Let The Games Begin

I listened to about half of John McCain's speech on the car radio. Quick takes:

1. He did not once say either the words "Bush" or "Republican." 
2. For all the talk about change, the policy portion of the speech was tired, failed Republicanism.
3. The line about "we wanted to change Washington but instead Washington changed us" landed with a thud audible in the Pacific Northwest. Not what the delegates wanted to hear.
4. The peroration was effective. Even I was moved. But...

What's going on here? McCain has set himself up as a man apart from his party even though he's leading it. He promises change but proposes more of the same. The strongest rhetoric in his speech was in the part most devoid of substance. In many ways, he took a page out of what he has been decrying as Obama's playbook: Long on words, short on substance. By divorcing himself from his party, by keeping its policies unchanged, and by adding Sarah Palin to the ticket, he's creating the same cult of personality that the right claims is the essence of Obama's campaign. It's an interesting gambit, one fraught with contradiction and paradox. I think it will collapse under it's own weight, especially when you consider...

...this, the most significant development of the week. It's never good for the party in power when unemployment reaches a five-year high. Especially for the candidate who -- no matter how hard he's running from the party brand -- proposes more of the same...

"The cause is the thing," says Neville bro Cyril, lately of the Wetlands All Stars...

John Gourley of the indie rock band "Portugal. The Man" grew up in Wasilla, Alaska. Here, he explains why Sarah Palin does not represent true Alaskans any more than does the governor of Hawaii...

The New Orleans Daily Photo returns home from Hurricane Gustav. Be sure to check out his August photos of the evacuation. BTW, this blog regularly features amazing photos of Gulf Coast bird life...

Friday's Choice:  The Rolling Stones perform "Sweet Virginia" in 1972 at Fort Worth's Tarrant County Convention Center. Listen to the chorus and you'll know why I'm dedicating this Friday's choice to the Republican National Convention: