I believe that the debate on what the greatest video ever made is has now been conclusively resolved. This is epic. (May want to use headphones if at work.)

Well, as you've all no-doubt observed I haven't been around much lately. It is fiscal year-end for the company that I work for, and when the work you do is pricing in the middle of a huge recession, fiscal year-end is a stressful time that keeps a man busy. Fortunately, I have hilarious videos like this one to keep my spirits up. No update on the Jennifer Hale interview front. She's apparently dropped off the face of the planet where her email is concerned...or at least is too busy to reply to yours truly currently.

A little over seven weeks ago, I wrote a Soapbox Blog titled Searching for Jennifer Hale. Imagine my surprise when Jennifer Hale ended up finding me. Hale, in an astonishing show of fan appreciation, took the time to register on Gamespot to personally send me a PM thanking me for my article.

Now, I know what you may be thinking. How do we really know that it is Hale and not an unethical impersonator who sent me the PM? Well, I politely asked for some verification on her identity as well. She in turn asked me for my suggestions on how she might do so, and today followed through on one of them by quoting my article on her personal website. Furthermore, she has agreed to sit for an interview with me and answer questions. While the details on what format the interview will take and how many questions will be allowed are still being worked out, I thought that a nice "thank you" to my blog readers would be to let you folks submit questions as well rather than hogging them all for myself. Now, keep in mind that I don't know how many questions we'll get to ask, but if any of you out there are fans of Hale's work and have ever wanted to ask her a question or two, now is the time to do so. If you do submit a question and don't get it answered or even asked, my apologies in advance.

Hokies1313 recently put a link in my comments section to a Newsweek article that takes a critical look at some of the Sarah Palin rumors. Since I do believe in some degree of fairness, despite my definite bias, I'm going to link the article here right at the beginning of this blog. I hate retractions being on page 63. That aside, I think this may be an example of where many of these stories may be getting the small details wrong, but the overall message correct. For example, one of the "Internet smears" going around was that Sarah Palin endorsed Pat Buchanan, a very conservative man, as he ran for the presidency. (Incidentally, how unpopular is the Republican brand when saying they supported a conservative Republican qualifies as a "smear"?) According to the Factcheck link, Palin actually supported Forbes...a very conservative Republican! This is what I mean when the details may be wrong, but that it doesn't really completely invalidate the overall story. These pseudo-scandals/rumors are all attempting to paint a picture of Sarah Palin being a dangerous ideologue. The fear about Sarah Palin among many people is that her views place her outside of the mainstream. The very things that make her very attractive to deeply conservative people are what makes her scary to others like myself. The biggest failures of the Bush Administration have been failures of putting ideology over basic competence. They've been failures of sticking stubbornly to preconceived beliefs in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. To me, this is the big worry that I have with a McCain/Palin administration. When you listen to their speeches, it isn't, generally speaking, a departure from what the Bush years were. Sure they make some genuflections in the direction of being "mavericks", but as McCain himself said, on the transcendental issues of their time they still think that Bush/Cheney got things right. Or, as Steven Colbert put it: It's no secret that one of John McCain's biggest challenges as a candidate is distinguishing himself from President Bush. I'm not sure why he's eager to spurn President Bush's supporters. I mean, that's walking away from almost 29% of the American electorate and nearly half the Bush children. But he's so different from Bush already. The only issues they agree on are education, immigration, Iraq, abortion, Supreme Court judges, Social Security, tax breaks for the wealthy, wiretapping, trade, healthcare, the Middle East, same sex marriage and Medicare.

First off, why on earth can't mainstream media members do the kind of reporting that Jon Stewart does? I'm talking about the hard hitting reporting where you compare and contrast what someone said before to what they're saying when events change and point out the rank and nauseating hypocrisy? Oh...wait...most of those ARE the mainstream U.S. media figures in Stewart's video clips. Nevermind. Oh well, at least it points out how completely misleading the job title of "political commentator" is for some of these people when a more correct phrasing would be "partisan schmuck". In other news, Alaska's largest paper accuses their chief executive of stonewalling the investigation into whether she misused her office for personal gain to stall the results until after the election and calls for subpoenas. As McCain might say, "That's not change we can believe in!"

Between this and Librarian Gate I wonder if we're still supposed to believe that the Palin pick was real and thoroughly vetted.

It may be my imagination, but I think I've seen the number of conservative readers tracking and responding to my blogs increasing dramatically of late. This is probably a direct result to my relaxing my own internal guidelines on how often I'll post politically themed blogs, but I've noticed a drastic increase in the number of responders disagreeing, sometimes rather sharply, with my godless, heathen liberal views. In the interest of self-preservation, since I know that you conservatives take no prisoners, I figured I'd state a few thoughts on you folks now. I really appreciate you guys. Seriously. Of course I don't always like your comments when I first read them, but part of my own personal beliefs is that views that aren't constantly being challenged and reexamined aren't worth a whole lot. If someone's views can't withstand scrutiny, then they aren't very well thought out. I hope that others hold themselves to the same criteria. One of the main things that I hate about the U.S. political system is something that raasnavj alluded to recently. There exists no room to admit that you're wrong, uncertain, or to even acknowledge that someone else has good points. To me, the far greater weakness is to never admit mistakes than to make them, admit them, and take your lumps. I'm certainly not perfect and neither is any politician out there, no matter how much we may agree with their views. Believe it or not, I really do think about and consider everything anybody says to me in my comment section. Granted, I don't usually end up agreeing with some of the more conservative comments, but I never dismiss them immediately without thinking about them. Now, granted, I differentiate between the rude, crude or otherwise trollish comments of some folks and the serious responses from thoughtful conservatives like zgreenwell, hokies1313, authorjerry and johnsteed, but that doesn't mean that I don't give the comments involved due consideration. So why did I decide that this post needed to be made? Well, we're two months away from a pretty important and serious election in the US. Senator Obama is essentially running on a platform that says, "If you didn't like the Bush years, vote for me." (Paraphrased.) If we have sharp disagreements now, chances are those disagreements are only going to increase in the coming months. I like my readers, even the conservative ones, and I wanted to openly express that I don't care how much you disagree with me, I'll still value your inputs. That is all.

It has been a while since I did a game review, and Metal Gear Solid 4 left with me with such mixed feelings that it was just begging for a review, so here it is. Author's Note: As you read this, please remember and keep in mind just how much attention and emphasis that I pay to storyline and character development in games. Longtime readers know that I focus on these things more than just about any other video game player out there. Keep that in mind as you read my thoughts on the storyline and characters in MGS4. As always, please visit here and recommend me if you found the review helpful and/or well written. Without further ado... Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots The Good: Best graphics and environments in any game to date period. Fantastic level design along with thrilling and varied gameplay. Excellent audio and voice work. Good replay value. Drags you in and keeps you playing for just...one...more...level. Original setting idea. Plenty of nice little touches.

The Bad: Storyline and characters completely bust the meter for cheesiness and pompousness. High barriers to entry for newcomers to the series due to long running story carried over from previous games. Did this game REALLY need a multiplayer element? Boss battles are a bit limited. There have been plenty of games over the last year or two that had great graphics or tremendous gameplay. We've seen games that have strong audio or an immersive setting that drag you in. Seldom, if ever, have we seen a game that does all of these things as well as Metal Gear Solid 4 does. This game goes further than any game before it ever has to blurring the line between blockbuster summer action movie and video game, complete with both the positive and the negative inherent in summer blockbuster movies as a genre. As you might expect for summer blockbusters, you can chalk up some of the most exciting action sequences seen in years. From the moment you first start playing this game, it drags you in and convinces you that you are in a war zone. Bombs burst around you. Soldiers fighting on different sides kill each other in addition to just you. Environments crumble under military assault and the screams of the dying reach your ears. At times this game comes close to being just a bit disturbing with how realistically it portrays the action around you. You play the role of Solid Snake, returning for one last tour of duty after being in hiding for years after being blamed for Liquid's crimes in previous games. However, all is not well with you. Whereas in previous games you were a trained fighting machine with a body of unequaled speed, strength, stamina and reactions, this game shows that time catches up with us all. It has caught up with Snake quicker than it was supposed to. You don't find out why Snake is aging so prematurely until you're well into the game, but the fact of the matter is that it has definite impacts upon how you play and your abilities. You're still a killing machine, but you also have some Achilles heels.



Snake's body is breaking down. What this means in terms of gameplay is that you must monitor more than just the amount of damage that you take in order to play successfully. Your "psyche" meter, representing your mental state, and your "stress" meter, representing the physical strain your body is under, need to also be monitored or they start severely impacting your abilities. For those people who have played the Metal Gear games before, this adds a fun and challenging new element to the gameplay to help keep the series fresh, but don't worry, many of the old mainstays of the series are still present. For example, stealth, like in other MGS titles, is often a much better approach than just storming through the proverbial front gates of the castle. As with previous games, the soldiers you encounter will call for backup if they spot you and eventually you can, and often will be overwhelmed if you simply try and bull your way through trouble. This simple adjustment that soldiers in battle will call for reinforcements is one of the biggest features that separate the MGS series from your typical shooter title. Knowing when to fight, when to flee, and when to hide adds an element of strategy that remains fresh even after so many Metal Gear offerings. The stealth systemin MGS4 is a particularly advanced and well-developed element of the gameplay. The level design often presents numerous routes to your end destination for the creative and patient souls willing to spend a little extra time searching. Whether it is crawling under a crumpled building, scaling the rooftops or heading down a blind alleyway and hopping over some boxes, there is almost always more than one route to get to where you want to go if you are intent on avoiding combat to the maximum extent possible. Helping to avoid combat is your new suit, which incorporates "Octocamo" technology. Essentially, the suit works like an Octopus or a Chameleon, allowing you to change colors and blend into your surroundings with little effort. However, MGS4 still more than adequately succeeds as a traditional shooter title. The game markets top-notch visuals. The graphics are the best yet seen in any game released to date. The guns you have access to are varied, customizable and real feeling. In fact, the game adds another fun touch where guns are concerned. Due to the unique setting the game is based on (more on this in a minute), not all guns you come across are immediately available for use. Some guns are "ID Locked", or coded to a specific person, and that coding must be removed prior to your being able to use them. You pay to have the ID lock removed by trading in guns to a local arms dealer named Drebin in return for "Drebin points" that you can use to shop at his store. The one area of the gameplay that feels a little weak is in boss battles. The strategy of "run around a lot and take pot shots when you see openings" seems to work quite nicely for just about all of the bosses until you start getting close to the end of the game.



So far, we can list the following elements as positves for MGS4. Gameplay is addictive, varied and original. Graphics are excellent and the level design borders on "evil genius". But no amount of gratuitous violence, pretty colors and originality in the world can make a perfect game if the storyline, characters, voice acting and audio can't keep up. This is where we start seeing some problems in MGS4. One of long running concerns of the MGS games is that their storylines are unnecessarily convoluted, wordy and childish. Unfortunately, this title fully justifies all those concerns. The problem isn't that the game doesn't try and make sure that it has a deep and immersive storyline complete with engrossing characters. The problem is that the story actually got in the way of the game. It was a horribly constructed, badly written, shoddy, pompous mess.

The storyline has a lot of potential. The general idea is that at some point, the world entered what is referred to in game as the "War Economy". In other words, the military industrial complex in the world has become so large and so central to the world's economy that war is actually necessary to keep many of the world's economies from collapsing completely. All of this is being controlled by a secret Illuminati/Masons/Skull and Bones sty1e fraternity of power brokers called "The Patriots". This is a great idea of something to explore, and if the execution had been handled better would have been a fascinating inclusion. The problem is that the execution was horrifically botched. The main problem is that the series has just gone on for too long. In order to make some of the back story fit together, some incredible and unlikely gymnastics and leaps of believability are required on behalf of the player. All of the worst cliches in literature are pulled out here. People believed dead come back to life under unlikely means. Dopplegangers and clones abound. Just when you think you've beaten the big, awful threat it turns out that was just the smallest piece of something much, much larger. And any crime can be forgiven if the woman committing the crime is hot enough or has a sad enough life story. (The men can't mind you, but the women can.)



It doesn't help that the dialogue appears to be have been written by a depressed teenager off of Facebook with pretensions of being a awe-inspiring philosopher. The characters whine, wax melancholic and weep dramatically. They go on long monologs that would have put Shakespeare's "Hamlet" to shame. Part of this is obviously an attempt to remind old players of pertinent details that happened in previous games and to expose new players to those details, but the game would have been better off if they tied up some of the old story arcs and put them away so they didn't have to constantly go on longwinded explanations as to things that happened three or four games back. The tendency of the characters to blather would be even more obvious if the voice work talents and the graphics weren't so top notch. Often times it is easy to zone out what is actually being said because of how beautiful the scenery is and how excellent the voicing. Watching the beautiful graphics and listening to the life-like voices can be hypnotic when the actual plot and subplot updates are conveyed in the first few sentences, even if the characters themselves continue to talk for another 15 minutes. Go ahead and get yourself a beer. The next level isn't starting anytime soon. The bottom line is that this is a game, and a series, that has fallen in love with itself and is now very focused on making everyone else who plays the game acutely aware of just how awesome and deep the storyline is, which is unfortunate, because the actual story idea as mentioned before is a really good one. In a way, it is a mark of just how impressive of a game this is that it succeeds not because of the story and characters but in spite of these things. The actual game itself, when you are in control and dictating the flow of action, is just incredible. Overall Impressions: This game is a must have for any PS3 owner who doesn't mind excessive cheesiness or being preached at a bit in exchange for host a of positives. This remains, minor issues aside, a remarkable game achievement that quite justifies its status as one of the great games of our time. True Score: 9.0

"As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?" -Governor Sarah Palin, less than a month before being selected as John McCain's VP Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. As you may or may not be aware of, Senator McCain recently made his VP choice. To say it was a shocker would be a bit of an understatement. He chose the celebrity freshman governor from Alaska, Sarah Palin. Republicans were quick to champion Sarah Palin's qualifications. To my knowledge, this is the first ever "I'm Keith Hernandez!" VP pick on behalf of a nominee for a major party in the U.S. ESPN sports writer Bill Simmons is the most common user of the "I'm Keith Hernandez" theory. It references the Seinfeld Episodes that feature former baseball player Keith Hernandez as a guest star. The episodes show Keith getting away with any number of things that the rest of us wouldn't even try to do with no repercussions due to the justification being "I'm Keith Hernandez!" The unspoken full sentence is "I'm Keith Hernandez and I'm so famous and popular that I can do whatever the hell I damn well please and get away with it." Senator McCain is an icon; one might even say a celebrity, of American politics these days. He frequently makes gaffes and factual errors out on the campaign trail because the American press, whom he refers to as "his base", simply doesn't cover the slipups. With this VP pick the good Senator seems to have reached full on "I'm Keith Hernandez!" thinking. It shows the sort of thinking that believes that the press will not bother connecting the dots in the line of attack that Senator McCain has been pressing on Senator Obama for the last month that he is dangerously inexperienced and unfit to lead. John McCain himself is 72 years old and has had cancer at least four times. He really could die on the day he takes the Oath of Office. Did he really not think the press wouldn't bother questioning the attack that Obama is too inexperienced to lead when he's adding Palin to his ticket? Assuming for just a moment that Governor Palin's seventeen months of "chief executive" experience as Alaska's governor is somehow superior to Obama's seven years as a State Senator and four as a U.S. Senator. Assume that her bachelor's degree from the University of Idaho is the equal to his bachelor degree from Ivy League Columbia and his Harvard Law degree. Further assume that her being mayor of a town of 9000 people is better experience than him being editor of the Harvard Law Review and teaching Constitutional Law for twelve years at the University of Chicago. (The 7th ranked law school in the nation.) Heck, just for fun let's assume that the beauty pageant scholarship she won to attend the University of Idaho is equal to Obama's academic scholarship to attend the Ivy league schools, given completely on merit as he left the fact that he was non-white off his applications.



Assume all that and let's take it as a given for the sake of argument that Palin is somehow better qualified and more experienced than Barack Obama is. Even if we take that as a fact, can anyone make the argument with a straight face that Palin's experience is far greater than Obama's and therefore she is ready to be president on day one, and Obama is not, if John McCain, a 72 year old multi-time cancer survivor, dies and she inherits the presidency? As I said, this is a "I'm Keith Hernandez" moment on behalf of McCain. Of course the press is going to ask these questions. Whereas Obama has won the right to be where he is today by building a national campaign from the ground up, slaying the Clinton Machine and proven his executive ability the same way that a small business startup that grows into a major corporation proves the ability of the startup's founders, Palin was just given her role.



Anyway, say what you will about Palin's qualifications for the office of the Vice Presidency, one thing is certain. This is a target rich environment for snarky bloggers to mock both her and her running mate John McCain. So, I'll just go ahead and get started. Actually, it appears that I am getting ahead of myself. Before I mock, I should at least give some background on Sarah Palin's resume. Here it is, in chronological order. Former runner-up in the Miss Alaska Beauty Pageant: 1984 (I mention this because it is what won her the scholarship to attend the University of Idaho in 1984.) Hawaii Pacific College: 1982 (One Semester - Majored in Business Administration) North Idaho College: 1983 Communications/Journalism Degree from University of Idaho: 1987

Wasilla City Council member: 1992 - 1996 Wasilla Mayor: 1996 - 2002 Chairperson, Alaska Oil and Gas Commission: 2003 - 2004 Governor of Alaska: 2006 - Present If you have never heard of Wasilla before, don't worry. You aren't alone. It's a small town in Alaska with just fewer than 9000 people in it.



Okay, so that's the official biography. I left out some of the things that McCain listed as her qualifications when he officially introduced her, such as her being point guard on her high school basketball team. I love basketball too, but come on! Now what are the missing parts? Well, as it so happens getting appointed to be a major party's VP choice gets you some closer scrutiny from the press. Here is a short list of the other, "left off the resume" items that the press has dug up in the three or four days since Governor Palin was added to the Republican Ticket. Side Note to Hokies1313: See? More press isn't always a good thing. This is an example of the difference between "Positive Coverage" and "Negative Coverage" from the media. If Senator McCain had picked a much more qualified and vetted Republican woman like Senator Olympia Snowe or Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson then he'd probably be swarming in positive media coverage from his reaffirmed Maverickness. Instead, it looks to all outward appearances that he chose a "trophy wife" sty1e candidate who just looks good on his arm and bypassed more qualified women who aren't quite as picturesque.



Now, some of the items in that list are relevant to her qualifications to be VP. Some are not. Before I go through the list though, one thing stands out about the list itself. This is more a reflection on Senator McCain than on Governor Palin. Presumably Senator McCain vetted this choice before adding her to his ticket. In theory, he knew all of the items on that list. Either he doesn't view them as important or he just didn't know about them after all. Now, for each of the items on that list, I'm going to evaluate them under the following criteria: 1. Relevance to the office she is seeking. If it isn't at all relevant, then I'm not going to go into major detail and may not mention it at all. The fact that Miss Palin is a former beauty queen - and therefore a damn sight easier on the eyes than Cheney - is interesting, but completely irrelevant to the presidency. 2. Is it a scandal or not? If so, how big of a deal is it? 3. Should McCain have known about it? If so, should it have disqualified her from being picked? Backed the "Bridge to Nowhere" The Bridge to Nowhere is the most famous case of pork earmarks in the last decade or so. It was to be a $398,000,000 monstrosity that would connect a tiny island off the coast of Alaska to an airport and replace the ferry system the state currently uses. When I say tiny, I mean really small. Is this relevant? Yes, it is. Why? Because pretty much the first thing that Governor Palin did after she was introduced to McCain's VP ticket was to claim she opposed the bridge, when, in fact, she did not. Or at least, she didn't right away. At first, she was very much in favor of the Bridge To Nowhere. When Alaska's share of the cost was doubled she then decided that the ferry that ran between the two worked just fine. In other words, she was more than happy to have the bridge so long as it was the rest of the nation's taxpayers paying for it and not her state. For Republicans who delighted in using John Kerry's "I actually voted for it before I voted against it" quote against him in 2004, this can be viewed as karma coming back to bite them in the hiney. Governor Palin was for the bridge before she was against it. In the big scheme of things, this isn't a huge deal. People expect their politicians to lie. It shows more about Palin's political skills that her first major whopper after being added to the ticket was something so easy to disprove than it does about her governing skills. This isn't a disqualification for the office of the VP. It cuts against any claims that she's fiscally responsible, but presumably when/if she is representing the people of the U.S. instead of just the people of Alaska she'll act in the country's best interests and not just her state's. Former member of the Alaska Independence Party? Batten down the hatches me hearties, this one has legs. Presumably since she's now a Republican the key phrase is "former member" of a party that is dedicated to removing the state of Alaska from the United States. Well, she did give this year's welcoming address to the Independence Party's convention.



It's a little awkward to be running for the Vice Presidency of a country when a political party you have ongoing links to wants to leave behind that country entirely. As I said, this officially qualifies as a "big deal". It is safe to say that most people in the mainstream of the United States don't want their state to officially secede from the country. (Of course this is leaving out those nutjobs in the south who still love to fly those "The South Will Rise Again" flags and me personally after Bush won reelection in 2004.) To be fair, the McCain campaign has pushed back against the suggestion that she was a member, even as definitive proof has surfaced that her husband was one until 2002. This should have eliminated Palin from consideration from the VP ticket for McCain. Seriously, how on earth did Senator McCain not know that the press would eat this story alive? Or, at least they will eat this story alive when they're done with yet another story that broke on Palin over the last several days. Her 17 year old, unmarried, daughter is five months pregnant. Personally, I could care less about this. Teenagers get pregnant in the U.S. all the time. This is sad, and perhaps a reflection that Palin has some flaws as a mother, but ultimately does nothing to disqualify Palin from being Vice President. But here's the problem. One of the biggest Republican voting groups is Evangelical Christians who consider sex before marriage a major "no-no". One of the things that is touted as a benefit that Palin can bring to McCain's ticket is that she is a darling of religious conservatives. She's "one of them" so to speak. How will they react to this news and couldn't McCain have found a female evangelical Christian who didn't have a teenage daughter who is currently pregnant out of wedlock to shore up that voting demographic? The always on point Matthew Yglesias has some thoughts on the abortion angle of this issue and points out a major flaw in logic in the McCain campaign's handling of questions on the subject.



Governor Palin "lawyered up" in the ongoing "Troopergate" scandal You can read the link for the details. The Cliff Notes version is that Palin tried to pressure the Public Safety Commissioner of her state, Walt Monegan, to fire a state trooper currently going through a custody battle with her sister. When the commissioner refused, under pressure, to do so, Palin fired him. Now, by all accounts and to be fair, the trooper involved is a scumbag. However, the trooper had been punished and suspended for his conduct in the matter. The case was closed. Palin's further pursuit of it is a picture perfect example of abuse of her office and authority. Like with the Bridge to Nowhere example above. A certain amount of using your office to strike at your enemies is kind of expected in American politics. It's ugly and disgusting, but expected. What bothers me about this isn't that it is thuggish behavior, but how unsubtle this is.



This is an easy to explain example of abuse of power that the average Joe off the street can get in a 30 second soundbite. Couldn't this have been accomplished a little more delicately? America's problem over the last eight years of the Bush Administration isn't that we have been thugs. It's that we've been clumsy thugs. We have tried to bully the world in such a blatant manner that we've provoked blowback. America has wielded its power over the last century over and over again. The rest of the world has generally been a bit more willing to accept it because we were subtle thugs. All that aside, given that the investigation into Palin's activities (opened by Republicans and being paid for by Alaskan taxpayers) is scheduled to conclude days before the November election, doesn't this show bad judgment on McCain's part to add Palin to the ticket? By her hiring a lawyer it guarantees that this story will stay in the news over the next couple of months. As with the other items in this list, this will be one of the first things that most people outside of Alaska learn about Palin...other than her being ridiculously hot for a 44 year old of course but I digress. Lawyering up is a good idea for Palin if her main goal is to increase her amount of time outside of prison. It isn't such a fabulous idea if her main goal is becoming vice president. If he vetted her, he knew about this lingering scandal and it should have eliminated her from consideration with this legal snag hanging on. If he didn't vet her, why not? Speaking of lawyers... Republican lawyers are now vetting Palin Cart, meet horse. Horse, you should always make certain to be out in front of the cart. The major thing to mention here is that Senator McCain had met Palin in person one time before picking her this week. He didn't vet her at all, but added her to the ticket anyway. There is a profound difference between being a "maverick" and just plain reckless. I'd say this pick crosses that line. Bonus Item: She ran the PAC of Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, currently under indictment for accepting bribes.

So add it all up and you have a very bad pick for Senator McCain's VP slot. Each of these items, individually, can be overlooked. Collectively they are a disaster. Her education is from small schools of little repute. Her public life is marked by being the mayor of a tiny town and then a governorship tainted by political scandal. Her political talents appear to be mediocre at best and her selection undercuts one of the key themes of McCain's message.



Overall, in the first major example of Obama's judgment vs. McCain's, one picked a person manifestly qualified to assume the presidency in the form of Joe Biden. The other person has a difficult time making that argument.

Hi all. As some of you may or may not have noticed, the Gamespot initiator moderator team recently made the questionable decision to add me into their ranks. I could go with the concise, humble approach in alerting you all to my changed status as SophinaK recently did, but that just wouldn't be my style. Instead I come before you all tonight to announce the coming of a new world order in the Gamespot community. I. Have. THE POWAH. and I will not be giving it back. The time has come to punish the unbelievers, heathens, deviants and miscreants who have lapsed in their proper duties. In these troubled times, we need a powerful, effective voice. Democracy cannot be trusted in these dark days of Gamespot. External threats like Giant Bomb must be dealt with swiftly and severely. Since the masses cannot be trusted to act in a focused manner, there must be one voice to bring order to the chaos. That voice shall be me. Verily, and with great humility, do I accept this awesome and grave responsibility. And forthwith shall I begin abusing my powers in heinous ways. Monco! Swiftly must you resume thy Friday Funbag series of blogs. Arcadius and Sydogg! Too long has it been since I saw a rant about PC gaming supremacy. xboxrulze! It's been at least two weeks since you tried changing your avatar picture again. This has to be a new record for you. Why are you slacking in this area? hokies! I hereby appoint you as the Chosen One who will bring balance to The Force! (Let's see a blog from you about all the great things McCain will do as president. I'll link to it.) I could go on and on, but verily my banning finger itches. It has been too long since I wielded THE POWAH! ************************************************************* In all seriousness folks, I'm greatly honored and shall try and put up a post detailing what it's like to be a moderator, how it differs from what people generally think of the position, as soon as I figure out what the heck I'm doing. I'll also do my best to be a good moderator. I'm going to have to ramp up my appearances on public forums and do a little more community reach out beyond the circle of blogs and blog readers that I love interacting with so much.

"Strong countries and strong Presidents talk to their adversaries. That's what Kennedy did with Khrushchev. That's what Reagan did with Gorbachev. That's what Nixon did with Mao. I mean, think about it: Iran, Cuba, Venezuela -- these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying, 'We're going to wipe you off the planet.' And ultimately, that direct engagement led to a series of measures that helped prevent nuclear war and over time allowed the kind of opening that brought down the Berlin Wall. Now, that has to be the kind of approach that we take. You know, Iran, they spend one-one hundredth of what we spend on the military. If Iran ever tried to pose a serious threat to us, they wouldn't stand a chance. And we should use that position of strength that we have to be bold enough to go ahead and listen. That doesn't mean we agree with them on everything. We might not compromise on any issues, but at least we should find out other areas of potential common interest, and we can reduce some of the tensions that has caused us so many problems around the world." -Senator Barack Obama "Iran. Radical Islamic government. Known sponsors of terrorism. Developing nuclear capabilities to 'generate power' but threatening to eliminate Israel. Obama says Iran is a 'tiny' country, 'doesn't pose a serious threat.' Terrorism, destroying Israel, those aren't 'serious threats'? Obama - dangerously unprepared to be president." John McCain: "I'm John McCain and I approved this message." Link to the video is here. Read Obama's full quote. Is there anything in it that you disagree with or is untrue? Obama isn't saying that Iran isn't a threat. He's just saying that Iran is a less dangerous threat than other enemy countries we've faced in the past and still talked with. This is simply a fact.

The litany of John McCain's misleading (translation: blatant lying) campaign ads continues. At this point, John McCain's entire campaign strategy can be boiled down to "beware of the young, scary black man. He'll get your family killed, probably unintentionally but who really knows for sure? As far as we know he isn't a Manchurian Candidate." Can the U.S. media please stop the BS about McCain being an honorable man who is running an honorable campaign? What does it say about a man that he's willing to so blatantly lie on such an important issue in order to gain power? Update: Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic magazine has a good take on the situation. "McCain campaign airs provocatively misleading ads. The press has a conundrum. If we want to point out how misleading they are, we air the ad. McCain's campaign wins the point. If refuse to point out how misleading they are, McCain's campaign escapes criticism."