Dash of Pepper

Print
Some scribbles
on the passing scene
By SHEILAH PEPPER
The Gazette Staff
Your humble scribbler is down with a sinus infection, so I'm not feeling capable of any lengthy insights. I'll just scattershot in the direction of a few things that caught my attention lately.
The Republican candidate presidential debate was, I thought, revealing. That maybe be a self-serving statement, because I've been a Mitt Romney fan from the beginning and I thought he came out looking and sounding very good. To me, he came across as extremely well prepared, with a sound grasp of the issues and an ability to clearly communicate where he stands. He was never mealy-mouthed.
I love Rudy Guiliani, but I felt he came across as unprepared and trying to take both sides of the abortion debate.
As for John McCain, well kudos to him for a consistent stance on Iraq. Beyond that, he was being, well, himself. While I like Tom Tancredo greatly and wish our President had more Tancredo in him on the border issue, I don't think Tancredo has much chance in the critical fund-raising area.
As far as the media goes, it certainly doesn't go deep. The quality of the questions was pretty appalling. I only watched a small portion of the Democrat debate. The media seemed fawning. No surprise there but it makes for a boring program.
Political mistake of the month: Mrs. Clinton bowing to the far left on her original war vote. She had been creeping steadily to the center. I think with one ill-advised move, she lost all that. This will come home to roost, I think.
The new president of France is a center-rightist by the name of Nikolas Sarkozy, the son of Hungarian Jewish immigrants. Over 85 percent of the French voters voted which is amazing. Sarkozy got over 53 cent of the vote. Some are saying the electorate became fed up with the welfare state and the impotent French economy. Perhaps, but I wouldn't bank on it.
Others are saying that the French want to see a law-and-order crackdown in the "militant youths", as the establishment press calls them. These are the young people who don't seem to have a livelihood but have become experts at burning automobiles.
I wish Mr. Sarkozy well. There are parliamentary elections later this month. It will be interesting to see if his party candidates fare as well as he has. If they don't, he'll have a tough road ahead. He seems to be fairly pro-American, at least by European standards. Maybe we'll get a closer look at "Sarko" in D.C. sometime fairly soon. At least he'll be a refreshing change after the condescending M. Chirac!
Copyright©2007SheilahPepper
Last Updated on Friday, 12 June 2009 16:01