Saturday, August 23, 2008

Why Choosing Biden Proves Obama Is Ready To Lead

Conventional wisdom cries that Biden was a foolish pick for Obama.

He doesn’t deliver any States. He’s not tied to any critical constituencies. He talks too much. He’s a Washington Insider, and he further exposes Obama’s weakness in foreign policy.

Bullshit negativism from the nattering nabobs (and that’s the only time you’ll ever hear me paraphrase Agnew). Here’s why I’ve been so keen on Biden for so long:

Simply put, he’s the smartest guy in the room. He’s got the respect of leaders all over the world, and he knows how to get positive things done in Washington (banking bill aside). In short, he – more than any of the other short-listers - best fulfills the only real requirement for a Vice President: He’s ready to take on the responsibilities of the highest office in the land should something happen to the President.

Anything else is just noise. The bottom line is that Obama chose the candidate most qualified to fulfill the obligation of the office of Vice President. Moreover, he is not intimidated by Biden’s foreign policy credentials, which is a tribute to his leadership. The golden rule of successful management is to hire people who complement you, and who could take over your job. Anyone who doesn’t adhere to that ends up hampered by a team of lessers and sycophants.

Friday, August 15, 2008

This Just In: Life Not Easy

Roughly a week after our mortgage was approved for the new place, we got word that our buyer's mortgage (i.e., the people who are buying our current apartment) was NOT approved. That means we very well may have to put our current place back on the market, and incur uncounted months carrying two mortgages. Time will tell.

* * *

Sarah's got a gig with the Museum of Jewish Heritage that is exceeding the number of childcare hours available to us. Accordingly, I'm burning through a few days' vacation time to hang with the kids.

Yesterday, Asher and I went into ABC News for about three hours. Things were fine until he got bored with his second DVD and started singing (in his best three-year-old high-volume voice) random words for the entire floor to hear. Later, I took Leah to the doctor for some shots (not fun).

Today, I worked from home for three early morning hours, bought a hundred bucks of kosher meat, took Asher to the transit museum, cooked a kick-ass dinner, put out fires on blackberry all day, un-fucked a budget situation, drank a half bottle of wine AND cleaned the kitchen. Twice.

I am the lizard king. I can do anything.

And now I'm going to watch West Wing.