Peggy Noonan should publish a book that is simply a compilation of all her columns. Her average weekly musings tend to be better than the standouts in the careers of most journalists. Her article this week is, as always, eloquent and thought provoking:

I was at a gathering a few weeks ago for an aged Southern sage, a politico with an accent so thick you have to lean close and concentrate to understand every word, so thick, as they used to say, you could pour it on pancakes. Most of the people there were from the South, different ages and generations but Southerners—the men grounded and courteous in a certain way, the women sleeveless and sexy in a certain way. There was a lot of singing and toasting and drinking, and this was the thing: Even as an outsider, you knew them. They were Mississippi Delta people—Mizz-izz-DEHLT people—and the sense of placeness they brought into the room with them was sweet to me. It allowed you to know them, in the same way that at a gathering of, say, Irish Catholics from the suburbs of Boston, you would be able to know them, pick up who they are, with your American antennae. You grow up, move on, and bring the Delta with you, but as each generation passes, the Delta disappears, as in time the ward and the parish disappear.

I miss the old geographical vividness. But we are national now, and in a world so global that at the Olympics, when someone wins, wherever he is from, whatever nation or culture, he makes the same movements with his arms and face to mark his victory. South Korea’s Park Tae-hwan moves just like Michael Phelps, with the “Yes!” and the arms shooting upward and the fists. This must be good. Why does it feel like a leveling? Like a squashing and squeezing down of the particular, local and authentic.

I really need to read more of her books, I’ve read “On Speaking Well” and parts of “When Character was King” but that’s it.

UPDATE: In keeping with the wistful, almost sad tone of the piece, I’ll note that nearly every other blogger who has commented on it has totally missed the point.

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez. H/T Power Line

I’m beginning to believe that John Kasich is under more serious consideration for the VP slot then has been reported.

A few things to consider:

1.) The McCain trip to Columbus. He did an appearance there with Rob Portman, but its likely that while he was there he met with Kasich as well, since that’s where Kasich lives.

2.) The Cindy McCain trip to Africa. No one really picked up on this last month, but John Kasich was among a group that traveled with the Senator’s wife on a tour of Rwanda. That would have given her ample opportunity to get to know him in a rather inconspicuous manner.

Kasich has been widely lauded as one of the best, if not the best choices. He would please conservatives, help electorally in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and is widely known as a budget hawk and an experienced legislator on both domestic and foreign policy issues.

Obama takes shirt off again, goes body surfing in Hawaii

Michael Goldfarb: “A headline a McCain administration will never produce”

No, but I’ll bet a McCain administration produces more headlines like this one:

US, Poland agree to missile defense deal

As opposed to, say, “Obama to Russia: Please stop invading other countries. Or else… um… ah… I’ll rescind your invitation to the next global warming summit”

UPDATE: A question: Is Obama on the record anywhere on missile defense?

I really don’t think this comparison works.

Though the differences can seem vast, replace the word “ethnic” concerning South Ossetians with the word “political” concerning West Virginians and things get much clearer. When a group inside a group inside a group (yes, three) tries to find an identity, there’s usually a war involved and the end result is almost never without questions of its legitimacy.

Full write-up available here.

As the chart shows, Obama’s give-and-take tax policy results in marginal tax rates of 34 percent to 39 percent in the $31,000 to $45,000 income range for this family. That’s an increase of 13 percentage points or more from the current rates.

What accounts for the higher rates? First, Obama expands the maximum child and dependent care credit for families with one young child from $1,050 to $1,500 and phases down the credit over a longer income range, from $30,000 to $58,000. Throughout this income range, the credit is phasing out at a rate of $30 per $1,000 of income, thus raising the effective tax rate by 3 percentage points. Obama also makes certain credits refundable, which introduces a tax penalty of 10 percent or 15 percent, depending on the income bracket.

While Obama has publicly embraced a tax rate of 40 percent for couples earning over $350,000, his tax policies would result in a staggering 45 percent effective marginal rate in the $110,000 to $120,000 income range for this family. That is 11 percentage points higher than under current law.

More: Greg Mankiw. And also see the response over at Economists for Obama.

I’m working on a national assessment of US Senate races in 2008, looking at which ones are competitive, how important they are for the conservative movement, and what we can expect down the stretch.

If you have any interesting intel about any of the competitive senate races, shoot me an email at JackBurden(at)SavetheGOP.com.

I know there is a little thing called a Presidential election going on, but there are much more important things in life. Like the announcement of the Georgia Tech depth-chart. A lot of young bucks.