Switzerland didn’t adopt female suffrage until 1972.  The ignorant sometimes chalk this up to institutional sexism.

It’s untrue, at least directly.  The Swiss’ belief was that voting was a right – for those who defended Switzerland.  All Swiss men, at the time, served in the Swiss military; such service was a pre-condition of the franchise, on the theory that only those who were committed to defending Switzerland had a complete voice in running the country. 

And women just didn’t serve in the military, back then.

Now, I’m not advocating this for the US.  No, not at all.

But I do  think that “being aware of the world and the issues” is an appropriate level of commitment to justify participation in our democratic process. 

And so – if you can’t be bothered to learn the issues beyond the simple buzz-phrases or memorizing names, then please stay home and don’t pollute the electoral process with your ignorance. 

This is not a partisan statement, by the way.  It applies to all sides of the aisle…

…although I think it’s fairly clear which party’s gone long on “unthinking, ignorant fealty”.

The Obama campaign eighty-sixes reporters from three newspapers that, coincidentally, bucked the messianic tide and endorsed McCain:

“It feels like the journalistic equivalent of redistributing the wealth,” quipped John Solomon, executive editor of the Times, which lost its seat after three years of travel with the candidate and just 72 hours after endorsing McCain.

That newspaper’s website this afternoon headlined a report that Obama spent nearly $700,000 in U.S. campaign donations just on staging and lights for that Berlin victory rally last summer and those 200,000 Germans who can’t vote over here. Gee, you could dress more than four Republican vice presidential candidates with that much money.

What’s not to like in that news for the Obama campaign?

The Dallas paper reported no evidence its plane departure was political. Think about it: Why would a political campaign take retribution on reporters for a decision made by their publication’s separate editorial boards? The publications, after all, pay their own way on the charters.

That would be a cheesy hardball — and quite possibly counterproductive — Chicago kind of thing for a frontrunner to do, especially one on a national unity ticket. A candidate’s organization would have to reflect an enormous ego and over-confidence to pull something like that.

Why, yes.  Yes, it would.

That, and a serious disrespect for other divergent points of view:

Next thing you know such a campaign might urge supporters to clog a radio station’s phone lines or e-mail boxes just because it gave air-time to an Obama critic.

And it’s certainly not the kind of hands-across-the-aisle, bipartisan change we need and/or can believe in a national capital that could use a large dose of both.

If the campaign reacts this poorly to criticism now (and remember, the reporters don’t make the endorsements – the papers’ editorial boards do), imagine the snit he’ll throw when Putin and Ahmadinejad take off the gloves…

Still, this even may be hugely important, and in ways far beyond the mere exposure of Obama’s brittleness and petulance.  He’s bitten the hand that’s fed him; the media is all about getting strokes from those in power; when those in power turn on them, perhaps the media will pull its’ collective head out.

Just a theory.

Reconstructing the future is kinda my turf – but there’s plenty of room for others.

In this case, Johah Goldberg looks back at four years of Barack Obama:

A general consensus among political observers is that Obama’s essential problem was that he was oversold and too naive and arrogant to realize he wasn’t as his most devoted fans believed. A senior Democrat on Capitol Hill marveled: “In 2008, this guy promised to send everyone to college, vastly increase foreign aid, create a ‘civilian national security force’ that was just a well-funded as the U.S. military, his wife said he’d fix our ‘broken souls,’ and he said he’d make the oceans stop rising, all without increasing the deficit. The amazing thing is he thought it was all true. He makes Jimmy Carter look like he should be on Mt. Rushmore.”

Another advisor compared Obama to Max Bialystock, the con man from the Mel Brooks’ film “The Producers.” In the movie, Bialystock sells 100% ownership of the play to dozens of investors. “Barack Obama sold 100% shares in his presidency to every constituency imaginable and they all thought they were at the front of the line after inauguration day.”

I strongly suspect that, if elected, Obama will be by a good reach the worst president of my lifetime – worse than Carter, even, which is damnation by loud damnation.

The war in Iraq lost the interest of the American media about the time it ceased to be usable as a cudgel against the Bush Administration and, by extension, the McCain Campagin.

Watch for that to continue with this bit of news:

U.S. deaths in Iraq fell in October to their lowest monthly level of the war, matching the record low of 13 fatalities suffered in July. Iraqi deaths fell to their lowest monthly levels of the year. Eight of the 13 Americans died in combat, most of them in northern Iraq where al-Qaida and other Sunni insurgent groups remain active. The U.S. military suffered 25 deaths in September and 23 in August…

The sharp drop in American fatalities in Iraq reflects the overall security improvements across the country following the Sunni revolt against al-Qaida and the rout suffered by Shiite extremists in fighting last spring in Basra and Baghdad.

But the decline also points to a shift in tactics by extremist groups, which U.S. commanders say are now focusing their attacks on Iraqi soldiers and police that are doing much of the fighting.

Which was what we were aiming for – right?

That Mac has softpedalled the success of the Surge – and Obama’s opposition to it, and the Dems’ continuous denials of success and attempts to gundeck the Surge’s gains – is one of the big failings of his campaign.

It was Tuesday, November 1 8, 1988. 

Although I fully expected to be moving to New York before too terribly long, I’d long since learned that job leads weren’t a gift horse you could look in the mouth.  And there was a station in the east suburbs that wanted to talk with me. 

The program director was a guy who’d audibly lit up when I called, the previous Friday.  “You’re Mitch Berg? From the Don Vogel show?”   He’d been a huge fan.  He’s also heard my old weekend graveyard show – he’d caught it on the way to do his own airshift a few times.  In fact, we had met, at one Don Vogel remote or another.

“I’d love to talk with you!”.  He hosted the station’s morning show, and he wanted a news guy/sidekick type. 

Sure, I was interested.  Anything to get me out of the bars, until something in New York came through.

He gave me directions to a bar in Stillwater for Tuesday at 1PM.

Election day.

“Yeah”, he laughed when I quizzed him, “the bar is open on election day.  It’s kinda ‘under the table”, he said, audibly nudging and winking.

And so I drove out to Stillwater.  I took a right off of Highway 36 and drove down a frontage road that led to the bar – the Club Tara, a funky-looking little roadhouse. 

I walked into the bar.  “Miiiiiitch!”, the program director – a very Minnesotan-looking fellow in his early fifteis – yelled, waving.  He had a half-empty pitcher and a big basket of fries on the table in front of him.  Another guy, thin, sharp-faced and younger than me, sat with him.  Both were nursing beers, although seemingly nursing them pretty quickly.

I sat.  The program director introduced me to his Operations Manager.  We chatted for close to an hour – mostly about politics, Don Vogel, and what a fun place the Tara was.

The Ops guy checked out, and another guy – the Sales Manager, another, pudgier guy in his late twenties, checked in.  We talked for about an hour and a half, polishing off another pitcher and a plate of mini burgers in the process as we talked about…politics, Don Vogel, and what a fun place the Tara was.

It was about 3:30 when the Sales Manager left – just as another sales person, this one Cathy, a mildly zaftig and plenty-cute mid-twentysomething woman with light auburn hair and in high heels, walked in.  We sat until 6PM, knocking off probably a pitcher and a half between us, talking about…yep, politics, Don Vogel, and what a fun place the Tara was.  Oh, I may have flirted a bit; Cathy lived in Saint Paul, as luck’d have it. 

Finally, we all had to leave; the three of us talked until close to 7PM in the parking lot, exchanged business cards, and promised to call later. 

I took the back roads back to Saint Paul that night. 

I followed up a few times in the next year; they never quite got the money bit worked out.

UPDATE:  D’oh.  As Flash points out in the comments, Nov 1 was not election day – November 8 was.  I forgot that election day was the first Tuesday after the first Monday. 

I get the dates (and, occasionally, info) for some of these “20 Years Ago” bits from various notebooks and journals I wrote over the years.  Others, I reconstruct from proximity to other events.  This’d be one of them; there was a long, sloppy loopy job interview at a bar on election day – whatever the date was. 

Obama’s euphoric groupies need to be reeled in a bit. Apparently their expectations of Obama exceed him.

Barack Obama’s senior advisers have drawn up plans to lower expectations for his presidency if he wins next week’s election, amid concerns that many of his euphoric supporters are harbouring unrealistic hopes of what he can achieve.

Now they tell us. Good thing I haven’t voted yet. Just in time to switch to McCain.

Nonetheless, I wonder what expectations they are referring to?

Here’s one: That he is qualified to be President.

I actually giggled to myself when I read this. The election isn’t even over. Obama’s supporters are actually whipped to such a froth that his handlers feel the need to prepare lowered expectations for delivery to his sycophant disciples once and if he achieves the office of the President.

Let me see if I (or you in the comments) can be of assistance…

Hope will now become Mild Despair

Change will now become Slightly Less of The Same

We Are The People We Have Been Waiting For will now become Please Hold The Line; Calls Will Be Handled In The Order They Were Received

Tax cuts to 95% of Americans will become New Online Access to the Unemployment Benefits Application Process

Spread the Wealth will become Oops. Sorry About Your Job.

Affordable Health Care For Everyone will become Is There A Doctor In The House?

Okay, you give it a try…

 Today, the Northern Alliance Radio Network brings you the best in Minnesota conservatism from 11AM-5PM:    

• Volume I “The First Team” –Brian, Chad and John kick off from 11-1.
• Volume II “The Headliner” – Ed and I do our thing from 1-3. We’ve lot Liz Mair from the Mac ‘n Sarah campaign!  We’ve got Erik Paulsen!  We’ve got stories from last Tuesday!  Most of all, we’ve got a boost for your pre-electoral mojo!
• III, “The Final Word” – King and Michael will be dishing the Minnesota smack from 3-5.

So tune in to all six hours of the Northern Alliance Radio Network, the Twin Cities’ media’s sole guardians of sanity. On the air at AM1280 in the Metro, or streaming at AM1280’s Website, or via podcast at Townhall.

Plus – details of our final debate party, and our best-in-class election coverage!

And don’t forget the David Strom Show, with David Strom and Margaret Martin, from 9-11!

(Title: The Fanclub)