Tue Gov't Reform

In an article close to my heart Winds of Change talks about what's wrong with the weapons systems. I'll give you a hint, so many of the systems require systems engineering, specifically software engineering. The bidding process is bloated, corruption is rife (what's the 60 minute rule?), and the politicians don't help. But inherently many of these systems require software development, and the procurement process can't handle it. As much as the GAO would like - (or whatever body) - cutting edge R&D, engineering, and system development are hard to spec, you can't just say "give me 100" pencils.

Another idiotic trend is to classify everything. In many cases the components of these systems could be built openly at a greatly reduced cost, but it's harder to do, so they classify it all. (BTW it's my opinion when you classify everything, you get many more leaks.) True gov't reform of the military would make the defense industry competitive and market driven - since we're all socialists now, we'll cut spending, except on "defensive" forces that can be easily turned on the populace.

I've got a death grip on my guns and religion

I live in Pennsylvania and voted for McCain in the 2008 presidential election. I find myself wondering, how did Obama win this state? Surely people were going to sour to him after threatening to bankrupt the coal industry, mocking the second amendment, hanging out with terrorists, and worshiping with racists. In search of an answer, I did some light examination of the election results, and as usual, every county with an urban area went for Obama. This is especially true in Philadelphia, where people voted for Obama at a rate of almost 85%. The demographic results yield some surprises:

55% of Catholics voted for Obama. Why is this not 0%?
78% of Jews voted for Obama. A certain video (if it is ever released) may cause them to regret that move.
45% of Whites voted for Obama. 95% of Blacks voted for Obama. On election night, reporters were gushing over the results, "We have come so far as a nation to be able to elect a man of color..." Well, after looking at these results, I agree that Whites as a group do not factor race into their decision making process. But what about Blacks? 95%! Blacks as a group appear to look at race as a primary criterion in their decision making process.

Since, the election results raised more questions instead of answers, I swallowed my pride and began talking to Obama supporters. However, I have yet to meet someone who can give me specifics on why they have chosen to support the Democrat's nominee. The typical answer is, "Well, Bush has made such a mess of things..." I have also seen many "man on the street" interviews, where the interviewee supported Obama because the country needs "Change". Alas, the ability to further define this change seems to escape them. Then I see videos like this and wonder, how many people really spent time evaluating Obama's plans against their own values? How many people take the time to figure out what their own values are? From what I've seen, not many people got past the sophisticated marketing techniques and jumped right on board a train with an unknown destination.

How can people be so uninformed? Why can't people see past the pandering? Why do people buy into the welfare lie? My vote was canceled out by the uninformed, the racist, and the socialist, who now appear to have a critical mass. I just don't get it, and I don't see a way out of it, other than voting with my feet. Oklahoma looks nice. Maybe Idaho.

Don't Go to the Dark Side

Excuse the allusion to Star Wars - but if you are like me, you are feeling disappointed, probably a little bit bitter, and maybe even angry.

Remember the lessons of the last four years, we saw the following:

* Bush Derangement Syndrome made many otherwise intelligent and worthwhile people, somewhat crazy sounding.
* Assassination fantasies from those on the left.
* Illegitimate filibustering of the well qualified judicial nominees.
* Playing politics with national security issues.
* Posting maps of the "red" states and saying "get the f out of our country".
* Etc.
* Etc.

None of these things contribute to the functioning of the political or civil society. For those of us who disagree ideologically with Obama and the leaders of the House and Senate - we must still fight for policies we know to be correct and fight against those we know to be bad. However we should fight these battles with integrity and in an honest, legitimate, and decent manner. Don't become what you have probably detested over the last 8 years.

And for Obama - good luck to you and may God bless you. I hope the recent reach to the right in your campaign rhetoric is how you govern. We all have a large stake in your success and you will soon be the commander in chief of the US armed forces, which are still engaged in two major conflicts - may you be an honorable one. It will be nice not to have to defend George Bush anymore, if things hold out, he'll have gotten us from 9/11/2001 through almost two terms without a major attack, and whatever his failings otherwise - and I see many - that may be enough. It will be nice if Obama can get us through the next four with that kind of success.

I'd like to dedicate this post to Dean Barnett whose wisdom and wit, both in his blogging and in his emails was a great companion of the successes in 2004 (Red Sox and otherwise) and a great comfort to the dismal showing of 2006. I do wish I could read his analysis and commentary tomorrow morning, and I believe he was an early predictor of Obama's rise to power. RIP Dean, you are missed.