It looks like Australia didn’t let us down. Now, let’s be sure not to let them down.

(An amusing story about this appears at ScrappleFace (via Instapundit)

Warning: As my “train” of thought doesn’t follow a track, but rather jumps immediately to whatever else might pop off the stack (see the name of this blog), this post contains rapid shifts in direction. I am not responsible for any whiplash. Read at your own risk.

Michelle Malkin discusses Kerry’s radical Medicare drug proposal, and how it would cost us — not in terms of the taxes that would have to be raised for it, but the way it would damage the research for new drugs.

It’s a good point to bring up. Much more effective than my argument with my sister this morning that it is not fair to expect that Bill Gates, who made his money through hard work and intelligence (even if you think that his intelligence was used in “evil” ways), should pay for a prescription drugs for Joe Blow down the street. If he wants to do that, that’s great, but forcing him to do it… isn’t that a good example of forcing your faith on someone else? And, didn’t Kerry say that he wasn’t going to do that?

Malkin also points out that, apparently, Kerry can decide how much a person makes by looking at them. I’m reminded of a story my dad told me about an acquaintance of his, who was looking to buy a new truck (of the type for which you need a CDL, not a pickup). The man had walked onto the dealership wearing coveralls and generally looking, well, blue-collar. He heard one of the salesmen make a derisive comment about his ability to buy a truck, so he walked off the lot. When he bought a new truck elsewhere not long after, he drove back to the first place, parked his truck and waited for the salesman to walk out to him, when he said: “I earn my money in these clothes. I’ll spend my money in these clothes, but I won’t do it here.” Don’t judge a book by his cover, Mr. Kerry — all that can do is offend someone.

Allahpundit does a nice round up of different opinions, on both sides of the “Who won?” debate. While I agree with those who say that who won isn’t really a question we can answer, I’ll say I think Bush won. Of course, that only means that he impressed me far more than John Kerry… and that doesn’t take much.

My review of Kerry’s record at Vote Smart, what I’ve read of his speeches (at the same site), and every time I’ve heard the man speak, he’s done very, very little to impress me, and he’s done a lot to convince me that he’s just not the candidate for me. Bush isn’t perfect, but I think his heart’s in the right place, so I’ll stand by him over Kerry.

After the question on how the PATRIOT act infringes on 4th amendment rights, when Senator Kerry said that he would let no terrorists change our Constitution, I wanted someone to ask him if he’d support a liberal changing our Constitution — specifically, the parts that say the government can’t infringe on the practice of my religion, and the part that says that I have a right to bear arms. I agree that the PATRIOT act is a rather frightening piece of legislation, though I can’t say that I’m educated about it enough that I can speak in any real detail about how it’s frightening.