Norm, Norm, Norm... I realize that your position there puts me at risk of being declared "persona non grata" on this site, BUT you really didn't think this one through.

Your proposal is a tacit -- and spot on -- admission that the BO is not up to the job for which he is applying.  Even a fully functional teleprompter couldn't help him in a free-for-all debate format. Based on his performance at Saddleback, McCain would probably mop the floor with him.

BIDEN is not running at the top of the ticket.  Obama is.  If he can't duke it out with the guy at the top of the other ticket (about whom I'm personally not all that excited), how do you think BO would handle that 3 am call from the State Department, CIA or Pentagon that all hell has broken loose and is heading this way?

I'd much prefer someone on OUR end of that call with more age, experience and who not only grasps the concept of hell but spent 5 years as a "guest" there.

PS: And I'd remind you that another talented public speaker was that Hitler fellow, providing catastrophic historical evidence that skill as a speaker is a rather shallow -- and dangerous -- measure of a man.  

"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."

Publius Ovidius Naso

I have a friend who keeps a pit bull to protect himself and his family.

I guess you could say that he is not qualified to be the head of his household either, because his dog is better in a fight than he is.

Given that MOST of the trash who conduct home invasions and burglaries do so in possession of a weapon, if your friend's pit bull (and I own a 100# American Bulldog for the same reason) doesn't carry a pistol with which to defend himself, the criminals will simply dispatch the dog before going about their nefarious business.

But that is, of course, a bit beside your interesting -- if somewhat bizarre -- metaphor.

The reason some would prefer Biden to debate McCain is that Biden's "master" (Obama) is totally unarmed and would probably be quickly "dispatched" by McCain.

Now that McCain has chosen his running mate, I'd MUCH prefer to see Biden debate Sarah Palin. I'm certain the classic Biden dismissive demeanor would cost their ticket the REST of the female vote now that Hillary's people have ANOTHER reason to vote for the Pubbies.

BTW, MY dog IS armed and I also keep a weapon handy for such just such an eventuality.

"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."

Publius Ovidius Naso

It must be nice to have such a simplistic (and well armed) view of the world.

I hope that you don't ever find it necessary to have to rub your dog's nose in it's business, as you might get shot...

Best,

Peter
...........................

"Therefore, one who is good at being a warrior doesn't make a show of his might;
One who is good in battle doesn't get angry;
One who is good at defeating the enemy doesn't engage him.
And one who is good at using men places himself below them.
This is called the virtue of not competing;
This is called correctly using men;
This is called matching Heaven.
It's the high point of the past.
Lao-tzu ~300 B.C.

You won't be banned Richard--but you may be subjected to friendly harassment, all in good fun, right?!  (Personally, I just can't take it when any dialogue digresses into a FU session). BTW, the  Plain Dealer censors and refuses to post my comments now.  So, join the RealNEO club!

  Thanks Bill--I probably fall somewhere in line after you--somewhere in the middle. I definitely believe Americans should try their best to be adults; to take responsibility for their own actions and their own livelihood; and to work together to raise children to be adults who promote fair and civil communities that respect everyone's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Thanks--I may be younger, but I know a thing or two about property law.

(Also, a friendly reminder--you can edit your posts as long as no one replies to them--and don't worry on the spelling or grammar, we are all famously bad at both.  Also, if you highlight a line of text or word or image--you can then click on the "link chain" icon in the rich text mode and insert the url for a link).

Let's also find one thing that you and I can agree on DBachert--

Do you think that our local governments and by extension our representatives feed too much from the public trough of federal and state tax dollars?

And WOmen :)

  George Sand was not a man.

Evelyn Waugh was not a woman.

What does gender matter anyway? Oh... 18 million cracks. The women that "got the vote" - now that was responsibility, discipline, commitment. But they did not have to resemble men to pass the nineteenth amendment. The suffragists I recall learning about in school wore dresses.

Can we not all be humans respected for our sense of responsibility, our discipline and commitment to furthering a healtheir civic space?

It's Ms. McShane so long as it matters. The internet blurs these lines.

First name, Laura - often a woman's name. Yes indeed. I would suspect that the gentleman you saw is her Dad, but maybe not. Can't make her out in the group shot by the tree, but I think she is the little girl on the gentleman's righ side in the photo.

She's been at this speaking up and speaking out business for some time as far as my research tells me. I found letters regarding some shady business being foisted upon us back in the day by Jacobs (the Figgie corp finagling at Harvard and 271) in old public records. Never underestimate lmcshane.

  The man in the photo is my grandfather(deceased).  I am the tallest and gangliest of the bunch.  And I confess to all of the above enumerated "flaws" :) 

  Here's a book for all of us to read--by Richard K. Morgan--originally published in Britain under the title Black Man.  Science fiction has not been my favorite fiction genre, but I occasionally read it to keep my shape-shifter skills intact.  A good friend in college said that I was locked in at age 13.  Norm will like the book--I lost count on the use of  f**king this and that.  All in all, it's a boy book.  I only hope that it is not an accurate depiction of our future.

And, to balance out the extreme male future of 13, I am switching off with The Tuff Chix Guide to Easy Home Improvement, which I highly recommend.

To play off of Roldo's summation of Sarah Palin--the distraction. She is not a distraction. She is a she. A flesh and blood human being. Not a distraction, not a token, and not separate from the rest of us. She is the governor of a state, which requires her to balance a budget, something senators aren't required to do each year.

Remember the Equal Rights Amendment, Richard? Republicans have put women into position of real power, and so have Democrats. But, can we possibly suspend our skepticism to believe that the party of Lincoln will actually uphold the equal rights of all? Gay, Lesbian and Transgender rights, too? Gender is the issue in the United States, and so is the Federal Reserve and the value of the dollar and the fourth estate.

Richard, the media that you want to portray as determined to undermine Sarah Palin includes us now. I am not undermining Sarah Palin. So far, she has taken everything like a man. I am not voting for her ticket this time around, because she picked the wrong man to equally represent the entirety of this country.

Laura: I wrote that McCain's SELECTION of Sarah Palin was a distraction. And that's what it was meant to be.

And I think that the last few days has proven that correct - we have been distracted from the issues that should comprise this election campaign.

Sarah's Way--or the Highway

Yeah, but "people like her". In Youngtown today women reported that they'd vote for McCain "jus cuz" she has "energy". Oh my God!

  Alright Roldo--I will come out and publicly say that this country has allowed itself to become as militant in their blind faith in a false GOD as evidenced by the followers of McCain/Palin/Bush, just as the jihad followers of Osama bin laden. 

Today, I went out to register voters as I plan to do as much as I can before October 6th--a young Latina voter told me that she will not vote.  She will let her GOD decide this election. 

I talk to God (some of us know her as Mother EARTH) and she wants you to vote people---it's not an option.  It's your religious duty to God and country.

From an email today -- I have been waiting for this explanation.

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight…

* If you grow up in Hawaii, and are raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."

* If you grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack, you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

* If you name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

* If you graduate from Harvard law School, you are unstable.

* If you attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.

* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system, while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant and if you try to make victimized women pay for their own rape kits, you're very responsible.

* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.

* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.