Voltaire's Candide

. . . offers us, 260 years on, a way to look at the world and a way to act in it that can scarcely be improved upon.

Everything is for the best

in this best of all possible worlds.

And,

We must cultivate our own gardens.

Mystery post

Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian Kester Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian Kester Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian Kester Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian Kester Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian Kester Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian Kester Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian Kester Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian Kester Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs Marian K. Coombs Marian Coombs

Marian Kester Coombs Marian Kester Coombs Marian Kester Coombs Marian Kester Coombs 

A blessing in disguise?

It sure does look as though the mighty powers aligned behind the B.H. Obama candidacy will get their way next Tuesday, although - oddly - a majority of voters seems to be shuddering at the prospect. According to a recent poll (http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/63_say_obama_more_likely_to_restrict_gun_rights),
most Americans think Obama will increasingly ban guns - and we also know that most Americans don't care for that sort of thing.

But imagine what the election of John McCain would mean.

• Four more dismal years of Bush-Republican rule. Despite McCain's protestations to the contrary, he is more like Bush than any other of the Republican candidates he defeated. His election would mean no well-deserved repudiation of the Bush experiment in preemptive war, currency debasement and throwing ersatz money around like a drunken apparatchik - all the while calling it "conservatism" and wrecking the rep of the GOP.

• Continued malaise on the right. Sure, the GOP would be "in power," but with what mandate, and with what energy? Let the Democrats take over the mess; conservatives need to regroup, buck up, and take a long hard look at how the past eight years could have happened, so that it may never happen again.

• Misuse of Sarah Palin. Peggy Noonan may not fancy Sarah, but most conservatives do - a lot. Is suddenly being made vice-president the best use of this tremendous natural resource? Palin should be allowed to develop, gain experience, and truly blossom as a leader. She has the potential to be our Maggie Thatcher - but not just yet.

• 1992 all over again. An Obama presidency would rejuvenate, resurrect, resuscitate, reenergize, reanimate and re-you name it the conservative movement. Especially if the Dems contrive a trifecta, the makings of the 1994 Republican Revolution will once more be in play. And this time we will not be saddled with Newt Gingrich: May we learn from his disgraced example, both political and personal.
  

• And last/not least: We would be deprived of the spectacle of Barack Hussein Obama playing the role of President of the United States.