President Obama vs. QWERTY keyboard

Look at your keyboard and you'll know why President Obama has failed.
Your keyboard is the QWERTY keyboard, a legacy of the early typewriter, designed in the 1870s. We don't have typebars inside our computers to produce letters, but the QWERTY keyboard lives on.
Your grandmother or great-grandmother might not know how to operate a computer, but they would know how to type on one. The keyboard has basically been the same for 125 years.
President Obama rode high in 2008, promising "Hope and Change". Change ran into legacy systems. And legacy systems are winning.
How does QWERTY survive? Everyone who types knows it. They learned it when they were young. Once you've learned it, you barely have to think of it. It's natural.
Another keyboard system would bring tons of errors. The fastest typists would take lots longer to type until they learned it. And would be extremely unhappy at whoever forced them to change from what they learned and knew so well.
In his campaign, President Obama's rhetoric focused on the imagined "nefarious cabal" who led the country into the ditch. Change the leadership - to him - and the country would change.
He forgot the legacy systems. They stay not because of the decisions of a "nefarious cabal," but because they've worked for years. The newer alternatives can't overcome their problems. Instead, President Obama leads the "nefarious cabal" trying to disrupt everyone's life.
Think of all the things you remember from your childhood. Even if you're in your 70s, you remember plenty of what you learned in those early days.
You're comfortable with them. Even if you're a hunt-and-peck typist, you have a certain level of comfort with the QWERTY keyboard. Something new would disrupt you.
In the Oval Office, President Obama must use a QWERTY keyboard. He should look at it sometime.
Every day, thousands of journalists sit at their keyboards and write about politics. The reason for the Democrats' failures is right under their fingers.
UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers and commenters.
UPDATE2: Ed Driscoll links.

Baseball picture - still confused

One day remains in the baseball postseason, and none of the four opening round series are locked in yet.
We should know more by Sunday at 7 p.m.
Or wait until Monday or Tuesday for everything to be decided.

Another march, another view

American Power has the roundup and photos from Saturday's excitement "We're not crazy, they are" rally in D.C.
h/t Pat in Shreveport, who can relax since the LSU game is over.

Diversity on Facebook

Checking Facebook Friday night, I saw the diversity of my contacts and interests.
A former co-worker posted this from the Village Voice White America has lost its mind.
Next on my page - Mark Levin's interview with Sarah Palin.

Wake up, you slackers

The Democrats need to rouse the base to have a chance in November.
What's the message?

• Vote for us, pretty please?
• If you don't vote, Sarah Palin wins?
• You know you love me, you worthless whiner?
• All those Tea Parties will cause the seas to rise?
• Hey look, there's George W. Bush. Over there. Can't you see him?
• They're going to build a coal-fired power plant next to your house if you don't vote.

RIP, Stephen J. Cannell

The man behind the A-Team has died. But his show's ending will live on.

Here's your sign

Peggy Noonan looks at the Democratic comments this week - and sees signs of deep, deep trouble.
I really liked her take on the impact of negative ads this year.
But here's a hunch: This year they will not be so effective. The primary reason is the severity of the moment. But another is that negative ads worked so well in the past. For a generation, the American people have been told their politicians are lowlifes. You know what they now think of them? They think they're lowlifes! People don't really expect high character from their political figures anymore. "Congressman Smith cheated on his wife." That's her problem. Cut my taxes.

Weekend watchdog

Once a season, CBS shows a Southeastern Conference game in prime time. It's a good one this week.
Top-ranked Alabama, fresh off a come-from-behind win at Arkansas, hosts Florida in a rematch of last year's SEC championship game.
And the schools with two of the last three Heisman Trophy winners.
And the last two national champions.
Ought to be something worth watching. Even if Tim Tebow is in the NFL.
If that's not enough, in the late afternoon slot CBS shows Tennessee at LSU.
ABC usually shows prime time games on Saturday, and has some good ones this week also. Out west, Oregon takes on Stanford while Notre Dame's visit to Boston College will be shown to much of the east. ESPN2 will show the game you don't get on ABC, except a few western areas will see Washington-USC.
ABC fires up the football day at 3:30 p.m. with the Red River Rivalry - Texas vs. Oklahoma in Dallas. Too bad the Longhorns lost to UCLA last week. Parts of the country will get to see Wisconsin-Michigan State, while ACC country gets Virginia Tech's game with North Carolina on the main channel and something else on ESPN.
ESPN begins the weekend Friday with BYU facing Utah State. Saturday begins with Northwestern against Minnesota at noon, while ESPN2 shows Miami's visit to Clemson. ESPN's primetime contest matches Penn State and Iowa.
Virginia gets its turn in the ACC game of the week, hosting Florida State at noon. Should be a tougher game for the Cavaliers than the last two home contests.
Versus brings another battle in the Commander-in-Chief trophy series, when Navy heads west to face Air Force. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
Comcast brings three games on Saturday, starting at noon with Kansas at Baylor. There's CAA action at 3:30 p.m. when Villanova goes to William & Mary, then at 7 p.m. Georgia takes on Colorado.
Golf's feature event this weekend is the Ryder Cup, being played at the Celtic Manor Resort in Wales. ESPN starts the coverage Friday at 2:30 a.m. (set your alarm clocks). A replay starts at 1 p.m. if you'd like to wait. NBC takes over for the weekend, with play Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., then the final day starting at 7 a.m.
It's week four for the NFL, and the first one with byes. Four teams have the week off, and the Eagles welcome someone they said "bye" to in the offseason - quarterback Donovan McNabb. McNabb and the Redskins visit Philadelphia at 4:15 p.m. on FOX.
In the early slots in Fishersville, CBS has the Steelers hosting the Ravens while FOX offers Carolina at the Saints.
In prime time, the Bears make a journey to new Meadowlands Stadium to play the Giants on NBC. Monday Night's game features the Patriots and Dolphins on ESPN.
The major league baseball regular season ends this weekend, bringing a merciful end to the season for the Orioles and Nationals. The Orioles face the Tigers on MASN2, while the Nationals are in New York to meet the Mets on MASN.
The Red Sox are done, but their games with the Yankees are on FOX Saturday and TBS Sunday afternoon. FOX also shows the Phillies-Braves and the NL West showdown between the Padres and Giants. Close pennant races could add games to the national schedule.
The IRL season closes at Homestead on Versus - Saturday at 7 p.m. - while NASCAR is in Kansas Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN. The Nationwide Series, waiting for Danica Patrick to return - goes Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN2.
ESPN2 offers MLS action Sunday night, with the Galaxy going against Chivas USA.

A Flintstones combo

Toward the end of Thursday's NBC News, they mentioned the 50th anniversary of the Flintstones.
They ended with news of the death of Tony Curtis.
They could have combined the two, which this clip did.

McTrouble

The Wall Street Journal looks at the trouble Obamacare will cause to McDonald's way of offering health insurance to their employees.
While many restaurants don't offer health coverage, McDonald's provides mini-med plans for workers at 10,500 U.S. locations, most of them franchised. A single worker can pay $14 a week for a plan that caps annual benefits at $2,000, or about $32 a week to get coverage up to $10,000 a year.
Last week, a senior McDonald's official informed the Department of Health and Human Services that the restaurant chain's insurer won't meet a 2011 requirement to spend at least 80% to 85% of its premium revenue on medical care.
McDonald's and trade groups say the percentage, called a medical loss ratio, is unrealistic for mini-med plans because of high administrative costs owing to frequent worker turnover, combined with relatively low spending on claims.
Will President Obama eat crow? Will he want fries with that?
h/t NRO's Corner

High score

Through three weeks of the NFL season, the New England Patriots have scored the most points - 90.
Twice, they have scored 38 points - best in week one along with the Titans, and best in week three along with the Steelers.

Thus, the Patriots cheerleaders have been featured in TMQ on ESPN.com and in this post.

Those of us who are about to die salute you

NRO's Robert Costa describes the scene as the House adjourned early Thursday.
Nancy Pelosi saying goodbye to colleagues who are about to be slaughtered in the mid-term elections - including Virginia's own Tom Perriello.
Pelosi smiled her usual grin — immobile and broad — and wished fellow Democrats the best. Some stopped to chat, but many just rushed past, uninterested in small talk. Rep. Tom Perriello, a vulnerable freshman Democrat from Virginia, was one who skipped by, but Pelosi called him back, inviting him to join her circle of allies by the elevator. Their talk was short: He tried to sound upbeat about his chances. Pelosi, of course, smiled.
And they went off into the storm.
UPDATE: Linked by Smitty. Thanks.

Ideology over governance

Blue Virginia has a post up highlighting the "pro-business" possibilities of a Republican win in November.
They make bold the phrase - Ideology over governance.
Hasn't that been what's going on since Jan. 20, 2009?

I know Bob Dole, and you're like Bob Dole

Is this the highest insult for President Obama?
Comparing his comments on the unhappy left with Bob "where's the outrage" Dole in the 1996 election.

Beating Democrats - so easy, a caveman can do it.

Did Troglopundit's post inspire a new campaign ad by Sean Duffy?
You may question it, but it's pretty easy to think up ways to make the Democrats in Washington look bad.
So easy a caveman can do it.

Lethargy and angst

2008 - Hope and change
2010 - Lethargy and angst on the Democratic side, real hope and real change on the Republican side.
h/t Instapundit

Plenty of room for campaign signs

DaTech Guy catches a sign for a Democratic Congressional candidate in the wrong place - in front of a closed business.
Under Democrats, there are just so many closed businesses to choose from when deciding where to put your campaign signs.

The most important word - drag

Democrats think their get-out-the-vote technology will ease the coming pain on election day.
On election day itself, the DNC can spend time and money on the "knock and drag" -- it will have a pretty good idea, down to the individual voter, of who it needs to turn out in order to be competitive in House districts. Republicans have access to the same technology, but there are doubts within the party about whether the RNC has the metabolism and structures to build votes like the Democrats. Republicans in places like Ohio are just this cycle beginning to focus hard on the early vote. Democrats have been doing this for several cycles.

If the reports of voter enthusiasm are accurate, dragging voters to the poll may be the Democrats' only hope. Drag and keep them there while the hoards of Republicans cast their vote - willingly.

Two destructive paragraphs

Gee, I wonder what Fox News will be covering tonight?
And tomorrow?
And the final 35 days of the campaign?
Let's let Ace of Spades critique the President's remarks.
Can you imagine if George W. Bush spent 1/10 the time whining like a little girl about the press that Obama does?

Obama is the most thin skinned, lying, anti-prosperity, anti-American exceptionalism President in memory and he's lecturing people about what is destructive to America? The irony, it burns!

Thanks, liberal bloggers

Why are President Obama and his team sinking? Could it be liberal bloggers?
Virtually all the liberal bloggers who have taken a critical stance toward the administration have one thing in common: they place principle above party. Their complaints are exactly the same complaints they lodged against the Bush administration. Contrary to the straw man posed by Obama supporters, they aren’t complaining about pie in the sky wishes but about tangible acts and omissions, from Gitmo to Afghanistan to the environment to gay rights to secrecy and executive power.

The essence of their critique is that the White House lacks a moral compass. The instances where Obama displays a flash of moral authority – the mosque speech comes to mind – these bloggers cheer him with the same fervor as his most ardent fans.
Nice job. Keep up the good work.
h/t the Other McCain

Looking for ice cream and cheap whiskey

Jimmie at Sundries Shack gets noticed on NRO's daily email blast from the Campaign Spot.
Dark days are coming for the progressive left. Right now, they’re jumping around the first three stages of grief like a waterbug in a hot skillet, but soon they’re going to land on Stage Four and, when they do, there won’t be enough ice cream and cheap whiskey to go around. I can’t wait.
And pass the popcorn.

Projecting

You often hear the left trumpeting the "Tea Party" as just being a facade behind rich Republicans, who are the real power behind the operation.
No matter how many citizens are interviewed at the gatherings, that remains their thought.
Why? Because that's how they do it. So they expect Republicans to do the same.
They pay people to protest, so the other side must be paying people and helping them get to D.C.
Just because you love astroturf doesn't mean the other side does too.

Coffee, tea or me?

Legal Insurrection compares his web traffic to the Coffee Party site.
Guess the Coffee Party is cold and stale.
Maybe there's a good reason media coverage of the Coffee Party convention was invisible.

A lesson for President Obama

Wyblog has a tale of woe, with a happy ending.
And, I think, a lesson for the President and Democrats.
It's was street party time in front of his house. As it was winding down, he went down to the basement. And found a mess.
A broken sewer pipe had dumped waste water into the basement. Not the way to spend a Saturday night.
Did Wyblog stop and blame eight years of George W. Bush's policies for the problem? No. Did he say he was working on the problem, but obstruction from the obstruction made the situation seem worse? No.
He went about getting help to fix the problem.
He called the plumber. Got good advice from his wife. Help from the neighbors. And help from friends. Knowledgable friends in the field of plumbing, not people who have read books on plumbing. Or watched D.I.Y. network on the weekend.
He lives in a old house, where the pipe sagged and couldn't take the pressure of higher than normal use. But blaming old pipes and the failure of former owners to replace them wouldn't clean his house in time for the Jets' game Sunday night.
President Obama, stop complaining about the crap around your feet and start working. Don't keep dumping more problems in the basement.
Don't be like the Roto-Rooter guy, looking for a solution that favors your way of doing business. It may simply be some old pipe that needs replacement, not a total overhaul of everything.
Besides, Wyblog couldn't afford their extra service. He's got to pay your taxes.
The good news of the story? The Jets won.

Speaking of Exodus

On my sidebar, the site Bible Summary begins twitter-sized summaries of the book of Exodus today.
The countdown to the Democrats' exodus from power can be found closer to the top of the page.

How to help housing market - have a baby

A study from the University of Virginia looks at the current housing market and sees two reasons for continued weakness - changes in demographics and changes in where people want to live.
For one problem, there's a government solution - government working with buyers and developers to make more desirable existing housing in areas where the jobs are.
For the second problem, there's no short-term solution. If there's few buyers than sellers, then prices stay stable or drop. Not the expected rise many homebuyers thought they'd get when they signed the 30-year mortgage.
For happy sellers, you need buyers. We can produce them, but it takes about 30 years for the crop of babies to become homebuyers.
If you want to have a more comfortable retirement, have a child.

Undefeated teams watch

The third week of the NFL is down to its final game. And the number of undefeated teams has dwindled.
The Tuesday Morning Quarterback column annually notes the last possible meeting between undefeated teams - and it's this Monday night as the 2-0 Packers play the 2-0 Bears.
That's pretty early.
In the AFC, Kansas City and Pittsburgh are 3-0. They do not meet in the regular season, and neither plays the NFC North. The winner of the Bears-Packers game Monday will be the last NFC team without a loss.
Enjoy the game, since it's extremely doubtful we'll see a pair of 18-0 teams in the Super Bowl.

Closer to second place

Ace of Spades has an excellent dissection of a Miami Herald poll story. The headline talks about Democratic Kendrick Meek surging in the latest poll. The reality is he's getting close to independent Charlie Crist.
Both are being beaten like a drum by Marco Rubio.
The MFM are so eager to designate Meek the candidate with momentum, they're helping out Rubio. None of which would be an issue, if the author hadn't attempted the momentum spin "Meek advances uphill against Rubio, Crist; the tide is turning!" While technically true, so is this: "Meek still trails Rubio by 17 points; he's going to lose."

Gotta love our NFL variety

Each week, three games are broadcast over the air on CBS and FOX. In Fishersville, we usually get plenty of Ravens and Redskins for obvious reasons.
But the first three weeks, the schedule has given us a wide variety of other teams in the over-the-air slots. Along with the local teams, only Cincinnati has been on twice in our market. We've seen 15 of the 32 teams so far (NBC and ESPN games don't count since they are nationally broadcast.)
The guys at the506.com love keeping track of which markets see the most teams and which teams are seen over-the-air in every market in the country. Fishersville has had a very good start to the NFL season.

Run the race to the finish

In our church sermon Sunday, the pastor mentioned the story of John Stephen Ahkwari, who ran the Olympic marathon in 1968. He fell during the race, injuring his knee, and despite the pain completed the race.
The other competitors were long gone and the crowd dwindled, but he kept running.
It's a reminder to focus on our goals and see them through - no matter what.