Random Thoughts

Just a few random thoughts…

A lot of conservatives are angry that John McCain has recently hinted that he would attempt to pass an amnesty bill for illegal immigrants before securing the border. The remarks that have conservatives so angry probably aren’t that big a deal—conservatives think that McCain reneged on his promise to secure the border first, but McCain stated his intent to do so immediately after his pro-amnesty comments. McCain does support amnesty, but he does support (or claims to support) securing the border. Still, some conservative bloggers have announced that they will not support McCain.

I really wonder what these conservatives expected. McCain’s position on illegal immigration is pretty well known. If they consider it a disqualifying issue, then maybe they should have decided that back when he got the nomination? I like John Hawkins, but he is way off base when he says that he won’t vote for McCain based solely on McCain’s recent comments.

Conservatives seem to want to close the border between the U.S. and Mexico, but they rarely seem to have any concrete plan beyond a vague border fence. The border between the two countries is 2,000 miles long—wouldn’t a fence be pretty expensive? Not to mention hard to maintain. Securing the border is important, but if conservatives wish to be taken seriously, they should come up with a more concrete plan.

Observation: many blogs seem to think to stories by linking to another blog that links to the story, instead of linking to it directly. Why not link directly to the story? Take this post from Instapundit. He links to a blogger who provides a very brief recap and links to the original article. Wouldn’t it be easier to cut out the middleman and go straight to the original source?

Hillary Clinton has compared Obama’s situation to Kennedy’s…Bobby Kennedy’s. “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California” she reminded voters. Her point was that at the time of Kennedy’s assassination, the nominating race was still competitive, but still. It’s hard to imagine a more awkward gaffe. Generally, mentioning any presidential candidate’s name in the same sentence as “assassination” is a bad idea.

Speaking of gaffes, Barack Obama knows just who is responsible for the (mostly nonexistent) increase in hate crimes against Hispanics—Lou Dobbs and Rush Limbaugh. Because hate crimes just naturally follow once someone publicly opposes illegal immigration.

When I heard that Bobby Jindal was invited to John McCain’s ranch for Memorial Day, I was encouraged, thinking that McCain is considering him for his running mate. But if I had known that Tom Ridge was invited too, then I would have felt a bit differently. Tom Ridge is the former governor of Pennsylvania and the former national security advisor. He made up that color -coded terror alert system that always seems to be stuck on orange, and is a very liberal Republican. I hope McCain isn’t thinking too seriously of picking Ridge for his running mate.

Alaska governor Sarah Palin is suing the federal government to prevent polar bears from being added to the “threatened” specis list. It’s nice to see a Republican with a bit of backbone.

Does anyone like these “random thoughts” posts? It’s easier than putting together a long post on a single subject, and there are some things that aren’t really worth 600-800 words, but are interesting enough to warrant a mention. So tell me: should I keep doing them, or would you rather see something else?