Monday Morning Rant 51

What a glorious time to be alive! God is in His heaven and all’s right with the world. Since 7pm Saturday night with time out for sleep (finally) and church this morning (blessedly) I have been sounding the waters of the political blogs to gain an impression of others on the experience at Saddleback.

First, as I noted yesterday, I seriously misjudged Rick Warren and his ability to present an evenhanded offering of the two principal presidential candidates. He did exactly that and gave us an unvarnished look at these two men. The format was terrific, the delivery unbiased, and as a whole it was wonderful. Every American owes a debt of gratitude to Pastor Warren for his role in the proceedings..

Of the 1000 or so posts and comments which I have read there has been a recurring refrain about John McCain’s answers to some of the questions. After listening to the other man stammer and stutter for an hour and missing his teleprompter desperately, I did enjoy listening to McCain’s rapid fire responses. In review of the tape, the outstanding example had to be in response to his question, “When does life begin?” When posed to Obama, it took a 47.5 seconds to illicit a confused and disorganized response. When addressed to McCain, the reply came in exactly 2.2 seconds; “At the moment of conception.” No equivocation; no ifs, ands, maybes, buts, or howevers, clouded the response.

On issue after issue, McCain responded with clarity and welcome brevity. Some media commentators questioned his pre-forum preparation hinting that he may have had some prior knowledge of the questions. Others pleaded that Obama had just endured a long flight to reach California from his vacation hideaway in Hawaii and was worn out from the ordeal. I have made the flight and it’s just a little over three hours. In thinking the issue over I have decided there is far more to it than these superficial details.

John McCain responded exactly as his total background would have demanded. He was raised in a military family with a high ranking father. His college life was as a midshipman at the US Naval Academy. As a Naval officer, he chose the rigorous demands of flight school and subsequent assignment as a line pilot off a carrier. In all of these activities he was subjected to an unusually high standard of discipline. In each one he was required to know, without error, where he was at all times and be able to execute his duties to the utmost.

The preparation for that kind of life is vital for survival. I have known many pilots and flown with a few on occasion. There is little room for “feelings” and equivocation on their part. They deal with physical truth regarding the performance of their craft, weather, and in McCain’s case, enemy action. They acquire discipline in operating the craft that keeps them alive to fly again. When flying with friends I have noticed that the mood changes from the pre-flight ritual and continues until we leave the aircraft and it is tied down. They are still friends but they take on a completely different persona. They become serious and attentive to detail far beyond their normal selves. Many of their actions while in the aircraft are conditioned responses to the realities of various situations. Were it otherwise, I would have been uncomfortable flying with them.

I came away, as a result of these observations, with the conclusion that John McCain knows just who he is, what he is doing, and most important, where he expects to end up. His responses have been conditioned through aforethought and serious planning. He does not, nor could he, make it up as he goes along. It’s all there in advance through years of thought and preparation.

This isolated event will not determine the outcome of the presidential sweepstakes. For those fortunate enough to watch, it may well be a watershed event. At the least, we shall all have something to chew on at Thanksgiving besides turkey and the hapless Detroit Lions.

It’s Buffalo this time….

I’m going to continue to pound this issue until law enforcement cleans up its act and takes responsibility for becoming scrupulous in advance of “no knock” raids on civilians. This time it is from Buffalo, NY and involves a family of eight who had the misfortune to live one floor below the “subject” apartment.

After breaking down the door, terrorizing the kids and injuring the father, they decided it was the wrong address and went on about their business. The wife admitted to a “criminal” record of traffic offenses but the raid was a disappointment otherwise. In this case the cops did offer an apology but no one has showed up yet to repair the door or stepped forward to pay the husband's hospital bill. The police did continue on and raid the floor above but found no cause to arrest or otherwise charge any of the occupants.

These people are almost universally protected from penalties for injuries or property damage as a result of these raids. This is unconscionable….

Syracuse Tire Gauges

Wired.com has come up with a surprising development coincident to Obama’s bizarre solution to the energy problem—“get your tires inflated to the proper level.” That was his recommendation plus “tuning up” the old jalopy. Even ignoring the fact that “tuning up” is a left over from the days, years ago, when I actually labored setting timing and adjusting points on my fleet of one car, proper inflation is spot on for assuring at least one aspect of fuel economy. Fuel injection has replaced the necessity of “tuning” at least by the shade tree mechanic.

The bigger story is in the devotion of the ownership of the Syracuse Tire Gauge Corp and their link to the Obama campaign. It’s really no big deal but I do find it amusing. Follow the link to the story as reported.

And finally,

The weather has cooled significantly so I have resumed the labor of continuing to assemble the cover for the deck. It has been a joy to watch the thing emerge from pre-sleep thoughts in bed, scratching those plans onto graph paper and then watching the whole thing come together. I looked at the work so far and decided that God really knows how to direct an amateur planner and carpenter. He has supplied the energy, physical strength, and the endurance to see it through. I’ll be glad when it’s done and He and I can have some time alone out there to rejoice together. Trust me, without Him, none of it would have been possible. Okay, so Jan did hold up one end of a board or two. I’ll keep you up to date....

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon