Go Get'em Vice-President Cheney!

Yesterday (Thursday) the former Vice-President and President Obama had dueling speeches about national security. Here is the text of Cheney's speech. Everyone interested in the security of our country should take the time to read it. Cheney's arguments have been so compelling that his approval rating increased by 8 percentage points over last week. Obama, on the other hand, was defensive and presented a nuanced narrative instead of the clear definitive arguments of Cheney. You can read the text of Obama's speech here. Calling waterboarding torture is disingenous since it is not a crime. Cheney presented clearly that the Bush administration's policies kept the country safe for 7 years. The waterboarding of 3, yes 3, was so successful that the administration was able to learn about plots for more attacks and stop them. We'll probably never know the extent of those successes since the Obama administration has refused to release those documents. But they certainly didn't have any problem releasing secret memos about the enhanced interrogation techniques used to get vital information about future attacks. It is like Obama put out the welcome mat to terrorists. If they know everything that we do, what do they have to fear from carrying out more attacks on our land? The President called Gitmo a recruiting tool for terrorists, but how were they recruited before executing attacks on our land and property on foreign land? Are we more or less safe now? We'll see.

American Idol

We have a new American Idol. Kris Allen won a shocking victory Wednesday night. Kris was as shocked as anyone since the night before the judges had all but proclaimed Adam Lambert the victor. The two of them had vastly different styles. Lambert is probably the best all-round contestant Idol has ever had and he will have a huge career. Probably a bigger career than Allen. If you happen to watch the finale Wednesday, Lambert's number with Kiss was fantastic. And he simply out-sang Kris when they sang with Queen. In fact Lambert reminded me of Freddy Mercury all season when he sang rock songs.

I, however, was happy that Kris Allen won. I usually root for the underdog and I liked that Kris was not as theatrical as Lambert. I liked his quiet laid back style. And as Paula told him he always stayed true to himself, but one could say that about Lambert as well. Why did Allen win? I believe he won all the Danny Gokey votes. Perhaps Adam's fans thought it was in the bag so they didn't vote. We'll never know for sure.

Allen and Lambert presented themselves as good friends - they had been roommates from the beginning - and humble. Kris was so surprised in fact that he said Adam should have won and I think he was right. I think Allen will have a great contemporary Christian music career, but Lambert will be a rock star.

One downside to Kris's victory is while 3 of the judges gave Kris a standing ovation, which he certainly deserved for winning, Simon Cowell sat. He was snarky and appeared a bit resentful that the people had chosen Allen. It was a disappointing moment.

Congratulations to Kris. Best wishes to Adam.