President-elect Obama’s transition team is requiring would-be members of his administration to fill out a seven-page questionnaire. One question bothers me.
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In June, Florida governor Charlie Crist (R) announced a deal to buy land south of Lake Okeechobee, so the lake could be reconnected to the Everglades. At the time I mentioned the huge cost of rehabilitating the land. Now the deal has changed again, and I think Florida will be the loser.
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Audubon of Florida has a volunteer Eagle Watch program to monitor nests around the state. Our local chapter, Audubon of Martin County, had its annual orientation meeting this morning, and we had a special guest. Sparky survived a collision with a power line, but permanently injured his wing. He now lives at Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter, FL. His friend Amy brought him to our meeting, and I took some photos.
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While the Left celebrates Obama’s victory, many on the Right foresee disaster. I think they’re both wrong.
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McCain’s concession speech brought back the old John McCain, the one we could respect. A pity his campaign didn’t reflect that one. It was hard to reconcile his promise to “reach across the aisle” with the fear-baiting rhetoric, especially from Sarah Palin and the last-minute TV ads.

The newspapers and pundits are offering all sorts of dreamy reasons for Obama’s victory. More to the point, I see the reasons as:

1. Obama outspent McCain by a large margin
2. McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin
3. The Wall Street crash

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Sarah’s not the only Pit Bull out there in (shrinking) Red State-land. Are Obama supporters generally happier (or at least less angry) than McCain supporters?
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Scott Adams, author of the comic strip Dilbert, commissioned a poll of 500 economists to determine which major candidate would be best for the economy. I have some questions and concerns about the results.
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With the presidential race tilting strongly to Obama, the press must invent stories, such as voter anxiety, to fill the void. They might do a little analysis, but that requires work. Is Obama winning, or is McCain losing? If the stock market hadn’t crashed, would the race still be too close to call? A scary thought: Without an economic disaster, Sarah Palin might be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.
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Fear & Loathing among the electorate! I’m not the only one having nightmares. Given what we’ve endured under Bush for more than seven years, I can’t help feeling a little schadenfreude at the news from the other side.
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Help, I’m having a nightmare and I’m awake. What will happen to Ted Stevens’ (R-AK) Senate seat?
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