Recent & Best of Random Fragments:

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

   Dem Con 2 - Humdrum - Last night it was time for the Dems to chip away at McCain and for Hillary to have her moment in the spotlight.  The delivery was fine, but on content, I was not impressed.  The rhetoric got sharper, but it almost always sounded like nonsense.  But, I guess when you're the party of redistribution, the whole notion of wealth creation is unimportant.  Otherwise, it is hard to fathom how anyone can believe the ranting.   So, my take on the night - humdrum.

     The keynote speaker was Mark Warner, candidate for the Senate from Virginia (and former governor).  Boring.  He didn't seem especially passionate and his message was convoluted - from his participation in the cell phone revolution (hmm . . . he's starting to sound like Al Gore, who invented the internet) to 100 mpg hybrid vehicles for all.  The worst was his "complaint" that George Bush's major flaw was that he failed to rally the American spirit after 9/11.  Awful.

     Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer was more animated and did a much better job of rousing the crowd.  Still, the content of his message was weak, from arguing for tax credits to consumers that buy hybrid cars (ouch!) to his remark that "petrol dictators will never own American wind and sunshine."  Well, that kind of talk is bound to make us friends and influence people.  Not!

     Hillary was the highlight, naturally.  She gave a great performance, although she could have paused at times when the crowd was all riled up and thunderous in their applause.  Instead, she kept surging through her speech, which struck me as unusually short, ringing in at just a tad over twenty minutes.  I doubt that Bill will be that brief tonight!  Here are some of the parts that caught my attention . . .

"18 million cracks in the glass ceiling" - The reference is to the number of votes she got and the invisible barrier to women that want to climb to the top of the corporate ladder.  Well, she got to run for President!  Isn't that a sign that there is no "glass ceiling?"  Apparently not; only if she won would that ceiling have shattered.  Oh, give me a break! 

"I've spent 35 years in the trenches" - This reference really should be phased out in politics.  It is so over the top and denigrates the blood, sweat and tears of those that really do spend time in trenches (i.e., our military). 

"we've suffered 8 years of failed leadership" - She makes it sound as if we live in a gulag, or something.  Brit Hume, on Fox, made the same kind of comment, in a more general fashion, as part of all conventions.  Yes, but still it is just rhetoric.  This got worse at the end, when she said that with this election, the "fate of the nation hangs in the balance."  You mean, we might actually privatize social security?  Woo hoo!  Of course, even if the Dems lose the presidential race (and, I think they will), they are certainly going to keep control of both houses of Congress.

"No way.  No how.  No McCain." - One of the highlights and, really, kind of funny although it doesn't rhyme. 

"we will create a world class educational system and make it affordable again" - Ouch!  If we don't already have a "world class" system, what do we have?  And, isn't this more than a little bit contradictory?  A Hummer education for the price of a Yugo?  I don't think so.  

"stop padding the pockets of energy speculators" - If a politician doesn't understand the role that speculators play in stabilizing economic conditions, then they just don't understand anything about the economy. 

     I think one thing was clear from her performance - she would have been a much stronger candidate against McCain than Obama will be.  Will she run against a President McCain in 2012?  Probably.  Will she run in 2016 if Obama gets two terms?  Probably not.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

   Dem Con 1 - Hollow - I have pretty much always been a political junkie.  I usually make it a point to watch the conventions, even if I know who I am supporting.  This year is no different, but I now have the opportunity to comment on these affairs.  So, first up are the Dems who are convening in my, more or less, hometown of Denver, Colorado.  Day one I have decided can best be summarized as "hollow."

     Of course, the highlight of the evening's show was Michelle Obama, wife of the candidate.  She was personable and gave a good speech.  I would echo Juan Williams comments, made on Fox, that it held special cultural significance and that it served as a role model for a stable middle-class black family.

     But, when it came to content, we heard only the same shallow rhetoric that filled the primary season.  I really don't know what is meant by saying that Barak Obama will "bring about the change we need."  This was especially awkward in the context of Ms. Obama's rousing story of her success - strong, hard-working father, close knit family, the wherewithal to send both kids to college, etc.  One would think that her story is an example of what is right with this country, and not the foundation for the "change we need."  I just don't get it.

    Her funniest line, which was unintentional, but I don't hold it against her, was that Barak "grew up way across the continent in Hawaii."  Once you pass by California, you're no longer on the continent.

     The star of the night was really Ted Kennedy.  Man, can the guy talk a good line.  I don't buy the whole "health care is a fundamental right, not a privilege" nonsense - as Ayn Rand pointed out so many years ago, if you have a right to something like health care, then someone is obliged to provide it, and that obligation is going to come at the point of the gun wielded by the government.  Still, he seemed in his usual top form and gave a stirring talk.  The video tribute, done by Ken Burns, fell flat for me.  It is hard to feel some special connection to someone who owns a giant sailboat and is able to flit about the ocean with his family.  It just doesn't resonate with the lifestyle of the common masses.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

   The Five Ring Circus - I have never been much of an avid follower of the Olympics.  I have only seen bits and pieces over the years, although I do remember catching some of the major events from time to time.  This is especially true of the summer version, when there is so much else to do with my time, energy and effort.  The winter version, on the other hand, fills up dead space in my schedule.

     So, since the games have begun in Beijing, I have tuned in a few times, on a sporadic basis.  And, what do I see?  Well, there is beach volleyball, some kind of handball version of soccer, some kind of stick version of broomball, archery, more beach volleyball, some "real" volleyball, water polo and some women's weight lifting.  I must say that I scratch my head and ponder exactly what the Olympics are supposed to mean.  And, then, there is the issue of how many medal opportunities a participant may have - for swimmer Michael Phelps it is quite high, while for a basketball player it must certainly just be one.  So, how do you compare the performance of the two?  Well, here are my suggestions . . .

Eliminate team sports.  To my eye, the Olympics should be about individual achievement.  So, team sports should be tossed.  No water polo.  No soccer.  No hockey.  No softball.  Those might be interesting games, but they should only appear in some other venue.
   Exceptions:  Teams where the competition is not one-on-one, like rowing and relays.

Eliminate games entirely.  I don't think chess is an Olympic sport . . . yet!  But, tennis is, and it shouldn't be.  The Olympics are a competition, but not one in a game.  No tennis.  No ping pong.  No badminton.

Eliminate competitions based on judging.  Any competition where the participant must look up to see how they scored among a set of judges doesn't cut it with me.  There must be rules for competitors, and some enforcement mechanism, but let's just throw out all the "sports" that get scored.  No pommel horse.  No rings.  No synchronized swimming.  No diving.  No trampoline.
   Exceptions:  Change the gymnastics "competition" into truly athletic events - who can jump the most pommel horses in one minute, etc.

Crown one champion.  Whoever wins the decathlon, or some variation thereof, would be deemed "the Olympic Champion."  Score this as currently is done, or come up with some alternative scheme that can produce an overall champion that excels across many fields.  The modern day triathlon is really a better indicator of who is "best" than is someone who wins nine medals in closely related competitions.

Friday, July 25, 2008

   Sounding Board Editorials - It has taken me a while to wrap up this project, but the complete annotated "sounding board" editorials that I wrote over the spring of 2008 are up in a special section.  There is a featured link in the center panel of my home page, which will stay up for some time yet.  Thanks for reading.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

   The Character of Flagstaff -  While interviewing candidates for city offices as part of the Daily Sun editorial board, I have often heard them say that they want to "preserve the character of Flagstaff."  This was true of mayoral candidates as well as those for city council.  Perhaps it is just a meaningless phrase, but one that every politician must utter, as if it were some kind of loyalty oath.  I don't know.  But, I do know that it is meaningless and, so, took this opportunity to address the issue of what a city's character means.  This comment ran on May 18.

Some more on some of the local references:

Flagstaff history column.  Every Saturday, for some time now, there is a column, on page two, that summarizes some of what was going on (at least as reported in the paper) 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago that week.  The woman who puts that together served with me on the virtual board a couple of years ago.  It's usually quite interest, and next year I will be reading about what was going on when I first lived in Flagstaff (i.e., 1984 will be 25 years ago).  One of the things I have noted over time is that the topic of sheep come up often in the news of 100 years ago.

Duck's Bookstore.  Ah, I can half close my eyes and recall this quaint little shop.  Where was it?  I want to say that it was in the Greentree Shopping Plaza, but I think he may have moved around a bit.  For those familiar with Bookmans, Duck's was like a small version of that store, selling mostly used books.  I would stop by whenever I could while I was working at the Grand Canyon in the late 1970s/early 1980s, in search of old canyon-related books.

Edited references.  With a 250 word limit, I had to drop a few additional references that I liked, including one about dropping off typed "letters to the editor" at the Daily Sun office on Santa Fe, driving down a 2-lane Butler Avenue, the old Flamingo Motel (now a Barnes & Noble) and the old Wendy's (now a Carl's Jr.). 

F-cubed and alien outhouses.  The activist group, Friends of Flagstaff's Future, is probably made up of more recent residents to this area, and they certainly have no interest in preserving Flagstaff's character.  Rather, they cloak their desire to mold Flagstaff into the vision they have and use the character issue as the justification.  The "alien outhouses" cost the city's taxpayers $50,000 and sit across the street from the main post office.  It was part of an ill-conceived public art program that has, thankfully, gone away.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

   Markets and Housing - While interviewing candidates for city offices as part of the Daily Sun editorial board, I heard the comment, on more than a couple of occasions, that "markets don't work."  Of course, this is false.  What is really meant is that we don't always like market outcomes and we wish we could just wave our magic wand and change everything.  And, that's exactly what the lazy social activists keep doing, except that they substitute the government for the magic wand, and, in reality, the world doesn't change into a land of milk and honey.  I was especially dismayed at how one of the city council candidates - Karla Brewster (who won a seat) - made this sentiment the [il]logical foundation for her proposals to deal with our "affordable housing" crisis.  So, I took this opportunity to address the general issue and to explain how markets function.  This comment ran on May 11.

     What continues to amaze me is that so many people don't understand that the market is a reflection of our tastes and preferences.  Instead, they seem to think that it is some kind of external mechanism, whose workings are mysterious, that control our lives.  Hence, they come up with an endless list of government rules and regulations and subsidies to try and create an outcome they like.  The effort will either be unsuccessful or will lead to a host of unintended consequences - keep lot density low, require that trees remain standing, institute an onerous permitting process and end up with high housing prices.  Require builders to devote some of their developments to "affordable units" and that makes everything else more expensive.  And, now you have to determine who is entitled to these subsidized units.  It reminds me of a passage from John Kenneth Galbraith's The Affluent Society (I think it was that book) where he mused about whether a mouse running circles on a wheel might make for a good model of what we do.  He used it to describe the pursuit of consumption, but I think it could be applied to public policy as well!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

   Taxes and Morality - When the issue of sales taxes comes up in the local arena, I am constantly amazed at how easy it is for supporters to make the argument that we should support such a tax, or its expansion, in part because visitors pay a sizable chunk of these taxes.  Well, it happens everywhere, but that doesn't make it right.  How often have you traveled somewhere and, upon inspecting your hotel room bill seen a line item called "room tax?"  It is the same principle - tax people who are just passing through and make them help to pay for local services which they aren't going to use!  It is the ultimate in taxation without representation.  And, yet, it enjoys such widespread political support.  I have never heard anyone raise the issue of the morality of such a taxing scheme.  While we are constantly barraged with issues of ethical behavior, how can such a lapse go so totally unnoticed?  The ballot measure to raise taxes to help fund the bus system has been touted as a sort of kinder and gentler tax since it is a sales tax and we get a lot of visitors in Flagstaff, who really are never going to use the bus system.  So, it's like free money.  I decided to address the issue with this editorial.   This comment ran on April 27.

     My comment about "making sense" was a retort to a letter published in the paper criticizing my earlier stance on the bus system.  The author of that letter, Marcus Ford, and I have tangled in print over the years and will likely continue to do so.

Monday, June 9, 2008

   STS-124 Launch - The space shuttle program is winding to an end - only 10 more missions (after STS-124) are left before the fleet is retired.  For years I have been meaning to go down to Florida and see a launch.  But, with the program on a regular schedule I always put that off.  Now, with the impending end of the shuttle program, it was finally time to get going on this!  Eric was quite enthusiastic about going, so together we headed out of Flagstaff in the early morning of Friday, May 30, arriving at out hotel in Cocoa Beach, Florida, in the early evening, the day before the launch of STS-124.  Shuttle missions are often postponed, so we booked a room for five nights and kept our fingers crossed that any delay would fall within our "launch window."

     We headed up to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Saturday morning.  Only those who had pre-purchased tickets are let in on launch day.  Our tickets, and a parking pass, were sent to me about ten days before our trip.  Since the launch was slated for late in the day - at 5 p.m. - we had a lot of time to see the place.  We started with a bus tour of the center.  These tours only ran until 11 a.m. and we were one one of the last ones.  We didn't get to make the stop at the observation gantry because of the launch, but did stop at the Saturn V building and, from the lawn outside, we could see across the 3.5 miles to the launch pads.  Some bleachers were set up nearby, and this is were NASA VIPs come to see the launch.

     We caught one of the last buses back to the visitors center, and en route, we got to see the astronauts passing by in their famous little trailer (photo to the right).  Traffic was stopped for their passage to the launch pad.  Once back at the visitors center, we checked out a couple of exhibits (the Shuttle Launch Experience is cool) and set up our chairs in the viewing area next to the Rocket Garden.  The place was filling up.  There was a large screen showing the video from NASA TV and some ongoing commentary from a stage set up below the screen.  At just past 5 p.m., with all going well, the shuttle launched, with the Japanese Kibo module in its payload bay.  Quite exciting, to be sure.  The shuttle clears the trees in front of us before we hear it, as it shot straight up into the sky.  The most remarkable thing to me was how bright the exhaust flames were - it was like looking at a fire in the sky.  On TV, the brightness just washes out to white and you don't get the same effect as we did.  Our view only lasted a couple of minutes, as the shuttle disappeared behind its own exhaust trail.  Eric watched through his new binoculars and could see the separation of the solid rocket boosters.  Below is a video I took of the launch, which is posted up on YouTube - my premier posting.  OK, so now I need to learn some editing skills.  All in due time.

     Following the launch, we had "dinner with an astronaut."  Not personally, although there aren't more than a couple of hundred people for this event.  Our featured astronaut was retired pilot Jon McBride, who flew the Challenger for STS-41G in 1984.  He was a fascinating speaker and related well to the crowd.  Afterwards, he took pictures with each of us, as you can see below.  One piece of information that I was not aware of - the "space shuttle" is the designation for the whole launch vehicle, including the rockets/fuel tanks.  What we call the shuttle (Discovery, in this case) is technically called the "orbiter."  So, we saw the space shuttle launch of the Discovery orbiter.

Click on any picture to see a larger image.
Dennis & Eric in line for the bus tour of Kennedy Space Center.  Tours ran until 11 a.m. on this launch day.	Exhibit Hall next to Rocket Garden.	Liftoff of the Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-124, at 5:02 p.m. on 5/31/08.  The weather was ideal for the launch.
	Pad 39A four hours before launch.
Live broadcast of shuttle from KSC.	Shuttle commander Jon McBride.	Eric poses beside Saturn V rocket.

     Since the shuttle launch went off without a hitch, we decided to spend a day at the beach.  Cocoa Beach is famous, of course, for its proximity to the launch facilities, and its use in the old I Dream of Jeannie TV show.  Since this is the off season for the beach - temps in the low 90s - there was plenty of room to hang out.  We walked about a mile down the beach to the Cocoa Beach Pier, where we ate lunch and saw a pelican wandering around.  Nice leisurely day and whenever we were back at the room, we had NASA TV tuned on, to catch all the space action!

Cocoa Beach.	The pier at Cocoa Beach.	Don't tease the pelicans!

     Our Kennedy Space Center admission tickets allowed for a second visit within seven days.  Since we didn't see everything on launch day, we decided to go back on Monday and spend another day there.  The night before, we bumped into some guys from Phoenix, who had been at our table for "dinner with an astronaut."  They recommended the "NASA Up Close" tour, so that's what we opted for as soon as we arrived at KSC.

     In stark contrast to launch day, the crowd on this day was quite small.  They say that they get about a million visitors a year - I'd bet that half of those are here on launch days, which means that usually this is a rather laid back place to visit.  The bus tour was great.  We went out on the causeway, where public viewing of the launch is allowed, but quite difficult to get (tickets are snapped up right away for that venue).  We also drove right up and around the two launch pads - 39A and 39B.  Cool, cool, cool.  We stopped at a viewing area halfway between the two launch pads, which was quite a sight.

     The tour dropped us off back at the Saturn V building, where we could pick up the regular tour to return to the visitors center.  Since Eric and I had missed the stop at the International Space Station (ISS) building on the launch day tour (it was too late), we took the opportunity of going there.  The public area overlooks the main floor here, where space station components are being readied for later flights.  We saw the "cupola" on the work floor.

     Once back at the visitors center, we decided to do the Shuttle Launch Experience again (it is a cool simulation) and we saw the two 3-D Imax movies.  They were great.  It was another full day.

The Rocket Garden at KSC.	Launch pad 39B.	The famed Vehicle Assembly Bldg.
Shuttle garages next to the VAB.	Cupola slated for delivery to ISS.	Exhibit of testing models at IMAX.

     There was one more day of our trip, and we decided to spend it, again, at the beach.  I rented an umbrella, since I got some sunburn on our previous visit.  Eric had a boogie board that he used on the small waves here, while I enjoyed a day of reading and soaking up the views.  We saw some dolphins breaching the water offshore and pelicans flying overhead, periodically diving into the water in search of food.

Sunset over the Banana River.	Our rental shade for the day.	Mural at Coconuts on the Beach.

     Wednesday morning (June 4) we traveled back to Orlando to fly home.  It was a great trip and chance to see the shuttle launch, as well as enjoy the beach and eat seafood all the time - the gator bites were good at Florida's Seafood Bar & Grill, the crayfish and shrimp chowder was fabulous at Coconuts on the Beach, the rock shrimp was a treat at the Old Fish House, and the lobster bisque was great at Jack Baker's Lobster Shanty.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

   All Aglow Over Mining - There has been a surge in companies filing documents to do exploratory drilling on the Colorado Plateau in search of uranium deposits.  Some of these sites are a bit south of the Grand Canyon, and this has opened up a barrage of opposition.  I had been planning on showing the film Mine Your Own Business to my students for some time now, and had arranged to use the campus library auditorium for this purpose.  So, my commentary on this subject allowed me to also advertise this film.  Mostly, the auditorium was filled with my students, who were favorably disposed to the idea that environmentalists go too far, although there were others in the audience from the public, including some folks from one of the mining companies.  This comment ran on April 20.

     Once again I was able to include an Obama-ism in my editorial - the snippet about "bitter, clutching" comes from his faux pas in San Francisco about middle America.  Also, the reference to the solar oven is courtesy of Lisa Rayner, local activist, who was profiled on the front page of the paper that week, next to her solar oven.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

   Criteria for Entitlements - The topic of government support for this project, or that project, seems to mostly center around two questions:  Is it a good idea? Does it cost much?  This kind of thinking drives me crazy and I took the opportunity of this editorial to lay out the bigger questions:  Who is entitled?  Who isn't?  Why?  The questions are not rhetorical.  I really do want to know the answers to these questions and I wish politicians were held accountable to answer them.  Far too often you get some kind of mushy response that some proposal "helps the community" which just avoids to spell out the specifics.  This comment ran on April 13.

     The attitude that I see exhibited in the public arena really is one of entitlement.  One letter writer, critical of my opposition to the bus, referred to how he had decided to retire to Flagstaff from St. Louis.  And, he feels entitled to a bus system, subsidized by taxpayers.  In the housing stories was a recurring theme - people moving to Flagstaff, finding it difficult to make ends meet, and being "forced" to move elsewhere.

     If the city is to promote "affordable housing" who is going to be helped?  Will it be long time residents?  Or, residents in some favored job category (police, nurse or teacher)?  And, why is that?  This is the problem with government welfare - all taxpayers must pay to help those deemed suitable.  I am much more comfortable with discrimination practiced by charitable groups that raise their money through voluntary contributions.  For more on this topic, read the story profiling two families and their housing woes, as well as the web comments posted below the story.

     In my bio I mention Al White, who is a current city council member and often champions the "need" for higher wages and affordable housing.  The point being that even I had jobs that are bottom of the barrel.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

   The Dirty Dozen - Such is the title of a new book by Robert Levy and William Mellor.  [The image to the right is linked to the Amazon web page.]  It is the story of the "worst" twelve Supreme Court decisions in the modern era, meaning since about the Great Depression.  Yes, way too many would otherwise come from the first hundred years!  Author Robert Levy was featured at the Goldwater Institute this past week as part of their "Who's Writing Now?" series, which Cara Lynn and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend this past Thursday.

     Levy gave a fascinating talk to the crowd of one hundred, or so, out on the patio behind the institute building.  He pursued a law degree in his mid-40s after having been a successful entrepreneur.  He clerked for Clint Bolick, who is currently the director of the Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation at Goldwater.  Bolick said that Levy, now a senior fellow at Cato, was the most unusual law clerk they ever had - during his lunch breaks at the firm, he would be on the phone to his broker buying and selling stock!  And, apparently, doing quite well for himself.  In fact, the firm not only offered Levy a job, but put him on their board of directors.

     Levy was a very engaging speaker and had the crowd listening in rapt attention.  The stories of these cases, chosen in part from a survey he and his co-author conducted among other lawyers, were fascinating, if brief for this venue.  Still he talked to us for close to an hour and took questions at the end.  Afterwards, we got a copy of his book (not available at stores until May 1), and Cara Lynn got Levy to sign a copy for us.

     The book is great.  The chapters can be read in whatever order you wish.  I started with some of the more peculiar economics-related cases - Wickard v. Filburn (Congress can pass a law that you can't grow wheat for your own consumption because it interferes with interstate commerce!); the Gold Clause Cases (where a building owner in Des Moines had to keep the rent on his 143,000 square foot office building fixed at $23,000 from 1933 to 1993 because the government ended the gold standard!!); Whitman v. American Trucking Associations, Inc. (Congress can defer its legislative abilities to unelected bureaucracies - in this case the EPA - who can establish rules, determine penalties and adjudicate guilt!!!).

     Why is it that these cases are unfamiliar to me?  I am reasonably intelligent and well-read.  I guess that they just didn't make it into the educational curriculum at the schools I attended, probably because they are so crucial to the foundation of the current welfare/nanny state mentality that so infects the body politic.  Yes, we did cover the Dred Scott case, but that didn't make Levy and Mellor's book because it was an old case, and, of course, since overturned by constitutional amendment.  And, there is another thing.  Someone asked Levy if the notion that the constitution is a "living document" was legitimate.  Absolutely not, was Levy's response.  That notion denigrates the value of the constitution, making it meaningless.  Times do change, and the framers constructed a method by which we can amend the constitution to reflect those changes.  This has been done seventeen times.  Yet, we have been inculcated with the notion that the "living constitution" is some kind of special gift, when, in fact, it is a curse.  Two thumbs up.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

   Sky High Subsidies Unnecessary - The city council wants there to be more daily flights from our local airport, into which we have poured millions of dollars to spruce up and which the Feds have spent millions on runway improvements.  Probably not the best use of public funds, but its a done deal.  But, it gets worse.  To "promote" competition, the city has been willing to pay up to a million dollars to guarantee passenger loads in order to attract another airline.  Alas, does anybody understand the principle of competition?  It seems not.  So, time to speculate about what a truly free market would look like.  The editorial ran on March 9.

Shortly after this, the council agreed to put up $600,000 to get Horizon Air to sign on for two (yes, 2!) daily flights to Los Angeles.  So far, Horizon plans to have one of these flights stop in Prescott, lengthening the flight time.  And, these flights will be turboprops, not jets, which was the whole point of the runway extension to begin with.  The problem, of course, is that the city wants the airline to sign a long-term commitment, which deters true competition here.

Another interesting aspect here is that the presumed purpose of this new service will be to promote business growth in Flagstaff.  That is, if there is regular service to L.A., as well as to Phoenix (the existing service), then new firms may be more easily enticed into locating here.  Not only does that seem absurd, but now there's proof positive - Horizon is now touting this service as "Flagstaff/Grand Canyon," meaning that they will be catering to the tourist market, not to business travelers.  Who'd thunk it?  Certainly, nobody at City Hall!

Finally, I decided to embrace Barack Obama's rhetoric by closing with his oft-used refrain of "Yes, we can!" 

Sunday, April 6, 2008

   McCain in Prescott - John McCain was in Prescott yesterday to give a speech to mark a transition in his candidacy for President of the United States.  He had wrapped up the Republican nomination some time ago, but took this opportunity to restart his efforts insofar as wooing voters for the general election in November.  Barry Goldwater