Nine years, three defeats, two wipeouts and one absent superstar since the last time it belonged to the United States, the Ryder Cup changed hands Sunday at Valhalla Golf Club, where the routine cheer was just as unexpected as the outcome.

"Red, white, Boo!"

For sure, the homespun Boo Weekley inspired the U.S. team and its fans, but it still wasn't easy coming up with a blueprint for success that didn't include top-ranked Tiger Woods - who is recovering from season-ending knee surgery. Yet that is exactly how the underdog U.S. team played it, winning 16 ½-11 ½, with a trump of Europe's aces that most observers didn't expect.

Sergio Garcia of Spain, Lee Westwood of England and Padraig Harrington of Ireland didn't win a match in three days. When Anthony Kim, a 23-year-old Ryder Cup rookie, put a bruising, 5-and-4 defeat on Garcia in the first of the day's 12 singles matches, the Americans were off and running.

Jim Furyk's 2-and-1 victory over Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain in the eighth match secured the victory, giving the United States the 14 ½ points it needed, and it was over with four matches in progress.

And so, after standing in mute misery, watching back-to-back-to-back victory celebrations of group singing, flag waving and Guinness swilling by the European side, it was somebody else's turn to smile.

"I'm coming out of my skin right now, I'm so excited," said Kim, who was 2-1-1 and set the tone for the pressure-soaked last day with the way he handled Garcia. "We're feeling pretty proud of ourselves."

Paul Azinger, the first-time U.S. captain, led the celebratory parade in his red golf cart, speeding down a fairway past fans holding large flags.

U.S. players quickly joined the act around the clubhouse. Weekley removed his cap and bowed. Furyk fought back tears of joy. J.B. Holmes raised his arms to encourage fans to raise the roof. Phil Mickelson grinned, as usual. Hunter Mahan and Kenny Perry waved American flags from the clubhouse veranda.

Then the champagne came out, and its spray filled the air. Azinger emptied the contents of one bottle on Weekley's head.

On the raucous scale, this one bordered on subdued, but it was surely satisfying. The previous U.S. victory was in 1999 in Brookline, Mass.

Perhaps because that was so long ago, the U.S. team came up with a boisterous performance and won by its largest margin since 1981.

The left lost not a minute in tarring Sarah Palin after McCain selected her as his running mate. Of course they had to be careful-very careful. As hard as they worked, they couldn't dig up anywhere near as much dirt on this outstanding self-made governor than they have all along covered up for their darling Obama.

What did they do? The cunning leftists are nothing if they are not devious and Machiavellian. It would have been a huge self-inflicted disaster if the men had led the offensive. So, true to form, these unscrupulous leftist cowards hid behind their women's skirts and let them do their dirty work.

Women vilifying a woman, no matter how baseless and vicious the assaults may be are better tolerated than men doing the dishonourable thing-they are chalked to the nasty game of partisan politics. To the leftists, as is the case in war and love, all is also considered fair in politics.

Here is a woman, by all accounts, a personification of the American story. A self-made woman rising from the heart of the middle class, distinguishing herself as a tireless devoted public servant who had worked through the grades to the governorship post by single-mindedly remaining faithful to the trust of her electorate.

Here is a woman who had no sugar-daddy sponsor to send her to an Ivy League school, but had to work hard on her own with the support of her not-so-wealthy working parents to finish college.

Here is a woman who took on the powerful corrupt officials at the state level. She confronted corruptions and the old-boys network. She even challenged the miscreants in her own political party and took on an incumbent governor and beat him without selling herself to the powerful interest groups.

Many years ago, a great hitter named Paul Waner was nearing the end of his long career. He entered a ballgame with 2,999 hits -- one hit away from the landmark total of 3,000, which so many hitters want to reach, but which relatively few actually do reach.

Waner hit a ball that the fielder did not handle cleanly but the official scorer called it a hit, making it Waner's 3,000th. Paul Waner then sent word to the official scorer that he did not want that questionable hit to be the one that put him over the top. The official scorer reversed himself and called it an error. Later Paul Waner got a clean hit for number 3,000.
 
What reminded me of this is the great fervor that many seem to feel over the prospect of the first black President of the United States.
 
No doubt it is only a matter of time before there is a black president, just as it was only a matter of time before Paul Waner got his 3,000th hit. The issue is whether we want to reach that landmark so badly that we are willing to overlook how questionably that landmark is reached.
 
Paul Waner had too much pride to accept a scratch hit. Choosing a President of the United States is a lot more momentous than a baseball record. We the voters need to have far more concern about who we put in that office that holds the destiny of a nation and of generations yet unborn.
 
There is no reason why someone as arrogant, foolishly clever and ultimately dangerous as Barack Obama should become president -- especially not at a time when the threat of international terrorists with nuclear weapons looms over 300 million Americans.

Many people seem to regard elections as occasions for venting emotions, like cheering for your favorite team or choosing a Homecoming Queen.
 
The three leading candidates for their party's nomination are being discussed in terms of their demographics -- race, sex and age -- as if that is what the job is about.
 
One of the painful aspects of studying great catastrophes of the past is discovering how many times people were preoccupied with trivialities whenthey were teetering on the edge of doom. The demographics of the presidency are far less important than the momentous weight of responsibility that office carries.