Yes, this is a day late. I forgot to do it.

You have just won one million dollars:

1. Who do you call first?

2. What is the first thing you buy for yourself?

3. What is the first thing you buy for someone else?

4. Do you give any away? If yes, to whom?

I'd also try to find someone who I could trust to administer another ten percent in donation to local charitable organizations.

I'd also endow a scholarship at my alma mater, along with putting the cross-country team on a strong financial footing. Perhaps an annuity?

5. Do you invest any? If so, how?

Posted by: Country Pundit at 12:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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On September 14 2003, the USAF's aerial demonstration team, the Thunderbirds, lost a General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon during a demonstration at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho.

Captain Chris Stricklin was attempting to perform a split-S when he basically ran out of altitude. He ejected and survived without serious injury. The F-16C was destroyed, and its loss was attributed to pilot error. Subsquently, Captain Stricklin has been reassigned to Washington, D.C., working the halls of the Pentagon.

The good men of Boots and Sabers have posted in-cockpit video; find it in their initial here. Additional information can be found here in the F-16.net story on the final report.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 02:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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General Electric Transportation Systems is the current leader in the manufacture of diesel-electric locomotives for freight use in the United States. It seems that they've gone and put together a website for afficionados of their products, available at:

GE Rail Fans

The site apparently is built around selling things with the GE Transportation logo or other representations of their locomotives. I wish they had a little more, but hey, it's a start. If anything like this exists for the Electro-Motive Division (of General Motors and the other major locomotive manufacturer in this country), I don't know about it.

If anyone wants to get me a GETS mug, I'd appreciate it. I don't have any pecuniary interest in GE, but I do happen to have a large number of their late-model locomotives installed for use in Train Simulator.

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Within the next week or so, I'll be revising the categories just a little; I'm aiming for "subcategories" and whatnot, so there will be a few changes.

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Readers of this blog will remember my ill-tempered rant about the moveon.org group's perceived immaturity and unsuitability for participation in the national discussion at the adults' table. I'd also said that I was worried about what Dean's whole "Bush lied!" plank was corrosive to the body politic. (For the full text, click here.)

It appears that Peggy Noonan is voicing the same sorts of concerns, in an article aimed primarily at General Clark. She asks of the candidates,

Is he stable and adult and experienced?

She spends many electrons hammering General Clark, and I'm not going to bother repeating them at this point. Suffice it to say that I'm not convinced that General Clark has the best interests of American sovereignty at heart, and I agree in large part with Ms. Noonan, reserving for myself some wiggle room if it's ever needed.

Ms. Noonan closes with this:

And so my Democratic friends, patriots who vote Democratic and are voting in today's primary and the ones down the road. Please. We will take Joe Lieberman or John Kerry or even young John Edwards, men who appear to be somewhere in the normal range. We need a person who could rally the nation on a terrible day, and who could arguably meet the security demands the age requires. We can't afford flip-outs, or people who are too obviously creepy. Just a person in the normal range. Is that asking too much? Say it ain't so.

I first heard of this in a guest-post on Politburo Diktat, entitled "Normal Is Good Enough".

The post is brief, but it has a good component, reproduced here:

The Blogosphere should not be lured into the temptation of being a right wing, online version of FrankenMoore. If Kerry, or any other Dem, has policies, a record, or proposals, that we disagree with, fine. Hammer away. But the process should not resemble Whack-a-Mole, where whatever Dem happens to get out in front, is targetted for treatment that a Howard Dean or a Wes Clark deserve.

I concur. He asks earlier if the blogosphere is supposed to be an extension of the RNC, and says no. I also concur here. The reputation of the blogosphere is supposed to be based in part on its "independence" from the established opinion outlets and so forth, and simply being an extension of the RNC would compromise that. By this I do not mean that the conservative/rightist (a possible redundancy) components of the blogosphere should not present, argue, and defend their political positions. Rather, I would like to preserve the overall position of "with the GOP, but not necessarily of the GOP" so that we're a franchise in the marketplace of ideas, and not merely an outlet store stuck in a strip mall.

Continued independence would make sure that our side keeps its brian bubbling twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and year round in order to escape ossification and mere knee-jerk reaction to the other side. I suppose the grand structural idea is that "we" function as some sort of ersatz think-tank.

So.

What does all of that mean?

Well, two things, one of which applies to all voting Americans, and one of which applies primarily to your humble correspondent:

1. Those of us who are entrusted with the franchise and who choose to exercise that franchise have an awesome responsibility in our hands. We must choose those who will lead the nation, and we must choose consistently well. Because we enjoy such a broad spectrum of freedoms, political and otherwise, we have the responsibility to protect those freedoms. Often, that is done by men (and women) who go forward into harm's way at the peril of their own life. Luckily, that isn't the primary mode of defense for our freedoms. That responsibility falls to each and every one of us who votes, because we must make intelligent, responsible, mature, and adult choices. Cast your votes wisely---distinctly unfriendly individuals rest outside our borders and wish us ill.

2. Although I'm certainly going to push a conservative viewpoint, I'm also trying to make sure that the political commentary I present is, in large part, of a sort that's not irresponsible, juvenile (unless clearly marked so) or otherwise not part of fulfilling the responsibility I laid out in the first point. That means you probably won't see some of the same things that get wide traffic on other blogs, but maybe you'll see something that helps illustrate an issue for you, or guides you towards a better understanding of the conservative side.

Call it The Country Pundit does what NPR says it does.

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It's prediction time, and the only results I have are from Dixville Notch, which I hear went for General W.K. Clark. Without further adieu, although these are issued on the basis of 'probably' and may be subject to Imus-style "Uh, Charles, I picked the winner" revisions:

First Place: Senator John F. Kerry
He's got momentum from Iowa, and I haven't heard a lot of negatives about him lately. Even if his campaign is decelerating, I think he'll be able to cross the line first.

Insert a small gap here. Five to ten points at most?

Second Place: Senator John Edwards/Governor Howard Dean
I can't figure out who's going to be next, and I expect these two to tangle over it. Edwards has been a 'favorite' of mine for a while, because of his background; I expected him to be a capable candidate, and I had been wondering why he hadn't caught on earlier. It is true that Americans respond to negative campaigning, so he might be in trouble down the road. In any event, I've read one story that indicates there are attempts at friendly ties between Senators Kerry & Edwards, which may indicate some sort of link in the future. This could be trouble.

On the other hand, it seems that Howard Dean has managed to temporarily skate past the "I have a scream" speech. The power of the penitent man is often considerable, and if Dean has successfully put his anger schtick on the Atkins diet, he could theoretically begin his necessary comeback here. I couldn't help feeling sorry for the guy, and his minions may yet regroup.

I'm leaning towards Edwards second in order to protect against the possibility that Dean's negatives blunt the first wave of his comeback.

Fourth Place: General W.K. Clark
Not far behind the other two will be General Clark. I don't expect him to beat these other two, but he'll be "in the draft" of third place, a car length or two back. I would not expect this finish to be fatal, but he doesn't need these kinds of finishes. At best, he could squeak past the third place man, whoever that is. As for General Clark down the stretch, there may be problems. The Hugh Shelton thing may come back and get him, as might other things from his recent past.

Fifth Place: Senator Joseph Lieberman
Joementum? No. As much as I hate to say it, Senator Lieberman's ship is riddled full of holes near the waterline, and the machinery, assuming there ever was any, has been reduced to a wreck. I wanted Lieberman to run and be the nominee, but that's not going to happen. I'm not the Democrat electorate. Funny, a Southern Christian---embodiment of the Moral Majority, the Christian Coalition, and the Religious Right---wouldn't mind seeing a Jew on the top of a national ticket. Hee hee, I'm more progressive than the Left. Disraeli and outreforming the reformers, indeed. RN would be proud. (Actually, we checked. Southerners are supposed to hate Jews. Would you kindly stick to the stereotypes as laid down by The New York Times and Hollywood, please? --Ed.)

There you have it. To borrow from Leonard Postosties of Leonard's Losers, "Percy, get me out of here!"

UPDATE: It seems that these predictions have been issued almost completely ignorant of recent polling, so I may wind up looking like an idiot. Nonetheless, I stand by my picks and they have my complete confidence. That is, until they're proven wrong. Chuck, have Bernard and Lou get the tapes of this one...

Posted by: Country Pundit at 01:31 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 I can't believe Clark came in 3rd in front of Edwards and Lieberman. I dunno what to think about that. Of course, he had been living there for months. Still. I wouldn't trust Clark to walk my dog.

Posted by: Calliope at January 28, 2004 08:00 AM (tUDUD)

2 That's the advantage of skipping Iowa. I'd almost go out on a limb and say, "Is that the best you could do, General Clark?" Lamar Alexander tried that, the whole "live in a single primary State" and it didn't work for him, either. That's unfortunate for the organizations in either case, so... Luckily, I managed to hedge my bets almost enough to where I wasn't wrong. Yes, there's a large bonfire of Zip disks in the back room. No, that's not relevant to my accuracy. Eighteen-minute gap and all that. I think I'll steal the theme espoused by Joe Lieberman and say that I was completely accurate. If he can say there's a three-way race for third, I can say I'm completely accurate. I remain uncertain about Wesley Clark's fitness for office, and if I ever met the man, I'd certainly ask him about it.

Posted by: The Country Pundit at January 28, 2004 12:30 PM (XIU5s)

3 LOL. I was thinking earlier as I was mindlessly brushing paint on my house that the way Dems measure 'winning' Edwards can claim he came in third.

Posted by: Calliope at January 28, 2004 01:12 PM (tUDUD)

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Since Kerry's got the ball, he's currently the target of Republican focus. This is all well and good, but Colonel M.T. Owens, USMC (ret.) has penned a column for National Review Online that lobs a salvo at the Kerry politico-military record.

Let me be clear: I do not question Lieutenant Kerry's heroism and I have considerable regard for the man's bravery. Kerry the soldier seems to be a respectable man who made pickup on some of his fellow soldiers in a bad situation. His service was honorable.

What I do however have a problem with is the content of his political activities---but not the fact that he did them---once he returned to the United States from Southeast Asia.

He may well pull New Hampshire off. I am uncertain as to the realities of the State, due to my geographic location and information isolation. I don't trust the media coverage to give me an accurate picture of what's going on (as opposed to say, what they want to go on) and in a place like New Hampshire where it is conceivable that the primitariat would in large part actually meet the candidates and form impressions without the "guidance" of ABC, CBS, CNN, FNC, MSNBC, or NBC, that's a problem.

My prediction? Probably Kerry first. Dean and Edwards will be behind, but close to each other. Clark may be thrown in there somewhere closely in fourth, and Senator Lieberman won't do much.

For what it's worth: A friend of mine here at school is a rabid New York Democrat. In fact, he's fond of Neil Kinnock, the former leader of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. He also hates Howard Dean, and desires a Kerry-Edwards ticket to have a strong Northeastern liberal and a Southern man to try and carry them to victory. I don't like the sound of that.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 12:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The more I think about it, I just didn't see the big issue with Dean's speech in Iowa. I read Charles Krauthammer's column on the subject in the local paper, and he reported that observers on the ground and in the room didn't think it was out of place either.

Admittedly, I'm writing this a bit late, but I smell a replay of the Nixon-Kennedy 1960 debates, where television and radio audiences came away with completely different views of the outcome. People who listened thought RN mopped the floor with Kennedy. People who watched thought Kennedy vigah-ed his way through past RN. History demonstrates that the image outweighed the substance, and of course Kennedy would go on to be the President.

I pretty much understand the circumstances (in the abstract) which would lead to this, and I can see myself as a campaign manager telling a candidate that "Look, you've got to do something. Get out there and work the crowd, even though we took a beating. Go! Fire them up, do something; I don't care what you do!"

Oddly enough, it was Al Sharpton (religious post not noted due to the fact that I don't know a) what denomination he's from and b) where his home church is) that made this clear, albeit indirectly. He noted something on the order of "if I'd spent all that money and come in third, I'd be hootin' and hollerin' too", and I realized that Dean was doing damage control. Yes, it backfired, but damage control can be like that sometimes.

I remain inclined to give him a pass on the issue. He was doing what he had to do, i.e. deflect attention away from the result. Mission accomplished, but I doubt it was in the fashion that Joe Trippi intended. Maybe I'm just jaded, but I really don't care if Governor Dean lets out a bellow or two. Sure it sounded strange, but hey, TV's like that.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 11:55 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Yippee. This PS2 is a nifty little device, even though I'm not particularly fond of the DVD system. That's a little clunky but it will sure beat trusting my laptop for DVD playback when I go on vacation or something.

Since my city was part of the massive snowstorm that hit the East Coast, I was able to take the day off and go in search of games. I found both of the previously-mentioned titles, and I also got some more memory cards. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Castlevania: Lament of Innocence all on one system, yay.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 03:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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OK, so I finally broke down and bought a PlayStation 2. Got the DVD kit for free. The launch title for my purchase was Castlevania: Lament of Innocence because I'm a sucker for the franchise. I'll be buying Battlestar Galactica soon; that title also contributed heavily to my decision to buy.

I've got to find a copy of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty now, bother.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 11:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This is entirely too addictive: Penguin Swing.

My best is something like 319.6 or so.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 01:33 AM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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Recently, from Right Wing News: The Difference Between Liberals, Conservatives, and Southerners.

I disagree distinctly with the stereotype of Southerners in terms of grammar and speech, but I'm still laughing at the rest of the content.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 02:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Oh, man.

Captain Kangaroo is dead. I used to watch him regularly as a kid, and now this? Charlie Brown was right; you can't go home again.

Tip of the Wisconsin hat to KJL@NRO.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 02:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Within the last two years, I found an amusing website dubbed Canadian World Domination, which recounted the ways that Canada would soon be taking over the continent and eventually the world.

It was humorous, well put together, and worth visiting on a regular basis. Alas, as many things on the Internet are wont to do, it has now vanished and www.standonguard.com no longer can be found.

Generals Claire and Jenny, wherever you are, (hopefully at the bottom of the Great Slave Lake, you upstarts) thanks for making me laugh out loud several times in my carrel, disturbing the others around me as they worked oh so very hard at being "serious" law students.

UPDATE: I've found a mirror of a very rough version of the site, and it's here.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 01:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm looking for...

62.213.67.122

Come on down! You're the next contestant on Your IP Is Banned!

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Today Tonight is a good day. Night. Whatever. I've finally sat down and been able to puzzle out the consists for three of the Pennsylvania Railroad's most famed passenger trains from the post-World War II era, and assemble them for Train Simulator.

Thanks to some relentless Google-work and a copy of a Kalmbach Publications magazine, I've assembled the Broadway Limited, the Congressional, and the Senator. I'll wind up posting the things once I get them transferred over to the blogging computer, on the off chance that someone might make use of them.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 11:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Something else has occurred to me while reflecting on Howard Dean's reactions during the post-caucus festivities:

"No class."

What's historical about this? Well, to further link the present to the past i.e. Richard Nixon, "no class" is part of a dismissal issued by John F. Kennedy in regards to Richard M. Nixon's final concession in 1960. Vice President Nixon, instead of making a concession speech himself, sent his press secretary Joe Klein to read a congratulatory telegram which had previously been sent to Senator Kennedy. The senator, watching with Pierre Salinger, stated, "[Nixon] went out the way he came in, no class."

Howard Dean could also take a page from Richard Nixon on how to lose an election. After the final concession (of a campaign that makes 2000 look clear-cut) RN went home and decided that he should appear capable of losing gracefully, and that the country could not stand for a recount or contesting of the election.

Now that I think of it, both Al Gore and Howard Dean could take a page from then-Vice President Nixon. The Gore campaign put the country through considerable chaos and damaged the process of election, all on questionable grounds, whereas RN let the Kennedy team savor its short-lived victory, sparing America the anguish of a recount and contest.

Howard Dean's remarks, or what I saw of them, struck me as being in poor taste and without class. More and more, Candidate Dean fails the test of history---he isn't worthy of being in the race.

For graciousness amongst the Democrats, see Gephardt, Representative Richard A., and acknowledge some class. I hate to see him go for a variety of reasons, and I wish he'd lasted a lot longer.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 06:23 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Our latest spamming idiot:

67.68.196.34

You've just won an all-expense paid trip to the Camp X-Ray for blog spammers! Give that man a round of applause!

Posted by: Country Pundit at 06:08 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I had been wondering how Team Dean would respond to Anger-Powered Howard's third-place finish in the Iowa caucus, so I wandered over to the Dean campaign blog. I don't do that often, but this time it was worth it.

Dean must stop letting other people define him! The bashing stuck to him, and it blocked his message from getting through. . . And when Kery or Liberman steal a platform plank, CALL THEM ON IT! And when they say stupid insulitn comments in a debate, don't answer. Say "Is that the best question you can come up with? Why are my corrospondence records sealed until a judge can review them? Really, Joe, peaople acn see through that kind of nonsense question." HOWARD, DON'T LET OTHERS DEFINE YOU! YOU ARE THE SMART ONE WHO BROUGHT THE DEMOCRATIC DEBATE TO THE LEVEL IT IS AT THIS YEAR.¹

Read that last capitalized line a couple of times and remember my earlier remarks on the Dean campaign. Now, conjure up the voice of Jonathan Harris' Doctor Zachary Smith from the old Lost in Space and imagine this next line as being spoken by him:

"Oh, the irony."

¹Blog for America: Comment upon On to New Hampshire

Posted by: Country Pundit at 11:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Yes, it's late in the evening and I'm writing this in the midst of working on some locomotives for Microsoft's Train Simulator. Several points:

1. I am disappointed that Representative Gephardt didn't finish better. I liked him for some reason, primarily because I thought that he was a) an experienced hand in Washington and b) didn't campaign like Dean (i.e. "I hate George Bush and by the way, my name's Howard Dean!")

2. I am downright surprised that John Kerry won. I, like most other conventional wisdomeers, had written Kerry off. I didn't yet write off the ability of Kerry to spend a lot of money, but I had been expecting him to go quietly into obscurity.

At the same time, I'd been expecting him (before things got started) to be a formidable candidate, due to various factors which at present don't seem to matter. Those factors include his reputation as a Northeastern liberal, his initials, his ostensible experience, and whatnot. Go figure.

3. Hooray for John Edwards. Sure he's a slimeball, but he's a Southern slimeball, and I'm more inclined to root for ours than I am for Vermont's. Somewhere within the depths of the National Review website is an article by Byron York about how Edwards broke some rules to slam Charles Pickering, but that's neither here nor there.

4. Dean sounded like he was trying out for the job once held by 'Mean Gene' Okerlund, namely the announcer for Saturday afternoon WWF wrestling matches. Either that, or the job held by Richard Dawson in Running Man.

That's all. My brain, it is tired.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 11:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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