Friedman/Rich 9/14/2008

Freidman:

Op-Ed Columnist - Making America Stupid - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com: "Who cares how much steel John McCain has in his gut when the steel that today holds up our bridges, railroads, nuclear reactors and other infrastructure is rusting? McCain talks about how he would build dozens of nuclear power plants. Oh, really? They go for $10 billion a pop. Where is the money going to come from? From lowering taxes? From banning abortions? From borrowing more from China? From having Sarah Palin ‘reform’ Washington — as if she has any more clue how to do that than the first 100 names in the D.C. phonebook?"

Rich:

Op-Ed Columnist - The Palin-Whatshisname Ticket - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com: "The question today: What kind of president would Sarah Palin be? It’s an urgent matter, because if we’ve learned anything from the G.O.P. convention and its aftermath, it’s that the 2008 edition of John McCain is too weak to serve as America’s chief executive. This unmentionable truth, more than race, is now the real elephant in the room of this election.

"No longer able to remember his principles any better than he can distinguish between Sunnis and Shia, McCain stands revealed as a guy who can be easily rolled by anyone who sells him a plan for ‘victory,’ whether in Iraq or in Michigan. A McCain victory on Election Day will usher in a Palin presidency, with McCain serving as a transitional front man, an even weaker Bush to her Cheney."

If McCain is elected our foreign energy dependence is going to last as long as the culture war. A long, long time.