I Am Obligated to Post This

A sad day because a great American died. I post this not just because of the word in the headline, but because William F. Buckley was one of the greatest American thinkers of all time. I only hope he is remembered with the likes of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Milton Friedman and the other great thinkers of American political culture.

Tuesdays

Tuesdays are historically bad days. The Stock Market crashed on Tuesday, October 29, 1929. The Twin Towers fell on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. And, although I may be premature in saying this... on Tuesday, February 5, 2008, the Republican Party left me.

After the first vote in the West Virginia caucus, Romney was just short of the majority he needed to take the delegates. Realizing what was happening, all McCain's supporters departed en mass and settled in Huckabee's camp. This sort of thing does not happen without some sort of deal. I don't know what kind of deal it is, but it stinks like...well a West Virginia hog farm.

Now, the Republican front-runner by a wide margin is John McCain. As Peggy Noonan, Reagan's speech writer and biographer, puts it: McCain is the Moe Greene of the Republican Party. Ms. Noonan had a pretty good analysis of the situation even before today:

But Mr. Huckabee seems very happy running, and perhaps happy thinking of his future as the Mitt slayer in the party of John.

Mr. McCain seems to me to have two immediate problems, both of which he might address. One is that he doesn't seem to much like conservatives, and never has. They can't help admire him, but they've disagreed with him on so many issues, and when they bring this up his demeanor tends to morph into the second problem: He radiates, he telegraphs, a certain indignation at being questioned by people who've never had to vote in Congress and make a deal. He's like Moe Greene in "The Godfather," when Michael Corleone tells him he's going to buy him out. "Do you know who I am? I'm Moe Greene. I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders." I've been on the firing line, punk. I am the voice of surviving conservatism.

This doesn't always go over so well. Mr. Giuliani seems to know Mr. McCain is Moe Greene. Mr. Huckabee probably thought "The Godfather" was kinda violent. Mr. Romney may be thinking to himself, But Michael Corleone won in the end, and had better suits.

Wall Street Journal, February 1, 2008

Let's hope Michael...I mean Mitt...wins again. Otherwise, I will reregister as Libertarian.

BEST COMMERCIAL EVER!!!

There is no competition. This is the best commercial ever produced by the hand of man. And since God no longer produces commercials, the best ever! I love the concept.



I love the company. I love the car.

Incidentally, the Audi R8 featured in the commercial is named after one of the most successful race cars of all time. It was such a great car that I had to travel to Monterey to see the last race of its last full season of competition in the ALMS. Here are some photos of the race car. And yes...I am fully aware that no one else cares.


Driven by the great Tom Christensen


Driven by the always exciting JJ Lehto


Driven by Johnny Herbert