Mid Season
This week's title derives not just from the calendar, but also from the fact that, by now, your team should have all the early kinks worked out and, barring injury, should be playing as well as they can. And it's not just football teams, either. Volleyball teams and soccer sides should all be hitting their stride unless they're hopelessly overmatched. My guys still have a shot at the Rose Bowl, but the road is full of peril.
In the meantime, it's political season, too. I had to laugh at a cartoon that showed Bill Clinton sitting with President Obama, offering a little remedial course in "poli-speak". "Repeat after me", said Clinton, "I.. feel.. your... pain." All Obama could muster in return was a mouthful of policy wonk-ese guaranteed to inspire no one. Personally, I still like the president, and look forward to good news.
And you don't have to look that far. Ask the average Tea Party guy why he signed up and he's probably going to mention the bank bail out (TARP) appropriation of two years ago. The amount was a pretty memorable number - $700 billion. It turns out, however, that only about half of that was actually spent, and that the NET cost of the whole deal may be no more than $50 billion. That's still a load of money, but I think it's better than 15 or 20% unemployment, don't you? By the way, don't look for these figures to get much play on FOX News.
I must admit these Tea Party candidates have (many of them) gotten further than I thought they would. Some are going to make it to Washington, though one wonders about their possible impact there. As individuals, they seem like people who dropped out of Reagan's old college, and they say the goofiest things!
Maybe, for instance, all Nevadans expect from Sharron Angle is to defeat the Senate Majority leader, then sit back and take orders from the local gaming industry lobbyists, but last week she cut loose with the oddest accusation I think I've heard in quite a while. In so many words she claimed that Dearborn, MI and Frankfurd, TX are governed by Islamic Sharia law - today! I heard the recording of her claim, which sounded as though she was listening with one ear, then speaking in a way that made me wonder if she'd even heard of either place.
For the record, there no longer is a Frankfurd, TX. It was annexed by Dallas - in 1975! Dearborn does have a large minority Muslim population, but there's been no change in their legal system, at least according to Mayor John O'Reilly. How many Irish-American Muslims can there be, after all? Angle must hope no one noticed all this, because she hasn't followed up with the names of other cities under Sharia, and also hasn't mentioned the first two again. At least she hasn't claimed to be able to see Iran from Vegas yet, though I suppose she could speculate on why Nevada has the same climate as Yemen. The TP'ers are waiting, Ma'am.
In the meantime, it's political season, too. I had to laugh at a cartoon that showed Bill Clinton sitting with President Obama, offering a little remedial course in "poli-speak". "Repeat after me", said Clinton, "I.. feel.. your... pain." All Obama could muster in return was a mouthful of policy wonk-ese guaranteed to inspire no one. Personally, I still like the president, and look forward to good news.
And you don't have to look that far. Ask the average Tea Party guy why he signed up and he's probably going to mention the bank bail out (TARP) appropriation of two years ago. The amount was a pretty memorable number - $700 billion. It turns out, however, that only about half of that was actually spent, and that the NET cost of the whole deal may be no more than $50 billion. That's still a load of money, but I think it's better than 15 or 20% unemployment, don't you? By the way, don't look for these figures to get much play on FOX News.
I must admit these Tea Party candidates have (many of them) gotten further than I thought they would. Some are going to make it to Washington, though one wonders about their possible impact there. As individuals, they seem like people who dropped out of Reagan's old college, and they say the goofiest things!
Maybe, for instance, all Nevadans expect from Sharron Angle is to defeat the Senate Majority leader, then sit back and take orders from the local gaming industry lobbyists, but last week she cut loose with the oddest accusation I think I've heard in quite a while. In so many words she claimed that Dearborn, MI and Frankfurd, TX are governed by Islamic Sharia law - today! I heard the recording of her claim, which sounded as though she was listening with one ear, then speaking in a way that made me wonder if she'd even heard of either place.
For the record, there no longer is a Frankfurd, TX. It was annexed by Dallas - in 1975! Dearborn does have a large minority Muslim population, but there's been no change in their legal system, at least according to Mayor John O'Reilly. How many Irish-American Muslims can there be, after all? Angle must hope no one noticed all this, because she hasn't followed up with the names of other cities under Sharia, and also hasn't mentioned the first two again. At least she hasn't claimed to be able to see Iran from Vegas yet, though I suppose she could speculate on why Nevada has the same climate as Yemen. The TP'ers are waiting, Ma'am.
posted by Mark at 2:13 PM
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