RIBS, FOR HER PLEASURE

Today, Doug and I went to the LA Barbecue Festival. A handful of BBQ joints set up adjacent to the Santa Monica Pier. Ten bucks gets you in the door, and each meal was another ten. Our goal was to gorge ourselves on roasted meats. Mission accomplished.


The longest line by far was for LC's Bar-B-Que. (Heidi's Bar-B-Que would be, like, so totally mad.)


So as not to starve to death waiting in line to get a slab of ribs, our strategy was to eat at every other place first.


The brisket at Texas' Southside BBQ was pretty good, but I wasn't a fan of their famous hot links.


Shaffer vs. Jalapeño


Surprisingly, the tastiest food came from Gus's Barbecue, a place out in South Pasadena.


My first rib.


So we finally made it to the front of the line to get some of LC's ribs. The line was so long because LC's is a famous Kansas City BBQ joint. We felt the ribs were overrated. Not bad, but not terribly tender.


As you can see, Doug thoroughly enjoyed himself.

GOV. PALIN: LINCOLN WAS UNQUALIFIED

I’m a registered independent voter in California, and in our state’s primary election I voted for Senator John McCain. I did so because he's the most experienced Republican running for President. (I'll vote for Obama in the Fall despite the fact that his victory in my state is a forgone conclusion.)

After watching Governor Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican Convention, I’m wondering if McCain will use his speech as a rebuttal to his own running mate.

Palin’s argument against Obama was twofold. First, she posited that Obama’s lack of Executive Branch experience made him unqualified for the job of President. Second, she railed against the Washington Establishment — the so-called career politicians. This seems like a stunning rebuke of the top of her own ticket. John S. McCain III entered politics in 1982 when Sarah Palin was a 17-year-old high school student. McCain has been in Washington for more than a quarter of a century. If that doesn't qualify someone for "Washington Insider" status, I don't know what does.

I felt McCain's experience was his greatest asset, and it's why I voted for McCain in the primary; yet it seems to be Palin’s argument for why I shouldn’t vote for McCain for President.

I decided to do a little research to see which of our 43 Presidents ran for the job having had no prior government experience as an Executive. Below is a list of Presidents were never a U.S. Vice President, a major Cabinet Secretary, governor or mayor.

John F. Kennedy
Dwight Eisenhower
(Herbert Hoover prior to becoming President had served as Secretary of Commerce)
(William Howard Taft prior to becoming President was Provisional Governor of Cuba)
Benjamin Harrison
James A. Garfield
Ulysses S. Grant
Abraham Lincoln
Franklin Pierce
Zachary Taylor
(Andrew Jackson prior to becoming President was the first Military Governor of Florida — I’m not sure if that’s more a military position or an Executive position)
George Washington prior to becoming President was our nation’s first Commander In Chief, but this was at the time a military position. Washington had Legislative experience – he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses and was elected president of the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

Unlike Sara Palin, I think America benefited from the service of Executive branch novices like Lincoln, Eisenhower and Kennedy.

Whomever our next President is, one thing’s for certain — he’ll be the first President in over 40 years to have had no Executive Branch experience.
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