credibility, it's all used-up. See, everyone knows that their Movie Awards promote whomever shows up. But this network prided itself on being the musical authority but it's not getting killed by The Disney Channel and American Idol. Just put The Hills on a loop and take the rest of the year off.
• Kanye should've picked another song to end on. It was kinda a letdown.

These things keep getting weaker and weaker. Remind me so I don't waste my time next year.

You Can't Know Where You're Going . . .

. . . until you realize where you've been.

Even though my preaching habit is to continually teach through books of the Bible, I usually use my September teaching time to focus on Echo Church. It seems we always have people coming and going at Echo, so I like to notify the newbies and remind our regulars why we started the church in the first place.

But this month, I'm taking a different angle at this. Although we're steadily increasing the number of folks who live in this neighborhood, Walnut Hills is a tough place to really understand; one example of this: drive west to east on McMillan and you go from ghetto to gentrification— the socio-economic rainbow. So as I remind people why we're here, I'm going to try to explain what "here" is.

In my opinion, there are three factors that have shaped Walnut Hills: religion, race, and riches.* I've spent time the past couple of weeks in the downtown library doing research, in addition to driving down practically every street in our neighborhood. I've accumulated a ton of information and will try to figure out how to present it in digestable bits over the next month.

I know, this is the kind of research I should have done long before now. But it's not as if I haven't been trying to understand our community; I've constantly been learning more and more about Walnut Hills during the past three years. We're living in this neighborhood, meeting people and embracing its culture. This, however, is my first effort at an academic approach to analyzing the neighborhood. Hopefully it's something that I'll be able to tweak throughout the coming years.

So I hope you can join us at Echo this September for our series: God of the City.

*When I refer to "riches," I really mean "economics." But since I started out with two "R" words, I figured I'd side with mnemonics and keep it consistent. 

Getting Dirty

From an objective observer: the Democrats are getting brutal with this Sarah Palin stuff.

I can understand calling her a country bumpkin and bringing attention to her obvious inexperience [which, ironically, draws attention to Obama's inexperience] but this stuff about her family is getting dirty. A widely-read pro-Dem blog [no link] published that the youngest Palin child was not actually Sarah's but the child of her eldest daughter. This eventually brought forth news of the daughter's unplanned pregnancy, but many are still not backing off. Politics is a full-contact sport, but this is downright hateful.

As I wondered why Obama supporters are going pit-bull on Palin, I couldn't get it. Was it the woman fact— that Hillary supporters can't stand that someone like Palin will beat her to an historic moment? Is it that they now have to wave the banner of family values, claiming Palin is ignoring her family for professional accolades? Is it her conservative stance, especially when compared to McCain, something they can't stomach?

While all this may exacerbate the situation, I think the motivating factor is much more simple: fear.

As I've written before, a Democratic presidency in 2008 should have been a slam dunk. The bitter primary battle between Hillary and Obama derailed this somewhat. But McCain's image as a prototypical Republican [old, wealthy, white guy] still should have made this contest rather easy. And remember that, until this past week, many G.O.P.'ers didn't even like McCain. But with the announcement of Palin, the Republican base is solidifying. And this has made the Democrats fearful. And [forgive the metaphor] when you corner a frightened wild animal, it starts to bite.*

The Dems understand the importance of this election to their party. If they can't win with the most charismatic American politician in twenty years, following up a two-term administration with abysmal approval ratings, then you're in bad shape. For many, this isn't just AN election, this is THE election. And facing an opponent who has absolutely nothing to lose [why else does McCain chose Palin] the playbook is out the window. But it's a catch-22 because the more that the Dems spur the mainstream media to get personal with Palin, the more likely a backlash will develop. And even though it's the 21st century, I'm not sure you can get away with playing that kind of hardball with a lady.

I do have to give it up to Obama for saying that candidate's family lives should be off-limits, but I would be more impressed if he more vociferously publicly scolded those people for their stances.

Regardless, this thing will play out like the last two Presidential elections: neck and neck to the finish line.

*I can't believe I'm finally admitting this but, as a result of the Palin pick, the only way for a clear Dem victory would've been with Hillary on the ticket. You have to wonder how things would have gone down if McCain had to pick his running mate before Obama.

It's On Like Donkey Kong

Wow.

I didn't think they could do it, but the McCain campaign figured out how to counter the amazing spectacle that was Barack Obama's convention speech.

Even though Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin is a virtual unknown, McCain tabbed her as his running-mate. She is against abortion [to the extent that she gave birth to a Down-Syndrome child in April], the oldest of her five children is in the Army [and he's headed to Iraq in December], she's a lifelong NRA member [bringing back the gun vote McCain probably lost to Libertarian Bob Barr], her husband is a union member, and she's the only candidate that has executive experience.

Oh yeah, and SHE's a woman.

Now, regardless of what happens in November, our country will smash a barrier. I am telling you: this is now the most compelling Presidential election in US history.

Really quick analysis: I listened to Obama last night, and that was not the caliber of speech I expected. There will be plenty of time to go after McCain on specifics, but he decided to go after him last night. Obama had the most electrifying crowd in US political history and, basically, played it safe; he relied a little too much on the scene and not on visionary words [it was a mash-up of stump-speech material]. The football analogy would be that Obama ran the ball up the middle three-times in a row, content to punt and challenge McCain to out-do him. Of course, McCain can't out-do him as an orator. But he could pick a "veep" to steal his thunder. And, even though it's soon after the fact, I'm thinking he might have succeeded.

I would hope that the next few months will actually focus on the differences in ideology that make these tickets so incredibly different. But, instead, expect the same old crap, of pointless bickering over verbal gaffs because the media sucks.

It Is Certain

Objective observation here as I'm watching the Democratic Convention tonight:

Obama introduced a new mantra with which to nail McCain and relate his potential presidency to that of W.'s. This new catch-phrase: "Eight is Enough."

I'm shocked the Dem's were able to wait so long before pulling this one out. Get ready to hear this screamed by crowds from now until November.

And Dick Van Patten will start to wonder why his website traffic has increased.

Steve Jobs Is Dead

. . . um, no he isn't. But he might have been.

For ages, the media has stored pre-written obituaries of celebrities to give them a head start on unexpected deaths [ask my wife: editorial deadlines suck]. The Bloomberg financial newswire had a 17-page obit written up about the Apple founder and decided to update it this week. But upon completion, someone inadvertently published the article. Of course, it was instantly pulled when they realized this, but the funny thing about the interwebs is that those kinds of mistakes can't be erased.

Still, like the bizarre thought of being able to attend your own funeral, how weird would it be to read how people will remember your passing? I've even attempted to do this to myself, but it probably needs some revision.

So how do you want to be remembered? I'd get to work on it, because apparently that will be determined long before you're actually gone.

Yes, Hank, I Am Ready

We are on the cusp of yet another college football season. Even though I'm not quite ready to pass on the Bengals season yet [I should wait until after the first game, right?] I am rather excited about the Buckeyes.

It's been the best of times/worst of times for Ohio State fans the past couple of years. Two consecutive years appearing in the National Championship Game resulted in embarrassing losses. Even though I question how fair it is to be able to play for the title at home [LSU] it's still no excuse for the Bucks. And even though there's a lot of animosity towards OSU for their lackluster performances, the rest of the country had their chance to make it there and failed. Jim Tressel, OSU's coach, has built a consistent program. And this brings us to the dirty little secret:

The Buckeyes could very well make it to a third consecutive championship game.

Sure, the big test is in a few weeks at Southern Cal. But the Bucks are returning 18 starters on offense and defense. They have big game experience. They'll also use freshman phenom Terelle Pryor like Florida used Tebow a couple of years ago. If they get by USC, they should be playing for all the marbles in January.

And now that Time Warner Cable finally made a deal with the Big Ten Network, I'll be able to watch all of OSU's games on TV. It could just be a year to remember.

By the way, I will admit that I'm extremely interested to see how UC's football team performs this year. Not sure Bearcats football will ever surpass my passion for the Buckeyes, but they hardly ever play each other anyway.