"R" Turn

The Republicans had their turn at bat last evening with some fine speakers to make their case for a return to power in DC. As readers know, I retire for the evening at about 8 PM as did George Washington, so I read the quotes and some speeches this morning, beginning at 4AM. And there were some good ones.

Ruddy Guiliani: "Giuliani pegged Obama as “a gifted man with an Ivy League education” but said his voting record in the Illinois state house did not show leadership. “Then he ran for the state legislature - where nearly 130 times he was unable to make a decision yes or no,” he said, “He simply voted ‘present.’ As mayor of New York City, I never got a chance to vote ‘present.’ And you know, when you’re president of the United States, you can’t just vote ‘present.’ You must make decisions.” [from WSJ]

Mitt Romney: “Just like you, there has never been a day when I was not proud to be an American,” Romney told the cheering crowd gathered at the Xcel center. Mrs. Obama has been the target of conservative criticism since remarking in February that for “the first time in my adult life” she was proud of America. [from WSJ]

Sarah Palin: In another apparent allusion to Mr Obama, she added: “In politics there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.” [from BBC].

Good stuff.

And I liked how Palin focussed on reform as a main campaign issue. Plus she has proven a willingness to cut spending by veto. And has performed well in negotiating with Big Oil in getting that natural gas pipeline to the lower 48 states moving finally.

I taped the speech and will watch it later this morning. But from the excepts and what I read, I like it. McCain chose well.

Markets

More mud stomping ... drunken brawling. I bought a bit of RIG to top off that tank. If the beefers knock the miners & oils down further, I'll buy more.

Word of the Day

"Chiastic - adjective [$100]; and "Chiasmus" - noun [$100] (plural "chiasmi")
Chiastic means characterized by chiasmus.
Chiasmus means a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases, as in "he went to the country, to the town went she".
Sentence: Sarah Palin showed considerable rhetorical talent last evening in her acceptance speech in delivery and style, to the extent of even using chiasmus in her allusion to Obama quoted above.