This is the pattern: No matter what one says, and no matter how original it is, cult-like, Democrats will tend to repeat the same tired old mantras (most of which arose during the McGovern candidacy).

I love that part of the world, too. Now that the forest service service is relying on electronic monitors and airplane surveillance, they are renting out a lot of their lookout towers, which I thought would be waycool to stay in. I couldn’t find a tower for the times we were out there, but the cabin at Clackamas Lake is yards from the PCT

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/recreation/rentals/#mth

It would be a great option for a larger-than-usual family, because it sleeps 8, with a full kitchen, for just $80 per night nowadays. Utterly charming, and our kids loved practicing with the fire escape ladder.

But as for choosing one option over the other, how can you know until you have actually been there? I always choose to go someplace new, when I have time and money.

Lieberman would have been an interesting 4th down play, but I sense that he would have done even less for the campaign than Palin. I’m not sure what else people think McCain ought to have done – the playbook is pretty sparse.

I don’t fault her, either. I just think she lacks insights for being a commander in chief because of it.

I’m afraid that’s faulting her.

I know Obama is traveled. He’s been to all the Caribean hot spots this election year. I don’t think that helps his foreign policy, though.

Thanks for the recommendation, I’m going to look into that travel guide.

So do millions of people in the US, and most of them are way, way less intelligent that Sarah Palin. Very few of them could get elected governor, and none of them would have an 80% approval rating. That’s just not an important qualification for president. Sure, it sounds good, and in the context of a conversation at a bowling alley, it might even strike a few people as profound. But the truth is that Obama’s reversed every distinguishing characteristic of his foreign policy, so that the positions that he advocates on Iran and North Korea and Iraq are materially indistinguishable from the Bush policies. Fat lot of good it did to spend a childhood in Indonesia.

I don’t fault her, either. I just think she lacks insights for being a commander in chief because of it.

Obama, who had to learn Bahasa Indonesia as a child, understands firsthand what it is like to go into a foreign country and try to learn the culture and language. He could have foreseen many of the problems that were our undoing in Iraq. Which is probably part of why he opposed the war in the beginning.

Also, I forgot to say that we love the LETS GO travel guide series and they have helped us a lot with affording international travel. Also, Central America is a great place for larger-than-usual LDS families to vacation, because they routinely have hotel rooms with three double beds and hammock hooks.

I hope you won’t fault people for whom travel is not a priority. For me, given the choice, I would probably take a week on the Pacific Crest Trail or biking through Yellowstone over a Taipei night market. I can respect the choice for the exotic, but its not my personal first choice. I would jump at some of those opportunities, though.