My son and I braved gray skies and cool weather yesterday afternoon to attend the Mariners-Red Sox game. Southbound readers will hear with some incredulity that we had to wear sweatshirts and that -- yes -- the game did occur in this universe, on this planet, and in this country. The Sox won 6-3 with three runs in the top of the 12 with the help of timely hitting and defense from third baseman Mike Lowell. After the top of the 12th, the M's fan in front of me -- we'd been needling each other all game -- got up to leave. When I called him a quitter, he turned to his friends and said "He's right. We have to stay." As we continued the good-natured kidding on the way out, it struck me that here was yet another great thing about baseball: There's another game tomorrow, which means there's not much danger of the needling getting out of hand. Last year at a Sox-M's game, the two guys next to me were getting into it, with the Sox fan easily getting the better of the exchange. At one point he turned to me and whispered "This guy has no game..."
It was cold in the house this morning. I would have turned on the heater, except that Premium T. wouldn't let me...
Here are some young people doing what young people do best: Their part to make this a better world. I have a lot more respect for them than for Young Republicans with their very own K Street lobbying firm...
"I know how to win wars," says John McCain. Johnny Wattles doesn't bother to explain where he obtained this knowledge, although it was presumably not in Vietnam. We certainly don't need any more victories like that. After accusing Barack Obama of trying to sound tough and promising that Johnny won't bluster, the tough-sounding McCain blustered that "when I am commander in chief, there will be nowhere the terrorists can run and nowhere they can hide." So, Johnny, what's your plan for shoehorning them out of the Pashtun in Pakistan?...
In New Orleans, the second line is the group of celebrants who follow the band in a parade. As Nick Spitzer writes, the second line is a barometer of the health of the city: "The second line as a kind of urban village afoot honors and recalls the grand public nature of many New Orleans traditions...It reclaims the city's familiar spaces for returning dwellers, and like jazz itself, helps balance the needs and talents of individual players with the larger group. The intermingled values of social aid and pleasure are what all New Orleanians can draw on to collectively self-author their future. That future at its best suggests crossing of the traditional boundaries of race and neighborhood, culture and class..." New Orleans needs a second line? Heck, sounds to me like we all do. Read the rest of his excellent article here...
Here's a fun app that allows you to play with demographic categories of race, gender and religion to project the outcome of the fall election. If the same patterns of 2006 hold for the fall, Obama will win decisively; if the 2004 patterns repeat themselves, McCain wins narrowly. Which illustrates his problem: (1) We're closer to 2006 than 2004; (2) He's not the incumbent; and (3) Obama is a much stronger candidate and more capable national politician than John Kerry. It's early and anything can happen, but right now I sure like Obama's chances...
This one goes out to my southbound friends:
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2 comments:
McCain is 0-2 on wars, Vietnam and Iraq are unwinnable wars. Going for #3 Afghanistan, where Karzai serves as mayor of Kabul.
Johnny Wattles doesn't bother to explain where he obtained this knowledge, although it was presumably not in Vietnam. We certainly don't need any more victories like that.
Amen! And we certainly don't need someone who can't even remember basic geography running this country.
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