Peggy Noonan wrote an excellent op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, this before the selection of Joe Biden for Vice Presidential nominee. She discussed many topics, but the part about the acceptance speeches struck me as being spot on:

Mr. Obama's upcoming convention speech will be good. All Obama speeches are good. Not as interesting as he is—he is more compelling as a person than his words tend to be in text. But the speech will be good, and just in case it isn't good, people will still come away with an impression that it must have been, because the media is going to say it was, because they expect it to be, and what they expect is what most of them will see.

I suspect everyone has the convention speeches wrong. Everyone expects Mr. Obama to rouse, but the speech I'd watch is Mr. McCain's. He's the one with the real opportunity, because no one expects anything. He's never been especially good at making speeches.

The pressure during the convention is clearly on McCain. Obama is "The Great Orator" and will deliver an amazing speech, with all they hype surrounding not only the historic implications of being possibly the first African-American President, but also the fact that the speech will be held at Invesco Field, in front of some seventy-thousand supporters. Obama is expected to deliver, but McCain is a forgetful old man who isn't eloquent, and isn't fond of speeches. I don't expect McCain to have near the production value that Obama will, but if he stays on message and is to the point, he can rally the conservative base. The die-hard partisans will only see greatness in their respective candidate, but for the undecided and the independents, the speeches offer real promise compared to the plethora of attack ads.

As Obama has decided on Joe Biden for his Vice Presidential candidate, the pundits have begun to spin away. Lets face it, Obama's message for hope and change are not being realized with this choice of Joe Biden. Biden has foreign policy experience, which presumably Obama feels will offset his weaknesses on that front. However, as the Obama campaign has somewhat painted themselves into a corner with the criticisms of McCain being a "Washington Insider." Joe Biden has more Washington experience than John McCain does and is only a few years younger, making any attack on McCain's age or experience a moot point. While the cable news channels are all covering this predictably, the spin being given by Democratic operatives is incredible. For all of the criticisms Biden has made of Obama, they can only claim they were taken out of context. Certain statements, while gaffes, can be considered as that, even if they are borderline racist:

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

Believe me, they would be classified as so if Biden had a little R next to his name, rather than a D...Other statements made by Biden about Obama underscore some of the major problems with this choice. In the beginning of this primary season, Biden criticized Obama's experience.

"I think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training."

Biden then reaffirmed that statement to George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week in August of 2007:

Stephanopoulos: "You were asked is he ready. You said 'I think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training." Sen. Biden: "I think that I stand by the statement."

I haven't seen the new McCain commerical echoing these things, but the fact remains that they were things said and can potentially hurt Obama. The Democrats already have material ready for a possible Romney nomination, and have actually put out some attacks pre-emptively, which shows to me that they are worried Romney's economic experience will trounce that of Biden. The main issue I have however, as the title of this post implies, is that all the Democrats are coming out saying how wonderful Biden is, and that these quotes don't matter. Furthermore, the most ludicrous thing I heard was from a gal representing the Young Democrats. When asked how the choice affects the mantra of change, she had the balls to say that it doesn't matter because Biden made good decisions over his legislative career while McCain constantly made bad ones. Are you freaking kidding me? Just admit that you don't care about change, but the political party you represent. Here's how she *should* have responded to that question:

While Barack Obama represents change, the entire political platform encompasses more than just the issue of change. Senator Biden brings a vast amount of experience fighting for the issues that Barack Obama cares for and will complement him extremely well throughout an Obama administration.

It doesn't change the fact that the answer is all BS and fluff, but at least it has some semblance of intelligence in it. Speaking of intelligence, during his failed run for Preisdent in 1988, Biden was asked about his time at law school and the type of grades he received, to which he responded with the classic line:

"I think I have a much higher IQ than you do."

Joe, I'd be willing to be a very large some of money that you don't...

Since Obama is set to make a selection at any time, I wanted to make some thoughts first. First, I don't necessarily follow the buzz with Biden, from a practical standpoint. Biden has many things going against him. He is a hothead and prone to gaffes, and is from a small state that won't affect the election, although some in the media play his Pennsylvania connections. He also spoke very harshly of Obama in a borderline racist remark. Finally, while his experience is beneficial, the Obama campaign is based upon the idea of change - Biden's 30+ years of experience don't jive with those ideas. Kathleen Sebelius has been mentioned, but her nomination would alienate Hillary supporters and she simply doesn't have the national recognition. This leaves two people with a chance - Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana or Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia. Bayh would help with the experience, while Kaine would represent change. Both would likely swing their respective state in the Obama column, but Bayh is a safer pick in my book and would be my choice. Only time will tell if Obama chooses him. We'll know by tomorrow. Update: Looks like it will be Biden after all if reports on Secret Service being dispatched to his house are correct. Should be interesting to see how the above comments regarding him play out...

Breaking News -

In the courtroom today, embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has just been offered a plea deal. Should he resign from his position as mayor, one of his charges will be dropped. More to come when they return Monday...

Drudge had linked to a story in the Telegraph about how Obama's lost brother has been found in Kenya. Unfortunately, as legitimately interesting as the story may be, the picture was bothering me and then it hit me - The picture used of Obama's brother reminds me of a character on Chappelle's show - Tyrone Biggums. You be the judge:

Last night, my wife and I watched the two-hour Saddleback Civil Forum with John McCain and Barack Obama, hosted by pastor Rick Warren on CNN HD (Still waiting for Fox News or MSNBC to have a HD channel.)

To start, I was extremely impressed by not only each candidate, but the entire debate and format. One of the biggest complaints about typical debates is that the candidates come off with scripted answers, and have questions tailored toward them, which may allow for a greater degree of bias depending on which questions are asked to each candidate.

In addition, when Obama answered the questions in the first hour, McCain was kept in the dark in the "cone of silence" as to not give McCain any advantage in hearing the questions or Obama's answers. While I didn't hear it mentioned, I'm under the assumption that the candidates did not know the questions to be asked beforehand, especially considering the on the fly answers given, rather than a boring scripted campaign commercial like we'll most likely see in the upcoming debates.

The picture above with both McCain and Obama was a genuinely nice moment with the candidates, and emphasized a positive message, rather than the attacks being purported by both sides and candidates.

Here are some thoughts from the various answers each candidate gave:

Three Wisest People

Obama mentioned his wife, his grandmother, and then a various number of politicians he's worked with over the years. McCain listed General David Petraeus, Democrat John Lewis (a civil rights leader and Obama supporter,) and former Ebay CEO Meg Whitman. Obama played the safe answer on this one, while McCain covered all bases, and gave the better answer simply for mentioning Petraeus.

Most Gut Wrenching Decision

I don't recall Obama's answer, but I was successfully able to predict (to my non-political wife's amazement) exactly what McCain would say. While not accepting preferential treatment as a P.O.W. in Vietnam, I wonder if McCain has beat this into our heads too much and the average Americans are sick of mentioning it, or if political junkies like myself are being overwhelmed with the 24/7 news coverage. Something I'm guessing we're all tired of hearing is McCain mentioning the phrase "my friends" to the point where my wife (again, non-political) was verbally counting the number of times he mentioned it. I think she stopped counting after it was said ten times.

Abortion

The one gaffe from Obama during the forum. By mentioning it was above his pay grade it came off as avoiding the question for political expediency, although he did acknowledge his pro-choice views directly after, perhaps as an attempt to correct the earlier avoidance. McCain was very simple in stating that life starts at conception, as do human rights.

Marriage

Both candidates seemed to have similar answers by defining marriage as between one man and one woman. McCain said he would only support a constitutional amendment if the government tried to force states like his own to accept the rulings of other states such as Massachusetts. Obama was more focused on civil unions.

Supreme Court Justices

This was an issue where both candidates were polar opposites. Obama claimed he would not have nominated Justices Thomas, Scalia and even Roberts. McCain predictably mentioned Ginsburg, Breyer, Souter and Stevens. This simply showed the differences of conservatives being strict constitutionalists with the more liberal members believing the Constitution is a living document.

Merit Pay for Teachers

Both candidates support a merit pay system, with Obama trying not to alienate the support of the NEA by mentioning on multiple occasions to work with the teachers on developing the system. McCain was a bit harsher claiming that good teachers would receive a bonus and bad teachers would find a different line of work, while also praising other options like charter and home schools.

Taxes

Obama referred to anyone as making under $150,000 per year as middle or lower class, thus to receive a tax break and anyone making over $250,000 per year as upper class, receiving a tax increase. The $150,000 - $250,000 range wasn't mentioned which was a bit confusing as to what would happen to those folks, or where they were classified. McCain mentioned that being rich isn't about a certain number, but rather having a house, a good job and an education. When pressed, he made his gaffe of the night by (albeit jokingly) claiming that the rich made $5 million per year in income, then conceding it would be turned into an attack ad. I am closer to that of Obama's definition of rich, but agree with McCain's policies in not increasing the tax burden on anyone in a form of economic redistribution.

Why Do You Want to be President?

Obama mentioned that the American dream was "slipping away" and he wanted to bring folks together. McCain wanted to inspire people to do things for others than themselves, and also bring folks together.

Overall, both candidates performed very well in this setting. McCain doesn't have the charisma that Obama does, but was better at directly answering the questions as Obama seemed to play the role of typical politician by avoiding answering a question or changing the scope of the question and answering a different question than presented. While there were many religious themed questions, as would be expected at an evangelical forum, but as shown above, I wasn't really interested in those, but more on specific issues and policies as I feel most Americans are interested in.

As has been in the news lately, the attacks by Russia on Georgia are terrible. Not only has Russia's attack been unprovoked, but the shallow reason given of ethnic cleansing is simply not true. The reasons for the attack are numerous and I'm sure that there are other theories as well. The most notable theory I've heard is that Russia is looking to expand back into a USSR style empire. I don't particulary buy the USSR theory, but there are some other reasons. First and foremost, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is a puppet for former President, and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. I admired Putin for some time after he took office for many of the initiatives he had and the supposed changes in Russia, however, as of late I've seen that the KGB portion of Putin's life has not gone away. Authoritative control and suppression of dissenters along with the connections to the assassination of Litvinenko among other things add to this stigma. Aside from reminiscing of the old days, Putin is making a statement. By invading Georgia, Russia is flexing it's muscle both militarily and financially. The Russians control a vast amount of oil, and supply a large portion of that to Europe. The Georgia pipeline is essentially the only competition the Russians have to distributing oil throughout the world. By staking claim to all of the resources in the arctic, Russia is not trying to expand the empire via land, but by controlling the resources. The statement being made is that Russia controls the oil, and that nothing should be done to reduce the stranglehold they maintain. The strategy set in place is perfect. Georgia can't withstand the might of the Russian army, and America is stretched too thin with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. So while Georgia helps us in Iraq, we are unable to return the favor militarily. As a young Democracy, Georgia needs to know that allies will help in return. Vladimir Putin hates this man, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. As a staunch ally of the US, and someone who studied in the US, with a great understanding of our founding fathers, Saakashvili is a threat to Putin's control over the former Soviet nations. By removing him from power, Russia can install a puppet like Medvedev to do whatever it wants. As of now, the United States cannot afford to enter another war, let alone one with the Russians. Russia sees us as being very weak, in a state similar to their own before the collapse of the USSR. We may not be able to send troops over to fight, but we can and should send whatever aid is possible. Georgia as an ally in the region of former Soviet states is similar to how Israel is our ally in the Middle East. We must do whatever it takes to protect our ally, and in my mind, more importantly, protect the Georgian President - a man reminiscent of our founding fathers who received over 96% of the vote in his first presidential election.

Kwame Kilpatrick is once again back in court right now. The judge is hearing arguments over whether the embattled Detroit Mayor violated his bond by having contact with his sister, who is a witness in the case.

Update @ 9:22AM: Judge Giles rules the Mayor did not violate his bond by visiting sister.

According to this article in the Detroit News, Kwame may be in even more trouble.

The Detroit News states that Kwame Kilpatrick was at his mothers house today for a visit. His sister was seen going in and out of her mothers house while he was there. According to the paper, he is not to have contact with his sister due to these two new charges pending and his sister being called as a witness.

After all the things he has done, is it any doubt he would try to "coach" his sister for any legal proceedings with her as a witness?