Post-Thanksgiving Grab-Bag

No, it's not Thanksgiving, but I hope that everyone had a happy one.

Today is Friday, and no I didn't set the alarm for oh-dark-hundred hours so that I could be at the malls when they opened at 4 a.m. or midnight or whatever. SWMBO asked me if I was disappointed that she hadn't done so, I told her that if she was up in the wee-small hours to shop, she needed her head examined.

I'm too lazy today to post much, but I do have a few little things in the grab-bag: For the historically minded, here's a link to a list maintained by the Centre for First World War Studies at the University of Birmingham, on the nicknames of First World War British Generals.

If you doubt that real life is weirder than any possible fiction, check out Wretchard at Belmont Club's post on the strange influence of western popular culture on assorted Third World murderers and bandits.

If you must think about Presidential politics, forget Hillary and Obama for a bit, and have a look at this piece under John McCain's name in the Des Moines Register. I've said plenty of hard things about McCain, but the more I hear of him lately, the more I'm inclined to forgive him whatever sins I taxed him with. I sure like the way this sounds:

I am running for President to protect our country from harm and defeat its enemies. I am running for President to restore trust in our government and to ensure it remains worthy of that honor. I am not running to leave our biggest problems to an unluckier generation of leaders, but to fix them now, and fix them well.

I am running for President to make sure America maintains its place as the political and economic leader of the world; the country that doesn't fear change, but makes change work for us; the country that does not look longingly to the past, but aspires to even better days. I am running for President of the United States, a blessed country, a proud country, a hopeful country, the most powerful and prosperous country and the greatest force for good on Earth.

All that's more or less my political religion.

Charles Krauthammer has a good column on Iraq today, which I mostly agree with. However, I am mistrustful of all the optimism in the air on Iraq, where the situation appears to me to be improved, but not under control. We will be in Iraq for years more, whoever is elected in 2008.

The Australian parliamentary elections are tomorrow. The US has a big stake in the outcome: and we must hope that Prime Minister Howard (a staunch US ally) and his center-right coalition manage to maintain control of the next Parliament. Right now it looks too close to call.