3 August 2000

After several days being down, there's so much to write about!  But to start with a recap.  Monday my computer and home network got zapped during a horrible storm.  Yes, it was on a surge protector, a fairly nice one.  But I think the electric flickered a few times and fried the thing (along with my home network) -- I should have had an uninterruptible power supply on the thing, and now I do.  When one has so much on a puter, it's a horribly frustrating thing when it all blows up.  I have since replaced my dead computer (no use waiting  a week on the insurance company), but it still needs memory added and the network replaced before it's fully up to speed.  And I still have to find someone with a zip disk to copy my backed up files onto a cd for me, so I can restore them to the new machine.  The new computer doesn't have a zip drive, but it came with a CD-RW as well as a webcam, which is cool.  In fact, I may eventually add the Library Cam to the website (yeah yeah, the cam will occasionally pick me up, but it will be focused on my library mainly -- exciting, huh?).  But still, no intimate cam (a la Kari and Andrew) for me.  So I have a few tasks ahead of me yet this weekend.  

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I have been watching the Republican National Convention the last couple of nights.  As I've written before, I really like Paul Gigot.  I think he is one of the few journalists today with any sense; in fact, I think he is just amazing.  He thinks of political things that I don't.  That impresses me.  I say all of this because I had forgotten just how idiotic political commentators tend to be during conventions until I watched PBS's coverage -- PBS! -- of the convention, just so I could hear Gigot's commentary (one shining star among the idiots is better than complete idiocy, which would be all of the other channels).  Doris Kearns Goodwin is a typical academic historian who covers politics -- an idiot (tonight's line:  "President Ford's injury reminded the Republicans you can script a lot of things, but you can't script God" (along with her stupid idiotic grin as this horrible line is flying out of her oversized pie hole).  Ditto Michael Beschloss.  And then throw in Haynes Johnson.  And a few other people who are probably illiterate.  Horrible.  Beyond Horrible.  Aside from Gigot, who is outstanding.

On a happier note, I was pleased with Cheney's speech during the convention.  And George Bush projected himself almost in a Reaganesque manner, stronger than I've ever seen him.  I was impressed.

But the beauty of this convention was that it was positive and confident.  This was indeed a Reaganesque convention.  Gone is Pat Buchanan (as Bob Dole said, he's left the party and good riddance) and his hate.  Gone is Bob Dole as a prominent figure.  Gone is frowning Bill Bennett, who is a bright man, but dour as hell.  In their place is a fairly down-to-earth governor from a proud state who preaches the politics of inclusion and who is beginning to carry himself like the next president.  So what does Gore do at the Democratic convention?  If he pulls the typical politics of hate, envy, and division, he acts just like the Republicans predicted he would.  If the talks about the issues instead of calling everything a risky scheme, he is going to get pounded ("me too" isn't very convincing on social security or medicare reform, especially when the administration has killed bills supported by Democrats like Bob Kerrey of Nebraska).  It will be interesting to see what they do.  Every four years, it is like heaven for political science types like myself.

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Jonelin wrote a bad-ass piece on guns today, the sort of thing that might make my friend R (really, that is the name he answers to -- not one of my vague references) propose to her on the spot.  She calls it ranting, but it's really a good piece.  Funny, I've always been a little bit gun shy -- unlike most guys who grew up in rural Oklahoma, I always preferred going fishing to shooting guns and such -- but I am the strongest proponent of guns, the second amendment, and gun rights contained within state constitutions.  Guns are a political equalizer.  While the Declaration of Independence can insist all men are created equal (and, by  implication, no man should rule another without his consent), guns make it a little easier to uphold that morality, because the weakest person can kill the strongest when armed with a gun (and vice versa).  The American Founders knew to mix a little Hobbes and Machiavelli with their Locke and Sidney.  

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Well, that's enough for tonight.  It's good to be writing instead of installing drivers on stubborn devices and plugging in cards and other things that waste my time!