Whirled Views with Dan Burrell

I can’t help myself!  It’s like driving by a car wreck and trying not to slow down to look.  I just keep being drawn to stare at it.  I’m talking about politics, of course.

Now that I’m no longer the head hauncho of a church, perhaps I’m rationalizing my reborn interest in political matters.  I guess I was never “not” interested as much as I just worked harder at keeping my mouth shut about it.  And perhaps I’ve changed a bit as I’m not quite as doctrinaire as I once was (though some will snort at that), but I find myself mesmerized by the process.

So please indulge me with a quick rant which shall stay focused on the topic of politics now that the conventions are over…

• I wouldn’t want to be President of the US for all the tea in China.  But I would like to be dictator for a couple of weeks.

• I think the Republicans have their ticket backwards.  It should be Palin/McCain.  Or Palin and just about any one else.

• Part of Palin’s attraction is the animus that erupted so violently from some portions of the media and the radical left.  It’s additionally amusing to watch them seem puzzled by accusations of bias — they really DON’T see it in themselves.

• Part of Palin’s attraction is her husband — the “First Dude”.  What a cool title.  He seems totally confident in his role and supportive of his wife and kids at the same time.

• I like how Palin breaks the stereotype that many have regarding evangelical women.  Over the years, I’ve snickered at those in the media who seem to think that the wives of most evangelicals are a cross between wallflowers and Stepford wives.  That’s usually an indication that they don’t really know many evangelical women.  They certainly haven’t met MY evangelical woman!

• Obama’s speechifying ability?  Strong A.  McCain’s?  D+ at best.  He’s just not a good speaker.  I’d like to coach him for a few hours.  Maybe he’s sharing Bush’s communication coach.  Nah, on second thought….McCain’s not THAT bad.

• Obama has turned “looking Presidential” into an art form.  He’s the most carefully choreographed Presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan.

• Deep in my gut, I still think Obama’s going to pull it off.  Not that I’m happy about that.

• Why do the media always assume that all women are pro-abortion?  There’s a lot of research that indicates that women are about as divided on the topic as is the rest of the country.

• Did you happen to catch the little Palin girl lick her hand and then slick her brother’s hair down?  THAT was an endearing moment that will come close to matching little John Kennedy’s salute or the Kennedy kids playing under their dad’s desk.

• I’m glad that the older Palin girl did not chose to abort her baby.  That doesn’t make me wish that she hadn’t had premarital sex any less though.  It’s wrong because it’s unbiblical — I don’t care if every teen in the country does it (which they aren’t), it’s still wrong.

• The media have insinuated that Sarah Palin will neglect her five children by having an outside career.  However, her oldest is in the military.  Her second oldest is apparently about to get married.  So shouldn’t they be narrowing that number down to three?  I don’t think her son who’s getting ready to kill terrorists in the Middle East needs his mom at home still.

• That said, leaving the kids at home so mom can have a career is not a choice we made and I’m glad for it.

• Did I mention that the title “First Dude” is kewl?  Well, I thought I’d mention that again.

• Why did the RNC put all those BORING speakers in front of McCain’s speech on Thursday night?  Good grief….Lindsey Graham could put a hyperactive hamster into a coma.  Tom Ridge made Graham look positively scintillating.  Of course, I suspect that they did that so McCain would look better by comparison.  It worked.

• I think the American public is getting a little put-off by the whole “Messianic” sub-theme the Obama campaign is putting on.  His post-speech music sounded like it was introducing 2001 - A Space Odyssey.  The set was so over-the-top it was ridiculous.

• My darling wife observed that it looked like the Republicans and Democrats have flipped on each other.  The convention of the Democrats — who used to be known as the populist party of unions and disenfranchised subgroupings of every sort — looked positively elitist and more than a little pompous.   The convention of the Republicans — which used to be caricaturized as the party of the Rockefeller set and the Titans of Big Biz — seemed extremely blue collar and populist.  What’s up with that???

• The Republicans really need to give Ronald Reagan a rest.  This year’s tribute to him was lame and today’s Republican party is so little like his Republican party that it seems disingenuous to try and connect those dots.

• Why is it that Republicans don’t run to the Democratic Convention and break windows and need pepper spray and try to rush the stage during the acceptance speech of the opposition candidate, but the Democrats try to do all of the above and more at the Republican conventions?

• I found the Republican convention to be distressingly white.

• If I can even see Keith Olbermann in the background of something I’m watching on an entirely different network, I’ll change the channel.

• I’d hate to have to follow Tim Russert, but the Todd fellow who is the political director now at NBC is growing on me even though I suspect he’s way left of me.  I still miss Tim Russert who I KNOW was way left of me, but wasn’t a jerk about it.

• Foxnews makes me tired sometimes.  I really get tired of the Hannity/O’Reilly shrillness and that Alan Colmes fellow — well, he’s just the most pathetic effort at trying to appear “fair and balanced” they could have possibly come up with.  I suspect in his former life he was a librarian or maybe a postal clerk.  He takes inanity to an all new level.

• If I were Hillary Clinton, I’d be REALLY worried about the potential for a head-to-head Presidential race in 2012 with a little Alaskan gal.  I think she’d get her socks knocked off in such a face-off.

• Oh……and I still don’t trust John McCain.  Even a little.  But instead of simply voting against Obama now, I might find myself voting “for” Sarah Palin.

And that’s it for this rant…

Until next time….if there IS a next time….