Misc. thoughts...

I think...

...Delaware Democrat Sen. Joseph Biden looks more and more impressive as a presidential candidate...

...Marvin Olasky's 1999 book The American Leadership Tradition, despite an obvious rightward slant, is right on regarding the relationship between personal ethics/morality and leadership...I'd love to write a Church version of this book, focusing on great leaders in Christian history rather than American presidents...

...Ray Nagin, Democrat Mayor of New Orleans, already proven to be one of the most incompetent leaders in history, may also be one of the most insensitive men on the planet...

...John Karr, whether or not he's guilty of killing Jon Benet Ramsey, is one of the creepiest looking men I've ever seen...if he smiled, I bet he'd look like the Joker...

...the jailing of human rights activist Chen Guangcheng is a tragedy, showing that China has a long way to go...

...Tom Cruise may be a looney tune, but he's still an amazingly talented and underrated actor...

...I love him, and he's got the vote of all faithful Steelers fans, but the campaign of PA gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann seems dead in the water...

...AFC contenders: Pittsburgh, New England, and Indianapolis, with Denver, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Miami, and possibly Kansas City and San Diego challenging...NFC contenders: Dallas, Philadelphia, Carolina, and Seattle, with the NY Giants and Chicago also making some noise...and, while I'm rooting for a Black and Gold repeat, this could be Peyton Manning's year...

...political analyst Dick Morris is absolutely correct most of the time...

...Ohio State and Notre Dame will play in the BCS title game in January 2007 to determine the College Football National Champion...

...Pluto deserved better...

...Hillary Clinton's chances of winning the White House in '08 are very, very slim, despite what the "Big Media" preaches...McCain, Giuliani, Gore...it will be one of those men (but, again, Biden's looking strong), with Clinton, Kerry, Gingrich, Edwards, and others far, far behind...

...the odds of the Pittsburgh Steelers repeating as Super Bowl champions may be slim, but they are still an awfully good football team...

...Allegheny County (PA) Chief Executive Dan Onorato has a bright future in PA politics; he's an independently-minded Democrat not beholden to party orthodoxy, who seems more interested in doing the right thing than pandering...

...after 66 years, Hawkman is still the coolest superhero on the planet...

...Pennsylvanians are blessed to have two decent men running for Senate this year...both Rick Santorum and Bob Casey, Jr. seem like upstanding, principled men (both devoted Roman Catholics), and we are truly blessed to be able to choose between two fine citizens for U.S. Senate...

...I'm proud of the United Methodists in Illinois offering sanctuary to an illegal immigrant and her son, but I wonder what's really being done to resolve the situation...

...the Thomas Jefferson Jaguars will win the PA title in AAA High School football...the Woodland Hills Wolverines will win it at the AAAA level...

...The Nativity Story, a movie due out in December, looks really cool.