Here's wishing a Happy New Year to all readers of 2GL, and to my fellow bloggers, Rudy and 3GL (a.k.a. Texans4Kerry, a.k.a. Latinos4Kerry, a.k.a. Bulldoza). I've had a hell of a lot of fun on here with you guys. Keep up the posting in 2005.

Cloning...

gone horribly awry.

Easy, Pipes!

Check out this trash from Daniel Pipes. According to Pipes, we should be profiling and registering all Muslims in the U.S. But isn't this sort of like the WWII Japanese internment camps? You bet, says Pipes. And the Japanese Americans deserved it, too.

You think this is the fringe right? Check out the fifth paragraph of this White House Personnel Announcement. Yes, Bush appointed him (via recess appointment) to the U.S. Institute for Peace. Because even your GOP Senate had issues with Pipes' radicalism, Bush had to make an end run around the confirmation process. Here's a little more about Bush's peacemaker.

Now, the man cheering the internment of American Japanese and calling for everyday American Muslims to surrender their rights is the same man directing an organization that will receive $22.1 million of our tax dollars next year. Think about that next time you look at the federal deduction on your paycheck.

You think this is the fringe right? Not anymore, brother. This White House has called rabid slobbering extremism in from the yard, taken off the shock collar, and given it a nice cushy seat right here at the table.

Big News In A Small World

Yesterday, good friend Andy Mayle asked good friend Christine Harding to be his bride. It is a mild surprise and huge relief to us all that she said yes. Ms. Harding, in the words of your fiance, you're about to get a life sentence.

You're a lucky guy, Mayle. Congratulations to both of you.

Republicans Give "Ethics" a Vacation

Changing the rules to allow criminals to be their leaders wasn't enough for Congressional Republicans. Now they want to make it easier to hide their unethical behavior. Oh, and they want to remove the traitorous Republican who - imagine this - allowed the investigation of DeLay's ethical breaches to go forward!

See, it's about values.

A Tale of Two Presidents

In a radio interview with the BBC yesterday, President Clinton expressed his empathy for the victims of the Christmas tsunamis and threw out some ideas for dealing with the massive destruction they caused.

Meanwhile, Bush has been busy "clearing brush" on his Crawford ranch. That's all this guy does! How much effing brush is down there? Maybe it's a euphemism. "Feeling a little brushy, Karl - gotta go clear some brush". Anyway, Bush immediately sent a spokesman out to clarify that he too was concerned about the tsunami victims and to voice his own idea for a relief plan. Just kidding. According to the Post, he actually sent a spokesman out to throw barbs at Clinton.

Earlier yesterday, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said the president was confident he could monitor events effectively without returning to Washington or making public statements in Crawford, where he spent part of the day clearing brush and bicycling. Explaining the about-face, a White House official said: "The president wanted to be fully briefed on our efforts. He didn't want to make a symbolic statement about 'We feel your pain.' "

Many Bush aides believe Clinton was too quick to head for the cameras to hold forth on tragedies with his trademark empathy. "Actions speak louder than words," a top Bush aide said, describing the president's view of his appropriate role.

You think the Post is misinterpreting Bush's reaction in order to make him look like an a-hole? Check out how the right wing rags trump it up. Bush looks even more like an a-hole. After donating less in aid than the cost of his re-inauguration ceremony, his first remark about this tragedy is to take a slap at Clinton - for talking about the tragedy!

Also, as others in the 'sphere have mentioned, this was a huge opportunity for America to step up to the plate and really show some empathy for the Muslim world. Bush is right about one thing: actions speak louder than words. He could put his ass on a plane (maybe have a good mile-high "brush clearing" in the bathroom) and land in Jakarta to announce a billion in aid and get in some photos showing his compassion for the Muslim folks. Imagine this, but with a brown woman. Or this, without Laura in a lei. Those pictures would go a long way.

Now maybe, after being called out on this, Bush actually will do something along those lines. I sincerely hope he does. Any love we can show the Muslims will help us succeed in this democracy-by-warfare experiment we've got going on in the Middle East. Hearts and minds, people. Hearts and minds.

Nothing Holds a Roman Candle To. . .

Earlier this year a couple very trusted buddies demanded that I see the movie Garden State. It was a very nice, if not excellent, movie. And key to its contemplative tone was the music. So, I bought (oh alright, "illegally downloaded") the soundtrack. After a while, two songs by The Shins really got into my skin, so I bought (. . . see infra) their album Chutes Too Narrow.

Since then, I haven't listened to much else.

Fantastic. Every time I boil it down into a few favorite songs, I give another listen to a few others . . . and, like all great albums (Kid A comes immediately to mind), the more you listen, the better they get. These are just effing beautiful melodic songs. And strange. Who drops a quick line like "tell Sir Thomas More we've got another failed attempt" into the bridge of a pop song? And it works.

I can typically explain my impression of any new group by combining two or three other artists (i.e. The White Stripes = Violent Femmes plus Nirvana minus bass guitar and talent). But The Shins are pretty damn unique. When I first heard New Slang (on Garden State and Oh! Inverted World), I thought this was some Irish band - like that one group that Sting did some songs with. What the eff were they called? The Commandoes or something? Oh yeah - The Cheiftans. Anyway, it had that comfortable sort of drunk-in-a-pub-in-Dublin-by-a-fireplace sound. Not even close - they're from Albequerque.

But each song carries its own style. The opening track on Chutes, Kissing the Lipless, could be Jane's Addiction. And I mean Jane's Addiction at their best. Saint Simon could be . . . eff, I don't know . . Queen? I'll tell you, halfway through that song, when it shifts keys (oh, you'll know it when you hear it) it's the prettiest thing I've heard since . . . well, for some reason I remember being in junior high and hearing the opening notes in Slash's bitchin Sweet Child of Mine solo. Yeah, good times. Where do we go... where do we go now. But, I digest . . .

Anyway, get this disk and listen to it all the way through six times. After the sixth time, you'll find yourself shirtless on the street wildly screaming these songs at strangers with pure animal joy.

Cheer Cheer for Ol Notre Dame

Congratulations to the Irish on an exciting season. Tough season it was, but there were little bits of progress that are getting us back on track. Brady Quinn, suprisingly, had a terrific season considering the tough schedule. He completed 174 of 324 passes with 2372 yards and 15 touchdowns. Not bad for his first year as a starter, look for big things from this kid. Darius Walker, a true freshman, and one of Ty's guys was impressive,to say the least. 172 carries, 743 yards with an average of 4.3 yards a carry. Taking his 6 touchdowns, he single handedly defeated Michigan. He should have a great career at the dome. Here's a thanks to the team and especially the seniors for playing their hearts out and living up to the ideals of Notre Dame. Cheers!

Lose (Another) One for Ty

Last night, the Irish lost their seventh bowl game in a row, which is definitely not bragable. I drank deep from the pitcher of sorrow (slash Miller Lite) and proudly sang the Notre Dame fight song.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Enjoy the season and please remember the life and teachings we're celebrating. Peace be with you.

Bush Picks Fight For Christmas

Again displaying his ignorance of the ancient idea of "bipartisanship" ([bye-part'-iz-un-ship] - last practiced by an American president in the previous century), Bush has decided to re-nominate to the federal judiciary the few radical extremists whose nominations were blocked in Bush's last term by Democrats who were unwilling to stand by while Bush hijacked the independence of our judiciary. At least the Dems did something worthwhile last term. But why would Bush go through the whole song and dance again, drawing lines in the sand, slapping moderates in the face, and knowing the very same nominees will reach the very same fate? In fact, isn't there some kind of saying about trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?

But Bush isn't expecting a different result. He can't be. Instead, he hopes to gain political mileage from more of the orchestrated whining and crying on the GOP side of the aisle about the sure-to-come re-filibusters of the re-nominations. It seems like a better maneuver would have been to find 20 new radicals to nominate, so this bit of political maneuvering wouldn't be so transparently absurd. With enough bawling from the GOP, though, I'm sure the media will pick up on the re-filibusters and treat them just like brand new filibusters. That way, Bush can paint the Democrats as serial nominee blockers, when in fact they're blocking the same individuals they blocked before.

Will the Republicans fall in line behind this ridiculous tactic and cry about the result that everyone knows is coming? Well, Arlen Specter, at least, is not buying in. But we've seen what happens to Specter when the GOP hammer comes down on him. He stiffens up like a nail and gets driven right back into the platform. And although the Congressional Republicans are starting to find their own voice in this term, I have no doubt that they'll still howl on command from their boyish emperor.

And the purpose of all this bullcrap?

Rehnquist is gone soon, and Bush will be nominating a Supreme Court justice. He must be planning a doozy, and expecting the Congressional Democrats to oppose the nomination. He wants to argue that "obstructionist tactics" are just par for the course - that the Democrats have opposed all of his nominations. In fact, the rumblings among Democrats indicated that they would go easy on the filibuster for federal nominations this term, in order to save ammo for the Supreme nomination(s). Which brings us back to the earlier question: why not nominate new radicals? The answer: because they might actually be confirmed. Bush did the only thing he could do to actually ensure filibusters . . . When the cries of "obstructionist" start flying in a couple of months, let's remember this.

I don't know who Bush is going to nominate for the Court, but I never thought we would have such a radical president that I would be left praying for a longer term for Justice "separate but equal" Rehnquist.

Rudolph the All-Radial-Tires Salesman

Until now, I never knew the story of "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" was created for the Montgomery Ward group of department stores as a cheap promotional gimmick.

Rudolph came to life in 1939 when the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward company (operators of a chain of department stores) asked one of their copywriters, 34-year-old Robert L. May, to come up with a Christmas story they could give away to shoppers as a promotional gimmick. (The Montgomery Ward stores had been buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas every year, and May's department head saw creating a giveaway booklet of their own as a way to save money.) May, who had a penchant for writing children's stories and limericks, was tapped to create the booklet.

May, drawing in part on the tale of The Ugly Duckling and his own background (he was a often taunted as a child for being shy, small, and slight), settled on the idea of an underdog ostracized by the reindeer community because of his physical abnormality: a glowing red nose. Looking for an alliterative name, May considered and rejected Rollo (too cheerful and carefree a name for the story of a misfit) and Reginald (too British) before deciding on Rudolph. He then proceeded to write Rudolph's story in verse, as a series of rhyming couplets, testing it out on his 4-year-old daughter Barbara as he went along. Although Barbara was thrilled with Rudolph's story, May's boss was worried that a story featuring a red nose — an image associated with drinking and drunkards — was unsuitable for a Christmas tale. May responded by taking Denver Gillen, a friend from Montgomery Ward's art department, to the Lincoln Park Zoo to sketch some deer. Gillen's illustrations of a red-nosed reindeer overcame the hesitancy of May's bosses, and the Rudolph story was approved. Montgomery Ward distributed 2.4 million copies of the Rudolph booket in 1939, and although wartime paper shortages curtailed printing for the next several years, a total of 6 million copies had been given by the end of 1946.

[read the rest here].

Wow, imagine that, even the songs identified with Christmas are steeped in consumerism. Thanks, Snopes, for further corroding the luster on my childhood image of Christmas.

Red Staters Cheer Rise in Population Numbers

A new study was released today indicating that the Red states from the last election seem to be gaining more people yearly than the Blue states, which may mark a sign of Republican dominance in national elections for years to come. While some Republican hacks are licking their chops, the first thing I thought of for us Blue staters is "Great, More Red Mouths to Feed!".

All I want for Christmas.....

As the end of the year approaches, one naturally takes inventory on one's life and is easily reminded of what has (or has not) been accomplished in the past year. Sometimes this list evolves into a list of New Year's resolutions, a list that will likely be discarded within a couple of days after its creation, and sometimes the list is just completely forgotten.

While it's obvious that another year will go by with Public Enemy #1, Osama bin Laden and his band of terrorists, still at large, it was promising that the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office identified the culprit who threw the infamous beer at Ron Artest triggering the basketball melee heard around the world a few weeks ago. But alas, I think, this was a rare case of prosecutorial efficiency as, generally, delay dominates the judicial landscape.

In the spirit of the season, then, I compiled a list of some recent notable cases, some less notable, I'd like to see resolved once and for all as a nice a little Christmas present for me and my loved ones:

(10) The Atlanta Olympic Bombing (Eric Rudolph was arrested in 2003 but haven't heard anything since);

(9) The D.C. anthrax scare (national news in 2001 and then nothing);

(8) The Valerie Plame newspaper leak (P. Fitzgerald's really dragging his feet on this one);

(7) The prosecution of Enron Corp. (Enron who?);

(6) Who was responsible for simultaneously blowing up the two Russian jetliners? (link);

(5) Michael Jackson's molestation charges (res ipsa);

(4) Princess Diana's "accidental" death (was Charles really involved?);

(3) Who murdered Tupac and Biggie? (is it really that easy to "cap" a couple of rappers and get away with it?);

(2) Did the KGB really poison this poor guy with dioxin?

(1) And last, but not least, I'd like know whatever happened in the pizza man bombing case? You know the one, the mysterious murder of the pizza man who went out for a delivery and came back with a bomb sadistically locked around his neck and ended up blowing up right in front of police. I thought the FBI would've cracked this one by now.....

I'm sure there are plenty more so feel free to send along any of your suggestions. I think Santa is still accepting our wishlists....

Hand over that Double Crust Pizza Supreme

Teen faces years in prison for pizza heist.

The Lady and Her Baseball-sy Maneuver

Linda Cropp's adroit move to slip in a provision requiring 50% of the financing of any new National's stadium venture to be poneyed up by private donors was a bold move, indeed. But, apparently, some late-hour negotiating with Mayor Williams has reduced the bite of the provision and perhaps saved, the Nationals, formerly the Expos, for the District.

While it's true that Cropp almost torpedoed the Expos/Nationals deal with her negotiating antics, there definitely was some merit to requiring some private financing. In the wake of the steriod scandal and the almost guarantee of a bi-yearly strike in baseball, maybe Sen. McCain's right. Maybe it's time that MLB stops living off the public's dole, unless it significantly improves itself.

Otherwise, it's hard to stomach increasing taxes to bring a bunch of juiced-up cry babies to town.

The Time Man of the Year "Does Not Negotiate with Himself!"

In case you missed it, Pres. Bush rolled out a new approach to fielding questions at the press conferences that he rarely holds, "not negotiating with himself.":

When the subject turned to Social Security, the president made clear that questions about his views on the subject were strictly out of bounds -- as when CNN's John King asked why Bush wasn't talking about "tough measures" such as raising the retirement age or cutting benefits.

"Now the temptation is going to be, by well-meaning people such as yourself, John, and others here as we run up to the issue, to get me to negotiate with myself in public," Bush said. Saying he was trying to "condition" reporters, he added: "I'm not going to negotiate with myself and I will negotiate at the appropriate time with the law writers, and so thank you for trying."

When another questioner asked Bush to make his case for personal Social Security accounts, a wary Bush sought to suppress the negotiator within. "Yeah, I will try to explain how without negotiating with myself," he began.

The resourceful Edwin Chen of the Los Angeles Times pointed out that Bush had already negotiated with himself by ruling out benefit cuts for retirees and near-retirees, then asked Bush to define "near-retired."

The president saw through this plea for self-negotiation. "Yeah, well, that's going to fall in the negotiating-with-myself category," he said.

Brilliant maneuver, one may say. But let me get this straight: he doesn't negotiate with Congress, he doesn't negotiate with other world powers, he doesn't negotiate with the more moderate members of his own cabinet and other dissenters out there, and now, it's clear he doesn't "negotiate with himself," whatever that means. Gee, I guess the 60 million dollar question is, who does this man negotiate with?

New Use of the Rubber Stamp

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld caught using an automatic signature device to sign condolence letters to the families of soldiers killed in Iraq.

The controversy arose when soldier-turned-writer David H. Hackworth penned a column on Nov. 22 reporting that two Pentagon-based colonels told him that Rumsfeld "has relinquished this sacred duty to a signature device rather than signing the sad documents himself." After checking with various families of the dead, Hackworth wrote that "one father bitterly commented that he thought it was a shame that the SecDef could keep his squash schedule but not find the time to sign his dead son's letter."

...

Stars and Stripes quoted families of the dead saying they were insulted that Rumsfeld did not sign the letters himself. They also said they were suspicious about the signature on similar letters they received from President Bush, but a White House spokesman said Bush does put pen to paper himself.

Simply despicable. How hard is it to sign your name 1,000 times in roughly two years?

A Fitting Tit for Tat

Cuba on the offensive, scores a direct hit:

Cuba retaliated for the U.S. diplomatic mission's Christmas display supporting Cuban dissidents by putting up a billboard Friday emblazoned with photographs of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners and a huge swastika overlaid with a "Made in the U.S.A" stamp.

The U.S. mission, headed by James Cason, rejected a demand this week to remove Christmas decorations that included a reference to dissidents jailed by Fidel Castro's government.

The trimmings included a Santa Claus, candy canes and white lights wrapped around palm trees — and a sign reading "75," a reference to the 75 Cuban dissidents jailed last year.

Smaller billboards with photographs of prisoner abuse in Iraq went up in less conspicuous places, including near a back entrance to the U.S. mission and at the neighboring Anti-Imperialist Plaza.


Cuba-U.S. relations, never good during four decades of communist rule on the island, have deteriorated during the Bush administration, which has toughened economic sanctions and publicized its plan for a democratic Cuba after Castro.

Ouch! Nothing like more stinging evidence just before the holidays that we've sufficiently lost the moral high ground in the world. All any nation accused of egregious civil rights abuses has to do is merely flash the old Lynndie England card to shut us up.

Then again, I guess, we can always carpet bomb Cuba further back into the Stone Age if they really piss us off...

Chuckle of the Day

Question: Why did Ron Artest leave the game early?
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Answer: He wanted to beat the Crowd!

Hat tip: Phi Slamma Jamma.

Kobe, When the Student is Ready, the Teacher will Appear

Kobe Bryant is a dick and Shaq Diesel should have whooped his ass. He's a good basketball player, but he is not a great one. Great ones understand that the game is not only played on the court. Michael Jordan was a master at this idea. Kobe needs to grow up and understand that just because he is likely the most talented player in the NBA, he still has to get along with his colleagues. He reminds me of that super intelligent guy in law school who had no friends because he looked down at everyone. Read this article by Jason Whitlock, funny yet precise.

Quotable Bill

"I hope your children turn out to be as perfect as you are, sir."

--Bill Clinton to a heckler in Central Park who called him an embarrassment to the office (link.)

Via: Political Wire.

Quality...

86 Rules of Drinking.

Via: J-walk.

Sullivan Nails It

Watch him break down America's torture problem. Hell, here's the whole thing:

A CULTURE OF ABUSE: Let's review. We have the horrors of Abu Ghraib; we have several murders and rapes of inmates in Iraq and in Afghanistan; we have separate abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib after the scandal broke; we have the use of electric shocks, beating to unconsciousness, scarring chemicals, one instance of "water-boarding," using dogs to terrorize and sometimes bite inmates, forced sodomy, and any number of bizarre pieces of sexual humiliation, designed specifically to abuse Arabs. Got all that? We have at least 130 convictions. Now we have this:

In Karbala in May 2003, one Marine held a 9mm pistol to the back of a bound
detainee's head while another took a photograph. Two months later, in Diwaniyah,
four Marines ordered teenage Iraqi looters to kneel alongside holes and then
fired a pistol "to conduct a mock execution." In April of this year, shortly
before the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal shook the U.S. military, three
Marines in Mahmudiya shocked a detainee with an electric transformer, forcing
him to "dance" as the electricity hit him, according to a witness, one document
states.

The ACLU also discovered a document containing a statement taken in October by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in which a Navy corpsman who had been attached to the Marines in Iraq stated that it was routine to take a prisoner to an empty swimming pool, place cuffs on his hands and legs, put a burlap bag over his head, and then "the EPW [enemy prisoner of war] would remain in the kneeling position for no longer than 24 hours while the EPW was awaiting interrogation."

It's also increasingly clear that these kinds of abuses - the use of nakedness, exposure to extreme heat and cold, hooding, sexual abuse, real and faked electric torture - are themes across these disparate acts. In other words, there seems to be an informal methodology for the abuse and humiliation of prisoners. Do we really believe that these common practices are the result of completely spontaneous imagination by soldiers with no idea of what they were doing and no culture of acceptance from their superiors? These were not just some untrained grunts, coping with Rumsfeld-engineered chaos. These were elite Navy SEALs and Special Forces. And we have no idea how many incidents have gone unreported or have been covered up.

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW: We don't know - and may never know - the full extent of the torture. But we do now know that this wasn't just "abuse"; it was torture, used as part of the interrogation process or just randomly. We do know it wasn't a handful of hoodlums on the night shift in one prison. We do know that it followed a clear directive from the president that in this war, the enemy has the protection of the Geneva Conventions solely at his personal discretion, and that the "enemy" can include thousands of people rounded up in the middle of the night who are and were guilty of absolutely nothing. We also know that this president only rewards loyalty, not competence. We do know that the pattern of abuse affects the Special Forces, the Military Police, the Army, the Navy SEALs, reservists, and the Marine corps. We also know that no one in the higher commands has been found guilty of anything. And check this out: the marines who used electric shock torture against an inmate were found guilty. Their sentence? One got one year in confinement. The other eight months. The lesson? No big deal. They're still in the uniform.

Rumor has it

Our good buddy TOD over at CC will be on Fox News tonight with Brit Hume. His modesty has kept it hush hush I'm sure. He's a good conservative so they probably won't cut his mike. Not sure of the topic or discussion, but maybe he will put up a posting and let us know......

But Wait....Maybe I am Guilty of Using the Race Card

A must read for anyone interested in NCAA Football.

http://www.ndnation.com/columnists/see/hatchet.html

An excerpt for those short on time:

Notre Dame's football success is and always has been built on great coaches. While Tyrone Willingham is a good man who represented Notre Dame well, he wasn’t being paid 1.6 million dollars a year to be an ambassador for a mediocre squad. He was paid to build a champion. There are many, many men who can represent Notre Dame well. In fact, Notre Dame has won the American Football Coaches Association's Academic Achievement Award six times, including the year before Willingham arrived (it hasn't won it since.) Integrity is not a novel concept, it is expected at Notre Dame, but that is just a portion of the job description. Notre Dame has traditionally graduated players and put them in the NFL. At the beginning of the season Notre Dame had both more NFL players than any other school and the highest percentage (93%) of NFL players with degrees. Integrity is not new at Notre Dame, losing is.

As Father Hesburgh said in responding to the same criticisms fifty years ago, "Some things never change at ND, one is ND's commitment to excellence. The other is criticism for having the "arrogance" to strive for it."

Jesus Gets Behind Boycott: This is Important

Various conservative religious groups have organized boycotts on retailers who take a neutral stance on religious displays in their stores during the Holiday Season. The retailers, most notably Macy's, simply have chosen to not commit to a particular religious set of views. I would think this inaction is out of respect for employees, merchants and customers. And What do the Christians do? They attempt to hurt retailer's revenues by encouraging other Christians to not purchase from stores of this sort. Do you think Jesus Christ is in line with these actions by "Christians"? I remember from my Catechism classes Jesus telling us through Matthew at Chapter 6:

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

This is right next to the Lord's Prayer, so he must have meant it........
As a practicing Christian with a strong Faith, I am appalled and disgusted with these folks who are hijacking my Christian philosophy. Some fights are better not fought and this is one of them. Religion and preserving the ideals of Christianity aside, isn't this un-American as hell? The choice or no choice at all to exhibit religious beliefs is what is unbelievably awesome about the mighty USA and citizens of this country should not punish for exercise of our freedoms!!

I encourage the boycotters to read a book or two on the middle east, maybe Iraq's destruction of the Kurds. Maybe read about the Jews gassed in Nazi Germany. Maybe read about the Medieval Crusades and the killing of tons of Muslims. Religious tolerance is good for humanity.

Come on folks, get a clue,.....here is the story

Perception is Everything

The polls showed that Bush won re-election because of the "value" voters........it seems to me that the Republican party is the party that lacks values, but who wants to silence good hypocrites? A few strories:

President Bush Admits to Being Irresponsible When asked about Drug Usage: President Bush America's Marion Barry.

Schwarzenegger, Republican California Gov Apologizes for Sexually Harassing Multiple Women

Kerik, Former Bush nominee for Director of Homeland Sec , Exploits 9-11 for Sexual Deviance

Jack Ryan, Former Illinois Senatorial Candidate: Advocate of Strip Clubs: Swinging, Deviance and Play Toys, He Exclaims, We Need More of That in Illinois

Big Bad Texas Governor Allegedly Gay: Rumor?

Res Ipsa Loquitor...............

The University of Un-diversity

Even the Dragon wins, sometimes. The Right may have a point on college faculty diversity.

Out at a local watering hole recently, one whose denizens include the lovely Bush twins, I was trapped in a heated discussion that devolved from the lack of blue state representation to the lack of conservative professors at our universities. In fact, my fiery colleague insisted on the latter point, liberal professors outnumber conservative ones in the humanities 9:1. "Nine to one!" he exclaimed (citing a USA Today recent poll, which actually was 7:1). "That's a travesty of justice," he said.

Finally, I thought, a victory for the tree huggers and bleeding hearts of America. Boy, it's been too long, even Slick Willy was an elephant in donkey clothing. If we can't beat 'em in the electoral college, I proclaimed silently in my jaded mind, we'll surely undermine 'em at the state colleges. And maybe someday, in the not too distant future, if we haven't lost all our rights to an ever encroaching Big Brother, we'll take back 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the name of the late-great F.D.R! Comrades unite.

Now, hold on a minute. Screech that spinning vinyl. Maybe it's time that Mr. Reason check back in after taking the fall off to wallow in his November 2d inflicted sorrow. Is it really much of a victory to have such a disparity in our colleges? Or merely a pyrrhic one? I attempted to argue, unsuccessfully, to my friend that liberals are naturally inclined to gravitate toward a career in public service, to embrace scholastic endeavor seeking to mold the minds of tomorrow in idealistic pursuit. That is, in the end, a liberal tends to seek mind over currency.

The discussion escalated and we again decided to agree to disagree.

Looking back, I may be undergoing a change of heart (but obviously I'll never concede such to him). With the over-emphasis on racial diversity in student bodies of universities (encapsulated most recently in the Michigan affirmative action cases), conservatives might be right, it may be the faculties that now need refurbishing.

From a tremendous article in the Economist:

The Centre for Responsive Politics notes that this year two universities—the University of California and Harvard—occupied first and second place in the list of donations to the Kerry campaign by employee groups, ahead of Time Warner, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft et al. Employees at both universities gave 19 times as much to John Kerry as to George Bush. Meanwhile, a new national survey of more than 1,000 academics by Daniel Klein, of Santa Clara University, shows that Democrats outnumber Republicans by at least seven to one in the humanities and social sciences. And things are likely to get less balanced, because younger professors are more liberal. For instance, at Berkeley and Stanford, where Democrats overall outnumber Republicans by a mere nine to one, the ratio rises above 30 to one among assistant and associate professors.

Is the disparity really a boon for liberals overall, or rather evidence of academia's diminishing influence on The Great Debate? The Economist notes:

This is profoundly unhealthy per se. Debating chambers are becoming echo chambers. Students hear only one side of the story on everything from abortion (good) to the rise of the West (bad). It is notable that the surveys show far more conservatives in the more rigorous disciplines such as economics than in the vaguer 1960s "ologies". Yet, as George Will pointed out in the Washington Post this week, this monotheism is also limiting universities' ability to influence the wider intellectual culture. In John Kennedy's day, there were so many profs in Washington that it was said the waters of the Charles flowed into the Potomac. These days, academia is marginalised in the capital—unless, of course, you count all the Straussian conservative intellectuals in think-tanks who left academia because they thought it was rigged against them.

(Reminds me of the proverbial sound of one hand clapping.)

While I may not be all for the proposals on possible reform (e.g., mandatory Right-wing quotas, or even proportional voting on hiring boards), it does appear slightly problematic that college lectures may be one-sided. In law school, however, the good professors were the ones who you didn't know what team they played for. A Criminal Justice professor took the conservative bent on every constitutional issue to such a degree that the entire class was convinced (appalled) that he was A. Scalia's spawn. At the end of the semester, though, his true identity was revealed: he once was a very successful public defender of Prince George's County, MD. From my experience, at least, not all professors perceive the lectern as the soap box.

But I do agree with the idea that studies should be conducted into possible faculty reform. Maybe the liberal reforms of the university system beginning in the late 60s had an equal and opposite effect on the system such that now we have too many from the Left. But let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater, Mr. Will and others. Let's see what the system has to say.

Universities now are put on notice that there may be a problem with their presentation. Diversity of thought not only is important to the marketplace of ideas from a student perspective but from that of the teachers. It's just as much a sad and depressing market for the universities when the market's entirely blue, than when the political scene is entirely red. Options are limited, differing opinions stifled, inefficiencies rife, and prices gouged during any period of monopoly.
(And we all know too well what you get if you lack competition in any arena, Starbucks, my friend, Starbucks!)

--Rudy

Cheers to Ty: Wishing the Best at Washington

As expected Tyrone Willingham secured a head coaching position at a division I school. Good Luck coach, I hope the folks in Washington treat you better than Notre Dame. As for Notre Dame, we got whitie back, thank God..........Touchdown Jesus can sleep better now......

Will Carlos Beltran Stay an Astro?

As many of you baseball fans remember, last post season was phenomenal and spring training is just around the corner. It wasn't great because Boston finally won and broke the curse of the Bambino, it was great because the Astros toughened up during the last 2 months of the season and made it into the playoffs. The 'stros would not have made it to the NLCS but for Carlos Beltran's excellent season. It was nutty how good this guy was in the playoffs. Now, we are a month or so away before Houston has to re-sign him or he is gone for good. This guy might be making more than Alex Rodriguez soon, if he goes for the money, but some seem to think he is comfortable in the great state of Texas. Check this story out. The Cubs and Yankees are extremely interested, but who would want to play baseball on those two ball clubs, their tradition dwarfs in comparison to Houston;)

A Friday Flogging for the Strawman

That's why nobody sticks up for Christmas except me. Did Peter Jennings stick up for Christmas last night? I don't believe he did. How about Brian Williams, did he? Did Rather stick up for Christmas? How about Jim Lehrer -- did he? Did Larry King-- hello -- I love Christmas -- did he? No.

-Bill O'Reilly, self-appointed guardian of Jesus Christ's birthday.

Teflon Don Lies to Our Troops

Here's the recent exchange between Thomas Wilson, a young American putting his life on the line for our country, and Teflon Don Rumsfeld, who has never seen combat:

Q: Yes, Mr. Secretary. Our soldiers have been fighting in Iraq for coming up on three years. A lot of us are getting ready to move north relatively soon. Our vehicles are not armored. We’re digging pieces of rusted scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass that’s already been shot up, dropped, busted, picking the best out of this scrap to put on our vehicles to take into combat.
We do not have proper armament vehicles to carry with us north.

SEC. RUMSFELD: I talked to the General coming out here about the pace at which the vehicles are being armored. They have been brought from all over the world, wherever they’re not needed, to a place here where they are needed. I’m told that they are being – the Army is – I think it’s something like 400 a month are being done. And it’s essentially a matter of physics. It isn’t a matter of money. It isn’t a matter on the part of the Army of desire. It’s a matter of production and capability of doing it. As you know, you go to
war with the Army you have. They’re not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time. Since the Iraq conflict began, the Army has been pressing ahead to produce the armor necessary at a rate that they believe – it’s a greatly expanded rate from what existed previously, but a rate that they believe is the rate that is all that can be accomplished at this moment. I can assure you that General Schoomaker and the leadership in the Army and certainly General Whitcomb are sensitive to the fact that not every
vehicle has the degree of armor that would be desirable for it to have, but that they’re working at it at a good clip. It’s interesting, I’ve talked a great deal about this with a team of people who’ve been working on it hard at the Pentagon.
And if you think about it, you can have all the armor in the world on a tank and a tank can be blown up. And you can have an up-armored humvee and it can be blown up. And you can go down and, the vehicle, the goal we have is to have as many of those vehicles as is humanly possible with the appropriate level of armor available for the troops. And that is what the Army has been working on.

Almost sounds fair. Hell, if it's literally impossible to produce more armored Humvees, it's hard to hold the Army accountable for not upping production, right? I mean, according to Rumsfeld, it's a matter of physics.

The problem with this explanation? It's a lie.

Jacksonville, Florida-based Armor Holdings last month told the Army it could add armor to as many as 550 of the trucks a month, up from 450 vehicles now, Robert Mecredy, president of the company's aerospace and defense group, said in an interview today.
``We're prepared to build 50 to 100 vehicles more per month,'' Mecredy said in the telephone interview. ``I've told the customer that and I stand ready to do that.''

Our Secretary of Defense just openly lied to our troops about why they are not properly armored in combat. If you can shrug about this, take the magnetic ribbon off your truck.

What About Supporting Our Troops?

Like I said a few posts ago,

"By the way, placing a magnetic yellow ribbon on your vehicle does not convince me that you care and it surely does not mean that you have done your part. That is however, the American mentality: Support so long as there is no self sacrifice. Selfishness. The true patriot, puts down the pen, closes his mouth and takes action individually to aid the cause they support. This can occur through many ways, volunteerism and charity are two examples."

To all those who are quick to insist on supporting the troops no matter what, I ask you, what about this. Now turn away before you deal in reality with the administration and war you love.

Barack Star

Yes, he's uberhyped. But remember - I was hyping Obama before hyping Obama was cool. Now check this out. . .he's funny, too.

Coach Clements. I'm Serious.

I feel as ripped off as the next guy about the Shafting of Ty. I thought he deserved another year to get his kids clicking. No more, perhaps, but certainly no less. At the end of the day, though, we've got to turn our eyes from the headstone of Mr. Lionel Tyrone Willingham, and look instead toward the horizon. Who's next?

Here's my vote: Tom Clements. Out of high school this guy turned down a full ride to play basketball at North Carolina under Dean Smith, opting instead for a full ride as quarterback for the Fighting Irish, where he was All-American and led ND to a National Championship. I'm sorry, I said he led ND to a National Championship. He did it once, folks. . .

Yes, I admit that part of my zeal for Clements is fueled by the fact that he then went to Notre Dame Law School. Yes, his years as an associate at my law firm means he's extra money in my book. But that's not everything. Look, this guy worked under Lou Holtz (quick caveat: if Lou changes his mind about retirement, I'm changing my mind about my first choice), was a QB coach in the NFL for New Orleans, Kansas City and the Steelers, and is now the Bills' offensive coordinator. He's qualified.

You think I'm all hopped up on Backer Juice? Well, I'm not the only one. Apparently, Joe Montana, Ara Parseghian and Kirk Ferentz have all told Kevin White that Clements is the man for the job. What more do you want - the freaking Gipper to call his name from the clouds?

Perhaps most importantly, at a time when every sought-after coach is turning up his nose at South Bend, Clements is reportedly pissing his pants to get back there. This guy bleeds blue and gold, baby, and that's exactly what we need right now.

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

November brought a chill wind through my world in both politics and college football. Bush was re-elected,* and Congress sashayed to the right. I watched Notre Dame drop a game to Pitt, get slapped around by USC, and boot Ty. Bad times.

Meanwhile, however, a chinook is blowing through Montana. As I mentioned earlier, an effective Democrat is moving into the governor's mansion for first time in two decades, and the Democrats control the Senate. The U of M Grizzlies are rolling through the Division I-AA playoffs with ease, downing New Hampshire 47-17 under borrowed lights in Missoula yesterday. Carroll College, a small Catholic school in Helena (and my mom's alma mater) is headed for the NAIA championship game for the fifth year in a row.

Everything's better under the Big Sky.

No White Hats In Gaza

This is as morally indefensible as a suicide bombing.

On Drugs?

Careful, this may very well blow your mind.

Ty You Deserved Better

Yes my fellow bloggers, my man Ty Willingham is leaving Notre Dame. As an alumnus of this great university, I hang my head in shame for the administration's decision. I can't help but think of the unfair treatment to Coach Willingham. Here is a guy who is outstanding in every way: A man of integrity and absolute dedication to Notre Dame and her traditions and a winner on the football field. This apparently was not enough to get his five years like most others in the past. Here is a good passage from an article I read:

"Despite the dismissal, Willingham will do just fine. He's a good coach with a great reputation and a strong résumé and he'll be re-hired quickly (rumor has it that he's going to Washington, much to the joy of beleaguered Husky fans everywhere). The big loser is Notre Dame. The next coach may win or he may not but the school's reputation will never recover from this.
The tag line to "Rudy" was "Sometimes a winner is a dreamer who just won't quit." And now, sometimes a loser is just an athletic department that forgets what made it great."

All the props to Ty for the respect and integrity he brought to the dome. The true folks to blame are Dr. White, the alumni and the current students who have no clue where the problem lies with ND Football. It certainly is not with the coach. We have outdated facilities and practice fields. We need a Jumbotron and build the stadium to accomodate 120,000. We need to be big time football and living in the past is not going to recruit the guys we need. We are in a different era of NCAA Football and the typical Notre Dame response is to avoid progression. WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET THAT. I am not saying we need to drop academic standards either. We should put logos of Touchdown Jesus on our helmets to spice things up if we need to and maybe get luxury suites installed. We need to evolve jerkoffs. You current students should be ashamed of yourselves, at least those who planned the protest if Ty did not get fired. You guys are really living up to your national reputation. Are you happy now?

Too bad ND had to smear a stellar coach's reputation for no reason. They shoud be ashamed of themselves. They obviously were not serious about Ty being around for the long term because if they were, they would have at least given him a fourth year. Brady Quinn will be an NFL quarterback thanks to Ty. We will continue to lose unless we change our mentality. Was it Ty's fault we play a rediculous schedule? No, its the idiotic administration's fault. And if you think we can compete for a championship with that schedule, you have no understanding of college football. So next year we will win 7 or 8 maybe, but I am not sure that I will watch, I thought better of the university and I don't know if I can support such actions. And to Coach Willinghan, I am sorry sir for what happened to you, I hope you can understand that this administration does not represent the ideals of ND.