the blog quebecois

Big day tomorrow: I'm undergoing what's called a carotid endarterectomy, a procedure to scrape out the gunk in my (left) carotid artery. I was under the impression that it was to be a fairly simple outpatient matter; however, on meeting with the anaesthesiologist, I was told it might be done under a general, with a hospital stay of three or four days.

Well, whatever. If I'm out of commission for the next few days (or for eternity) that's the explanation.

In other news, I understand the Yanks are having some sort of election, so I suppose everyone's waiting on my prediction.

Which is: McCain -- more handily than you'd think.

I don't care what the numbers are. If you'll recall, the "inevitability" of a Gore or Kerry win was trumpeted just as long and loudly by the usual actors. The MSM has embarrassed itself (not for the first time, but hopefully for the last) with its shameless bias and boosterism. Republican voters are more stable and more likely to show up.

And never mind the Bradley effect; Barack Obama is a brass-plated loon. I suspect that that realization is starting to sink in.

What's of real interest to me are the PUMAs. These are the disaffected (Party Unity My Ass) Hillary Democrats who've been tirelessly blogging and organizing behind the scenes. They've been disgusted by the tactics of the Obama camp during the Demo primaries and want to preserve Clinton's viability for 2012. Also I think there is genuine distaste for the over-the-top attacks on Sarah Palin. Take this for what it's worth, but I read somewhere that Obama's internal polling is saying he's lost 30 to 40% of Hillary's voters. If true, and if PUMA can deliver them, those are HUGE numbers -- more than enough to tip critical states to McCain.

Now it could be that my analysis is completely off and that America is on the verge of electing the most unqualified candidate for President ever. But there's also a (very slight) chance that something will go terribly wrong in the operating room tomorrow and the entire election will become (at least for me) a rather moot point.

That's our gnotalex -- always looking for the silver lining!