Patrick McGoohan is dead.

The Prisoner changed my views on personal freedom, on individuality, and collectivism.  I am unabashedly liberal, but I consider re-watching The Prisoner in my early adulthood as having moderated some of those impulses.  For anyone who hasn’t seen the show, McGoohan plays a British spy who resigns his post for reasons unknown.  He is kidnapped a few hours after tendering his resignation and is spirited off to an island from which he cannot escape.  He lives in The Village with the other prisoners, and the wardens.  The show’s primary focus was Number Six (McGoohan) and his struggle to maintain his personal freedom against the constant and growing pressures of the collective (the others in The Village).

It’s understandable that as a child I missed some of this (though not all of it).  What’s interesting, I think, about the show is that it isn’t simply an attack on liberalism’s excesses.  There was a great deal more to it than that.  The use of technology as a shortcut for society’s ills was demonized as much as collectivism was.  Deeper issues of personal identity and existentialism abounded.  This was a very, very deep show.  McGoohan co-created and co-wrote it.  The producers wanted the show to run for more than the 17 episodes McGoohan agreed to.  He had a story to tell and a lesson to impart.  He got what he wanted.

Watching the Prisoner did not change my politics, but it did teach me that there are better methods than collective force to bring about those policy changes I want to see.  As I’ve written here at RedState previously, I believe that women should have the right to choose to have an abortion (though I would counsel against it).  I believe that homosexuals should be allowed to marry one another.  I believe in a lot of things most of you don’t.  Whatever I might believe, I do know that the only way these things can justly come about is persuasion and not force.  Much as Number Six felt he was living in a world not his own because that world sought to force change upon him without his consent, I understand, perhaps, how many of you regard Roe v. Wade and some of the more recent decisions regarding gay marriage.

I view the option to have an abortion, to marry one of the same sex, or to smoke a joint to be adding to the freedom an individual has at his or her disposal.  I cannot countenance coming to those ends by diminishing the freedom of others to get there.  This may be something of a tangent from The Prisoner, Patrick McGoohan and so forth.  However far afield I may have wandered, his death has gotten me to explore some of these things.  Would that I be fortunate enough in my own passing to inspire others to look inward.

You will be missed, Mr. McGoohan.  Rest in peace.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16219.html

Politico is reporting that Congressman Rangel steered significant amounts of business to his son’s company to develop websites.  That’s questionable on its face, but by all accounts his son’s folks did a really bad job at it.  Obviously I’m not assuming criminal liability here, but add this to Congressman Rangel’s omissions regarding his taxes I think it’s time for him to retire.  It’s possible neither of these events were malicious (though that does stretch credibility pretty far), but that’s frankly irrelevant.  I’ve said here before that elected officials must serve the public before themselves, regardless of party.  I rather like Charlie Rangel.  He’s been an effective representative for his district (whatever you think of his politics, I expect most of you will agree with that, at least) and he’s served that district and this country for far longer than I’ve been alive.

That’s what makes this difficult.  That difficulty makes it all the more important that I say something.  Lengthy service and zealous representation of one’s constituents was not enough for me to forgive Senator Stevens.  I would be intellectually dishonest if I held a member of my own party to a different standard.

Thank you, Congressman Rangel, for what you’ve done in serving your constituents.  It’s time to go home.

While we are obviously hoping for different outcomes, I thought I’d take the time to wish everyone at RedState well on the eve of the election. Tomorrow marks an important day for our country as we all take to the polls and make ourselves heard. I share something with each and every one of you – a deep desire to see this country prosper. So long as we keep that goal in mind, all of us, we’ll be better for it.

Get out there and vote. These issues matter and this is far too important to be left to others. I hope you’re among the company of friends and loved ones as the press starts to release the vote totals tomorrow night. Get comfortable once you’ve done your part (those of you volunteering and so forth) and we’ll all talk about it afterwords.

Good hunting, folks. Be well.

The State of Hawaii says he was born there.

The state’s Department of Health director on Friday released a statement verifying the legitimacy of Sen. Barack Obama birth certificate.
The state has received multiple requests for a copy of Obama’s birth certificate. State law does not allow officials to release the birth certificate of a person to someone outside of the family.

I understand that many here have posited that Senator Obama’s birth certificate was fake and that he was not born in the United States. Doubtless this will not convince everyone. That being said, we’ve now got an official statement from the State of Hawaii that he was, in fact, born there.

Anyone satisfied?

This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. This is a question of objective fact. Either Barack Obama was born in Hawaii or he wasn’t. At this point anyone who chooses to believe he wasn’t is doing so in the face of multiple sources that either suggest or outright assert he was born there. A person is entitled to their own opinion, surely, but not their own set of facts.

Jonathan Martin at the Politico is reporting that Senator McCain’s campaign is about to go dark in Michigan.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/1008/McCainpullingoutofMichigan.html?showall

John McCain is pulling out of Michigan, according to two Republicans, a stunning move a month away from Election Day that indicates the difficulty Republicans are having in finding blue states to put in play.

McCain will go off TV in Michigan, stop dropping mail there and send most of his staff to more competitive states, including Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. Wisconsin went for Kerry in 2004, Ohio and Florida for Bush.

McCain’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Marc Ambinder is reporting that the McCain camp will not totally disengage:

A McCain adviser confirmed the news but noted that the Republican National Committee’s independent expenditure arm is still running ads there, and that McCain will keep most of his staff in-state. McCain officials and Michigan Republican Party officials declined to comment. Weirdly, McCain’s staff scheduled a surrogate conference call with Mitt Romney for this afternoon, perhaps assuming that their shift in advertising would not be noticed or reported.

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/10/mccainsnowplayingdefenseob.php#more

Mark Halperin at Time is reporting that the McCain campaign is considering making a play for Maine, presumably in lieu of contesting Michigan.

http://thepage.time.com/2008/10/02/michi-gone/

Survey USA last polled Maine on 9/23 and showed the race at 49 Obama to 44 McCain. Rasmussen polled Maine on 9/17 and showed it at 50 Obama to 46 McCain. These numbers are considerably closer than Michigan has been in the last few days. Please note that PPP just showed Michigan as 51O/41M this morning.

Can the McCain campaign get to 270 EV’s without Michigan? Sure, anything’s possible. Can’t say I expected this. I wonder when we’ll get confirmation, one way or another, that this is true or false.

Hey gang!

I don’t get signed out constantly for no reason when I use Chrome as my browser, and RS seems to load a bit more reliably as well. Firefox isn’t any better for me than is IE 7.0 or the 8.0 beta, but Chrome seems to do really well.

Anybody else using Chrome?

Good afternoon, all!

I’ve noticed quite a bit of hope hereabouts. Hope is a powerful thing, no question of it. I just find the object of that hope a little quizzical. Some here at RedState have pinned quite a bit of it on Governor Palin’s performance at the forthcoming debate. I just can’t figure this one out.

Let’s assume that Governor Palin clobbers Senator Biden, not in the expectations game, but substantively. Okay, so what? I could ask the same question of my fellow Democrats should Biden clobber Palin. So what? This is the Vice Presidential debate. Historically this sort of thing hardly matters. Quayle suffered one of the worst soundbytes in any VP debate ever but it did not matter one whit.

Governor Palin has served to galvanize your base, your fundraising, and your volunteer base. Those are all incredibly important fundamentals and I do not in any way detract her efficacy thereabouts. But that’s not enough, and I suspect some of you know that.

Read More →

In 1787 the Constitutional Convention approved the electoral college proposal. This system was created to put some distance between the masses and the levers of electoral power. This hybrid system preserves some measure of power to the several states in that they are viewed as distinct units, not merely arbitrary borders that contain population centers. As such, a candidate focuses on the state’s interests as a whole, not merely those of the largest cities (at least, that’s the theory). There are various anachronisms within this system, especially in the nature by which the electors are chosen and their ability to vote in a way outside the will of the electorate.

Do we still need the Electoral College? Looking at the logistics of elections, we are absolutely able to communicate the results of a national election in nearly real-time. The lag in time that was once necessary in the 1800′s is unthinkable today. Modern information technology has empowered us considerably in this process. We are also more able to fight electoral fraud. Yes, I know we could do far better in fighting both electoral fraud and voter suppression (two sides of the same coin – gaming the system), but that ability remains.

Read More →

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=27726

Robert Novak was admitted yesterday to a Boston hospital where he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. In a written statement given to his publisher, Novak said:

“On Sunday, July 27, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I have been admitted to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where doctors will soon begin appropriate treatment.

“I will be suspending my journalistic work for an indefinite but, God willing, not too lengthy period.”

Novak is the long-time editor of the influential newsletter, Evans-Novak Political Report, published by Human Events’ parent company, Eagle Publishing. Novak is also a well-known columnist for the Chicago Sun Times and more recently a Fox News Channel contributor. The 77-year-old Novak recently celebrated his 50th year as a Washington-based journalist.

May I be the first here to wish him a speedy recovery. This is no small illness, and his road ahead will likely be difficult. I wonder if he learned of this because of his recent accident? He may have been examined as a result. Ultimately it doesn’t matter. I wish him well.