My man Bill Simmons offers up a unique look at the departure of Manny Ramirez from Boston and the Red Sox lineup. Simmons has a writing style that is all his own, to be sure, but what makes this piece stand out is the position he takes:
He defends Manny.
I know, I know, this is crazy talk. How could anyone possibly? He was a cancer who didn’t respect this town, his teammates, or the game, right? Right?
Maybe. I’m never one to play the “blame the agent” card, because if watching Entourage has taught me anything it is that the agent, in the end, works for the client. Scott Boras is scum (to put it mildly) and Manny is naïve (to put it lightly) but the slugger doesn’t quite deserve the pass Simmons gives him here.
But maybe, just maybe, Manny didn’t deserve quite everything that was written in the Boston Herald or said on WEEI during his final days at Fenway either.
The article can be found here.
(Be sure to read the footnotes. They may just be the best part.)
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Just Do It
This commercial really hit home back in the fall of 2004. It began to air as the baseball playoffs started and before the Red Sox actually won the World Series. But the Yankees had been vanquished and you could feel what was about to happen...even if you couldn't quite believe it.
This is for my friends in Chicago, the only city in America that can fully grasp the feeling that swept through Boston that year.
This is for my friends in Chicago, the only city in America that can fully grasp the feeling that swept through Boston that year.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Dave
Ooh ooh, John McCain. You pissed off Letterman.
My question: Was Keith Olbermann a scheduled guest or a last minute replacement? Because a McCain/Olbermann show would have been fascinating to watch.
You really need to watch this clip through to completion.
My question: Was Keith Olbermann a scheduled guest or a last minute replacement? Because a McCain/Olbermann show would have been fascinating to watch.
You really need to watch this clip through to completion.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Fuzzy Math
Electoral math. I fucking love it.
Yes, it’s true. It is trendy here in America of the early 21st Century to question the need for the Electoral College and to call for a direct election of the President of the United States via the popular vote. This is nonsense—and our Founding Fathers knew it.
The Electoral College is the only reason why any national politician cares about states like New Hampshire, Montana, or Hawaii. To win the presidency you must reach 270 electoral votes. It matters not whether you secure a popular vote victory. All that matters is the Electoral College—and to win there, you need to run a national campaign. No one region carries enough votes to get you to the magic number. You need votes from them all.
The downside to this, of course, is that votes cast in non-contested states (like the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) have less impact than votes cast in contested states (like Virginia and Colorado.) But it also protects against some neo-confederate southern pederast from racking up huge vote totals in the in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and across the Deep South and then strolling into the White House. So suck it up. This is the best system we’ve got, and it ain’t going anywhere.
Anyway. Where was I?
Oh yeah. So, the reality of this system is that both Barack Obama and John McCain figure they have a certain amount of electoral votes already in hand, and that this race will be decided by a handful of so-called “swing” states. The breakdown, as of this writing, looks pretty much like this:
Solid Obama States: California (55 electoral votes), Illinois (21), New York (31), Massachusetts (12), Rhode Island (4), Delaware (3), Washington DC (3), Vermont (3), Connecticut (7), Maryland (10) and the homestead, Hawaii (4).
Strongly Leaning to Obama: Oregon (7), Washington (11), Minnesota (10), New Jersey (15), and Maine (4)
Solid McCain States: Idaho (4), Utah (5), Arizona (10), Wyoming (3), South Dakota (3), Nebraska (5), Alaska (3), Kansas (6), Oklahoma (7), Texas (34), Louisiana (9), Arkansas (6), Alabama (9), Mississippi (6), Tennessee (11), Kentucky (8), South Carolina (9), and my personal favorite, West Virginia (5).
Strongly Leaning to McCain: Montana (3), North Dakota (3), Indiana (11), Georgia (15), and North Carolina (15).
Whew. That sure is a lot of states. Feel free to check my math (a fun tool can be found here) but at the moment Barack Obama is sitting on 200 electoral votes. John McCain, on the other hand, is sitting on 189. If any of the above states swing the other way, the candidate who loses there will be in serious trouble. However, neither of these totals will get it done, and this brings us to…
The “Swing” States: Colorado (9), Florida (27), Iowa (7), Michigan (17), Missouri (11), Nevada (5), New Hampshire (4), New Mexico (5), Ohio (20), Pennsylvania (21) Virginia (13), and Wisconsin (10).
Now, a word on these swing states: They are “swing” only because the pundit class has decided that they could go either way come November 4th. For some of them this is certainly true. For others it is absolutely not. So while it may look like there are still 149 electoral votes up for grabs, the actual number is much less than that.
The Phony Swing States: Michigan and Wisconsin are blue states. The final vote totals may be close, but a close win is still a win. If McCain can steal either of these it means he is winning by a landslide elsewhere. Florida and Ohio, meanwhile, are absolutely, positively and without doubt red states. Ohio was red in 2000, was red in 2004, and it will be red again come November. As for Florida, you can say what you want about 2000, but it wasn’t that close in 2004 and will not be again in 2008. (For the record, I blame the elderly in Florida and the homophobes in Ohio who were more scared of gay marriage than they were George W. Bush. And also for the record, these are the exact people that Washington and Adams and Jefferson and Madison did not want directly electing the President of these United States. Thank you, Electoral College, thank you.)
Updated Totals: John McCain leads Barack Obama 236-227 with 75 votes still to be decided. McCain is 34 votes from victory; Barack Obama 43. From here almost anything can happen.
How Barack Obama wins: Obama needs Iowa, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire in any scenario. Iowa is the safest bet—it went for Gore in 2000 and is a border state to Illinois. Pennsylvania is still Pennsylvania, and that is not a good thing for any left-leaning candidate with dark skin and an exotic name. But for the Democrats to win this election they need to win the home state of Rick Santorum. New Hampshire is not a blue state—far from it in fact—and at one time the Granite State held great affection for John McCain. Still, John Kerry did win there in 2004. If Obama cannot duplicate that feat in 2008, he will not win this election.
Assuming he is able to win those three states, he will be sitting on 259 electoral votes and still need help. Where does it come from? Two scenarios stand out:
Colorado and New Mexico: Of the two, this is the outcome that most pundits seem to think has the best chance of coming to pass. Colorado is a state that has been increasingly referred to as purple. It has a popular Democratic Governor in Kathleen Sebelius, a major metropolitan city in Denver, and no love for the government of George W. Bush. Bill Clinton won there in 1992, but he was the last Democrat to do so and was unable to repeat in 1996. Clinton was hurt that year by Ross Perot—who captured 6.6% of the vote—and it remains unclear what impact Libertarian Bob Barr and Egomaniac Ralph Nader will have this time around. But if Obama can pull it off he picks up another nine votes.
As for New Mexico, Clinton won there twice and Gore made it three in a row in 2000, but John Kerry lost by a razor-thin margin four years later. What worries me here is that Arizona lies just to the west, and John McCain will be able to pick some votes up based on that alone. If Obama does somehow manage to win the Land of Enchantment (you do have to love that nickname) then the five electoral votes he picks up will put him over the top. Your total in this scenario: Barack Obama 273—John McCain 265.
Virginia: Obama needs both Colorado and New Mexico to win in the above scenario, and if he loses either then he needs to find another state to make up the difference. The Commonwealth of Virginia, once one of the reddest states in the union (and before that home to the Capitol of the Confederacy) has slowly been turning purple. That is to say at least as far as Arlington and Annandale and Alexandria are concerned. Plus, Virginia has a huge black population. If they turn out big for Obama (and you have to imagine they will) he may just have a shot at taking down these 13 electoral votes. That will give him 272 (assuming he loses both Colorado and New Mexico) and make him the president-elect. Unfortunately, this scenario is still far-fetched at this point. The southern part of Virginia is still the south. A McCain loss here would stun many analysts and shatter most projections. But it is possible.
Missouri: Here we have a state that is often pointed to as having swing potential, but very few actually seem to think it could break Obama’s way. I say poppycock. In Mizzou we have a state that voted for Bill Clinton twice. We also have a state where Al Gore was clearly hurt by Ralph Nader in 2000…and that was on the same night that good ol’ John Ashcroft lost a senatorial race to a dead guy. (Yep. It happened.) Missouri is a border state to Illinois and much like McCain in New Mexico, that will help him. Regardless of what the polls say now, you have to think he at least has a fighting chance to make it close. There are eleven electoral votes at stake in the Show Me State and they may just show Barack Obama the presidency. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
How John McCain wins: This is where things get scary.
The GOP is coming off two consecutive wins, the second of which featured a larger margin of victory than the first. If McCain holds onto everything Bush won in 2004, he wins. If he loses Iowa and Colorado, but wins New Mexico, he wins. If he loses Virginia, but wins Iowa, he wins. If he loses Missouri but wins New Hampshire, he wins. In fact, if he wins New Hampshire, in almost any likely scenario, he wins.
God help us all.
Yes, it’s true. It is trendy here in America of the early 21st Century to question the need for the Electoral College and to call for a direct election of the President of the United States via the popular vote. This is nonsense—and our Founding Fathers knew it.
The Electoral College is the only reason why any national politician cares about states like New Hampshire, Montana, or Hawaii. To win the presidency you must reach 270 electoral votes. It matters not whether you secure a popular vote victory. All that matters is the Electoral College—and to win there, you need to run a national campaign. No one region carries enough votes to get you to the magic number. You need votes from them all.
The downside to this, of course, is that votes cast in non-contested states (like the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) have less impact than votes cast in contested states (like Virginia and Colorado.) But it also protects against some neo-confederate southern pederast from racking up huge vote totals in the in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and across the Deep South and then strolling into the White House. So suck it up. This is the best system we’ve got, and it ain’t going anywhere.
Anyway. Where was I?
Oh yeah. So, the reality of this system is that both Barack Obama and John McCain figure they have a certain amount of electoral votes already in hand, and that this race will be decided by a handful of so-called “swing” states. The breakdown, as of this writing, looks pretty much like this:
Solid Obama States: California (55 electoral votes), Illinois (21), New York (31), Massachusetts (12), Rhode Island (4), Delaware (3), Washington DC (3), Vermont (3), Connecticut (7), Maryland (10) and the homestead, Hawaii (4).
Strongly Leaning to Obama: Oregon (7), Washington (11), Minnesota (10), New Jersey (15), and Maine (4)
Solid McCain States: Idaho (4), Utah (5), Arizona (10), Wyoming (3), South Dakota (3), Nebraska (5), Alaska (3), Kansas (6), Oklahoma (7), Texas (34), Louisiana (9), Arkansas (6), Alabama (9), Mississippi (6), Tennessee (11), Kentucky (8), South Carolina (9), and my personal favorite, West Virginia (5).
Strongly Leaning to McCain: Montana (3), North Dakota (3), Indiana (11), Georgia (15), and North Carolina (15).
Whew. That sure is a lot of states. Feel free to check my math (a fun tool can be found here) but at the moment Barack Obama is sitting on 200 electoral votes. John McCain, on the other hand, is sitting on 189. If any of the above states swing the other way, the candidate who loses there will be in serious trouble. However, neither of these totals will get it done, and this brings us to…
The “Swing” States: Colorado (9), Florida (27), Iowa (7), Michigan (17), Missouri (11), Nevada (5), New Hampshire (4), New Mexico (5), Ohio (20), Pennsylvania (21) Virginia (13), and Wisconsin (10).
Now, a word on these swing states: They are “swing” only because the pundit class has decided that they could go either way come November 4th. For some of them this is certainly true. For others it is absolutely not. So while it may look like there are still 149 electoral votes up for grabs, the actual number is much less than that.
The Phony Swing States: Michigan and Wisconsin are blue states. The final vote totals may be close, but a close win is still a win. If McCain can steal either of these it means he is winning by a landslide elsewhere. Florida and Ohio, meanwhile, are absolutely, positively and without doubt red states. Ohio was red in 2000, was red in 2004, and it will be red again come November. As for Florida, you can say what you want about 2000, but it wasn’t that close in 2004 and will not be again in 2008. (For the record, I blame the elderly in Florida and the homophobes in Ohio who were more scared of gay marriage than they were George W. Bush. And also for the record, these are the exact people that Washington and Adams and Jefferson and Madison did not want directly electing the President of these United States. Thank you, Electoral College, thank you.)
Updated Totals: John McCain leads Barack Obama 236-227 with 75 votes still to be decided. McCain is 34 votes from victory; Barack Obama 43. From here almost anything can happen.
How Barack Obama wins: Obama needs Iowa, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire in any scenario. Iowa is the safest bet—it went for Gore in 2000 and is a border state to Illinois. Pennsylvania is still Pennsylvania, and that is not a good thing for any left-leaning candidate with dark skin and an exotic name. But for the Democrats to win this election they need to win the home state of Rick Santorum. New Hampshire is not a blue state—far from it in fact—and at one time the Granite State held great affection for John McCain. Still, John Kerry did win there in 2004. If Obama cannot duplicate that feat in 2008, he will not win this election.
Assuming he is able to win those three states, he will be sitting on 259 electoral votes and still need help. Where does it come from? Two scenarios stand out:
Colorado and New Mexico: Of the two, this is the outcome that most pundits seem to think has the best chance of coming to pass. Colorado is a state that has been increasingly referred to as purple. It has a popular Democratic Governor in Kathleen Sebelius, a major metropolitan city in Denver, and no love for the government of George W. Bush. Bill Clinton won there in 1992, but he was the last Democrat to do so and was unable to repeat in 1996. Clinton was hurt that year by Ross Perot—who captured 6.6% of the vote—and it remains unclear what impact Libertarian Bob Barr and Egomaniac Ralph Nader will have this time around. But if Obama can pull it off he picks up another nine votes.
As for New Mexico, Clinton won there twice and Gore made it three in a row in 2000, but John Kerry lost by a razor-thin margin four years later. What worries me here is that Arizona lies just to the west, and John McCain will be able to pick some votes up based on that alone. If Obama does somehow manage to win the Land of Enchantment (you do have to love that nickname) then the five electoral votes he picks up will put him over the top. Your total in this scenario: Barack Obama 273—John McCain 265.
Virginia: Obama needs both Colorado and New Mexico to win in the above scenario, and if he loses either then he needs to find another state to make up the difference. The Commonwealth of Virginia, once one of the reddest states in the union (and before that home to the Capitol of the Confederacy) has slowly been turning purple. That is to say at least as far as Arlington and Annandale and Alexandria are concerned. Plus, Virginia has a huge black population. If they turn out big for Obama (and you have to imagine they will) he may just have a shot at taking down these 13 electoral votes. That will give him 272 (assuming he loses both Colorado and New Mexico) and make him the president-elect. Unfortunately, this scenario is still far-fetched at this point. The southern part of Virginia is still the south. A McCain loss here would stun many analysts and shatter most projections. But it is possible.
Missouri: Here we have a state that is often pointed to as having swing potential, but very few actually seem to think it could break Obama’s way. I say poppycock. In Mizzou we have a state that voted for Bill Clinton twice. We also have a state where Al Gore was clearly hurt by Ralph Nader in 2000…and that was on the same night that good ol’ John Ashcroft lost a senatorial race to a dead guy. (Yep. It happened.) Missouri is a border state to Illinois and much like McCain in New Mexico, that will help him. Regardless of what the polls say now, you have to think he at least has a fighting chance to make it close. There are eleven electoral votes at stake in the Show Me State and they may just show Barack Obama the presidency. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
How John McCain wins: This is where things get scary.
The GOP is coming off two consecutive wins, the second of which featured a larger margin of victory than the first. If McCain holds onto everything Bush won in 2004, he wins. If he loses Iowa and Colorado, but wins New Mexico, he wins. If he loses Virginia, but wins Iowa, he wins. If he loses Missouri but wins New Hampshire, he wins. In fact, if he wins New Hampshire, in almost any likely scenario, he wins.
God help us all.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
George Will
We can add George Will to the list of true conservatives who have had it with John McCain.
"Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either.
It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?"
"Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either.
It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?"
Monday, September 22, 2008
$$$
It really is a good thing I'm not smart enough to understand economics. Otherwise, last week might have scared the shit out of me.
Friday, September 19, 2008
The Chilling Question
Peggy Noonan, still the best at what she does, poses a very chilling question: What if neither McCain nor Obama is up to the challenges ahead? What if neither is the right man for this moment in time?
(And, no, Hillary Clinton would not have been a better choice. With Clinton we would not have Palin, but we would have Romney and a new Bubba scandal or two. You do have to wonder who the New York liberal Noonan refers to is, and why that person is currently leaning towards John McCain. It is fantasy to think this house is not still divided.)
(And, no, Hillary Clinton would not have been a better choice. With Clinton we would not have Palin, but we would have Romney and a new Bubba scandal or two. You do have to wonder who the New York liberal Noonan refers to is, and why that person is currently leaning towards John McCain. It is fantasy to think this house is not still divided.)
He's Barack Obama...
...and he approves this message.
I do wonder how much of Carly we'll get to see following her proclamation that while Palin may be fit to be VP, she isn't nearly qualified to run HP. I'm torn, because less of Carly is a good thing...but she did make for one nice and easy target.
Hence the ad below.
I do wonder how much of Carly we'll get to see following her proclamation that while Palin may be fit to be VP, she isn't nearly qualified to run HP. I'm torn, because less of Carly is a good thing...but she did make for one nice and easy target.
Hence the ad below.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The Big Question
Do rational and intelligent conservatives outnumber the PUMAs? These two groups will tip this election one way or the other.
This piece (from Texas of all places) is well worth a read.
Also, as I've said before, If you aren't reading Andrew Sullivan you really should be. He is a brilliant anti-McCain/Palin conservative who I regularly steal from...I mean borrow from...I mean who is a great influence to this blog.
This piece (from Texas of all places) is well worth a read.
Also, as I've said before, If you aren't reading Andrew Sullivan you really should be. He is a brilliant anti-McCain/Palin conservative who I regularly steal from...I mean borrow from...I mean who is a great influence to this blog.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The Obama Plan
The voters he needs to reach will never read his plan, but maybe some of them will be sold anyway. That this election is this close, given the current state of this nation, speaks volumes about us. And none of it is good.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Decision 2008: Now With More Sexism!
Carly Fiorina continues to help women everywhere by fighting the evils of sexism. Her latest target? Tina Fey.
It just keeps getting more and more ridiculous, doesn't it?
It just keeps getting more and more ridiculous, doesn't it?
Friday, September 12, 2008
Sexism! Again! Sexism! Code Red! Sexism!
Just in case there was any doubt, I do lay the blame for this current mess squarely at the feet of the junior Senator from the State of New York.
Had Barack Obama acted like Al Sharpton, he would have been chased from this race in disgrace. Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, channeled her inner Sharpton, seized his “victim” message, replaced the word “racism” with the word “sexism”, and changed the political climate of an entire nation.
And all this while John McCain, Sarah Palin, Karl Rove and the whole gang laugh their into another four years.
Thanks, Hillary. You really outdid yourself this time
Had Barack Obama acted like Al Sharpton, he would have been chased from this race in disgrace. Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, channeled her inner Sharpton, seized his “victim” message, replaced the word “racism” with the word “sexism”, and changed the political climate of an entire nation.
And all this while John McCain, Sarah Palin, Karl Rove and the whole gang laugh their into another four years.
Thanks, Hillary. You really outdid yourself this time
Fool Me Once...
Ben Smith reports that the next time we see a Palin Q&A, Sean Hannity will be asking the questions. The Gibson interview may mark the closest she will come to a tough question.
I'm sorry, what?
What follows is fascinating. Based on the clip below (which is all we have to go on since Governor Sarah Palin has been shielded from the media more than any politician since Ronald Reagan went senile in the summer of 1985) does it not seem like she has no idea what Charlie Gibson is talking about when he asks her about the Bush Doctrine? The notion that we have a fundamental right to preemptively strike any nation which poses a potential threat is central to the reasoning behind why we are currently at war in Iraq. This is a war Gov. Palin wholeheartedly supports. Yet, when questioned, she is clearly unable to determine what Gibson is referring to when he mentions the Bush Doctrine.
This is who John McCain would trust to lead us after he is gone. This is the best they could do. This is a bad joke.
This is who John McCain would trust to lead us after he is gone. This is the best they could do. This is a bad joke.
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