Bread and Circuses

SPORTING GOODS

OK, so every political blog or article I read gets me depressed, we're still fighting a war that's now going on longer than Vietnam, and it is really really cold in Boston (wow, the rumors are true!)

But at least the Red Sox will score lots and lots of runs next year!!!

Right now my teams are all playing great in their respective games. Pats, Celtics, even UConn, Sox playing the free agent game like kings. OK, all but one of my teams. Team D down in Washington is on a major losing streak.

Given that, maybe I should just focus on espn.com and stay off of every other website.

Can We Be Done with This Now?

Enough

MANIFESTO

I can't stand this.

For the record:

It is a mis-statement to say you ran from sniper fire in Bosnia when it was really, say, Serbia or South Central.

It is a lie to say you ran from gunfire when you never ever in recorded history ran from gunfire.

And the difference is not a "minor blip."

IT IS A LIE.

By any standard.

Even though she was never my girl, I used to tell people Hillary would be unbeatable because she would never let the GOP swift-boat her. Now I truly believe she would lose by ten points, minimum. The Republicans could have a website called "What's Hillary Lying About Today?" and half of their posts would be accurate. I mean, she is habitual.

The biggest reason I've been for Obama is I think he is the one most likely to bring reconciliation to Washington and the country. One of his most admirable qualities is that he doesn't root around in the mud like most politicians. But this is one time I wish he would leave his manners at the door and just call bullshit.

I don't usually put a lot of stock in David Brooks, but his 3/25 column "The Long Defeat" sums up everything I've been feeling for the last few weeks. For the first time, I'm feeling what my Republican friends said they felt when the Clintons were in the White House. There is nothing they won't do to grab power. There is no one they won't sully or destroy. No one is safe from their kitchen sink. Even if they only have a five percent chance of winning the nomination.

I would actually consider not voting this November if Hillary is our nominee. (I would never vote for McCain.) Put me down as undecided about it.

Math is Hard

MANIFESTO

Here's what I think is going to happen tonight: Hillary wins Ohio. Obama wins Texas. Both margins are within a field goal so the delegate count is a wash. Obama probably wins Rhode Island and blows Hillary out in Vermont because those people hate hate hate the war and won't ever forgive her for authorizing it.

Hillary has a big meeting tonight/tomorrow with her advisers and decides to stay in it because they now have "momentum." Plus, she won a "Big State," as if that means anything. (Reality check: McCain is going to win Texas no matter what. Obama is going to win California even though he lost the primary to Hillary. The Big State argument makes no sense.) She throws all her chips into Pennsylvania and spends the next seven weeks(!) tearing into Obama, weakening him before his inevitable showdown vs. McCain.

But here's the thing, Clinton lovers. She can't win. She cannot mathematically overtake Obama's delegate lead even if she won the final 16 races. Newsweek's Jonathan Alter breaks it down:

...no matter how you cut it, Obama will almost certainly end the primaries with a pledged-delegate lead, courtesy of all those landslides in February. Hillary would then have to convince the uncommitted superdelegates to reverse the will of the people. Even coming off a big Hillary winning streak, few if any superdelegates will be inclined to do so. For politicians to upend what the voters have decided might be a tad, well, suicidal.

For all of those who have been trashing me for saying this thing is over, please feel free to do your own math. Give Hillary 75 percent in Kentucky and Indiana. Give her a blowout in Oregon. You will still have a hard time getting her through the process with a pledged-delegate lead.

It's just math, folks. And the idea of Superdelegates handing her the nomination after she loses the plurality of votes is nothing short of fascist. (And I promise I would be saying this if the coin were flipped. Fair is fair.) So I'll check back in on Thursday or Friday and see where we are. Hopefully it'll officially be Obama vs. McCain. Unless that little bastard Huckabee is still hanging around.

(BTW, McCain's middle name is Sidney! How gay!)

UPDATE (THE MORNING AFTER):
Ugh.
Alter is still right but the narrative has changed.
This is going to go on all summer.
Wake me up in November.
Ugh.

It's His Name, Stupid

MANIFESTO

Republican hit-and-runners like Rush Limbaugh and Bill Cunningham have made sport lately of making sure everyone is aware that Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein. "It's his name!" they declare. "How can it be unfair if it's his name?" Well, here's why:

Anyone know John McCain's middle name?

Didn't think so.

That's because a person's middle name is irrelevant to his or her ability to be President. And 98% of Americans get that.

But that is not who the GOP red-meaters are appealing to. They are simply trying to perpetuate the myth that Obama is Muslim. They are hoping the small, ignorant few that believe this to be true will be enough to swing the vote the GOP way. And they have good reason to think this. The last two Presidential elections were won by a fraction of the vote.

So yes, Hussein is Obama's name. But that doesn't absolve Republicans from charges of racism and bigotry when they try to use it against him.

(BTW, McCain's middle name is Sidney! How gay!)