The bottom line is that Palin is an excellent pick. Democrats know it. The swift efforts to discredit her are their best option to defeat her and are part of politics as usual -- clearly not the change the Obama ticket has draped over itself. Even more fundamental is the observation that the closed ideology fueling the left is built upon contradictions such as these. Their philosophy can only exist with contradictions and for that reason, it will ultimately fail.

 The government should do that which we cannot do ourselves. So reasoned Obama tonight, amid throngs of tearful supporters, battle music, and a classical stage that would put even Zeus to shame. Yet Obama, unsurprisingly, misses the point. The United States is a government by the people, for the people. We are the government, we set our own policies. How can we do something we cannot do ourselves? Perhaps Obama truly means what he says; that we are no more our own government. Or perhaps this is the change that he's promised.

I could attack logic errors all night long and, while perhaps technically convincing, it really doesn't match the emotion Obama commands. As a mere mortal, I could never hope to destine myself to such eloquent heights, to think with the supernatural clarity that belongs only to him. But I will try, foolishly of course, to make one more simple point.

45 years ago today, Martin Luther King shared a dream with the nation, immensely profound and vastly influential. Tonight, Barack Obama had the same opportunity -- to share with the nation his unique yet universally appealing vision for the future. Instead, Obama saw fit to focus on petty politics; he focused on how McCain and Bush deceived the American Promise through failed and tired policy. With all that he's been given, all the attention, all the passes, how could he throw away a perfect media opportunity? Could it be that he is not what we are told he is? Could he be not just a mortal, but a strategically ignorant one?

Municipal officials have shut down the [veggie] stand, saying that it violates zoning rules that prohibit commercial activities in a residential area. It also violates health regulations that say food can't be sold without a permit.