Cindy McCain plagiarizes, the youth vote and Obama’s immediate review

Just a small non-issue because I found it funny. According to the LA Times blog, Cindy McCain’s family recipes on her husband’s campaign website were plagiarized from the Food Network website and Rachel Ray. This is pathetic, but again not a major issue or a reason to vote. Personally it’s hard to see Cindy McCain on TV without getting this overwhelming feeling of privilege. She’s actually a teacher, which is very respectable. The problem is that she doesn’t feel the same hard times as most teachers. Most teachers don’t get labeled an heiress by any newspaper article. The more absurd notion of this whole plagiarism fiasco is that she’s actually a cook, with her own recipes. As the heiress to the Budweiser empire in Arizona, she’s probably never tasted Ramen noodles or eaten dog biscuits for sustenance. Just a guess.

On the contrary and about her husband, I just watched John McCain on the Hardball College Tour from Villanova University and I was very impressed. I still question his sharpness and bearing with the economy, but he’s more human and personable than he has appeared in other venues. Is it just me or are candidates much more sincere and human when speaking to college campuses and other gatherings of youth? Barack Obama communicated well during his Hardball College Tour visit, but to see Senator McCain come to life was a surprise to say the least. His evasion of the “typical white person” question was truly noble, as well as his rambling response to the question about having a shot. He revealed more of himself without taking easy opportunities to take jabs at his opponents.

Finally, the Huffington Post reports that Barack Obama would carefully, but immediately review evidence to decide if any further inquiry should be launched into possible Bush administration war crimes. Personally the jury is still out on this issue. I realize that many within the administration are certainly worth an inquiry, but the overall process may prove counter-productive. I agree with the caveat that it runs the risk of creating a partisan witch hunt. The last thing this country needs is for both sides to continue swinging the pendulum back-and-forth.

I also wanted to make one comment about a video I saw on MSNBC of Michelle Obama speaking before some crowd, emphasizing that she herself worked hard for everything. She also sees herself as a testament to the value of investment in public education. I couldn’t agree more. I constantly hear one rebuttal when I begin to make an argument for funding education and paying teachers more: simply throwing money at the problem doesn’t work. The problem is, we’ve never tried. We’ve tried throwing money at the problem of needing a strong democratic ally in the Middle East, but not at better preparing our children for the future. Does that make any sense?

The New York Times expose Sheriff Joe to the rest of the US

Despite what J.D. Hayworth says on KFYI and the O’Reilly Factor, Sheriff Joe is more trouble than he’s worth. There are far better ways to rid a community of crime, instead of gorging our prison system with convicts eager to get out of his jails and into a prison. I’m traditionally a hardliner on crime, I just like well-defined limits on what constitutes crime, a fair element to sentencing of violent vs. nonviolent crimes and a cost effective penal system. I’d much rather someone steal my stereo than steal my tax dollars for the next decade.

This New York Times op-ed was a clear account to the rest of America about how business is conducted in Arizona. Numerous accounts of misconduct have flashed across my TV over my years in Arizona, but few as economically sensible as this one. I will say this, I am more cautious because I know about Sheriff Joe and his hardline stance. It is very effective to reasonable people. I know people who drive drunk 200 days a year but have also had no trouble with Sheriff Joe and his posse.

Here’s the original New York Times article.