A Short November for Yankees? Or Maybe a Very Long One...

It’s positively revolting to watch the national sports press slobber all over the Yankees like a dog greeting his long lost master. They do the same thing with the Cowboys and Lakers.

They anointed the Yanks champs before the first pitch was thrown.

And you could tell, even though none of the Phillies said anything about it, they were pretty angry about being dissed.

Last night’s game one was their statement to the Bronx Bombers (and please excuse the paraphrase): “You can have this trophy when you pry it from our cold, dead hands.”

The Yankees couldn’t hit Lee, Sabathia couldn’t find his spots and the Phils waited him out. The NY relievers were anything but. And Chase Utley put an exclamation point on the proceedings with two homers.

Tonight we’ll see how Pedro pitches. And how the Yanks respond. They’ll have to if they want to stay in this, or they're done. But I have a feeling the Phils are coming back to Citizens’ up 2-0.

Brought to You by the Letter L

I’ve noted in the last few years the growing intensity and shrillness of conservative voices. In the media, on the net, and in newspapers. People like Michele Malkin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck have become louder and more piercing, the volume knob turning higher and higher with each infraction of the left they perceive.

Here’s why: they're losing.

The country voted for a liberal Democratic president. Society is ever so gradually loosening restrictions for gay marriage (it’s legal in six states now). Abortion is still legal after over 30 years of struggle to outlaw it. The struggle for religious tolerance continues, but it has become more widely spread. Our society is becoming more secular and less dependent on religious leaders.

They're losing in every sphere of the culture war they declared.

All of this bodes ill for the screechers. So they screech all the more loudly. But apparently, fewer and fewer are left to listen.

Baseball in October

“The agony was so real it was beautiful.” *
Their faces painted the picture perfect, textbook definition

Last out made, they walked, slowly, heads down,
pondered a November changed now –

on a cold day, but no colder than normal
for this ambition, started in March chill

ended in a darkened sports cathedral,
where the faithful left more dispirited

than after Sunday services with sins revealed.
“There’s no crying in baseball.” **

But, in private darkness, there was in the cars
on the way home.

* Mark Kizla, Denver Post, 10/13/09

** Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) “A League of Their Own”

© Joseph E. Arechavala 10/13/09

Gajillions of Dittoheads Vow to Never Watch Another NFL Game. Yeah, Right…

“Tonight, we are all Rush Limbaugh” will go down as one of the most hyperbolic and silly assertions ever written. Redstate.com has outdone itself in idiocy.

Where to even begin?

How about this? Rush Limbaugh can afford to buy an NFL team. Can you? Didn’t think so.

Second, the NFL will go to any length, breadth or depth to protect its most valuable asset: its antitrust exemption.

If you want to buy into the game, don’t go into the room labeled ‘controversy’ and hope to be able to pass into the room marked ‘NFL Owner.’ They don’t like it, they stay away from it, and the very last thing the NFL would like to be doing next season is reacting to Rush’s latest controversial statement.

You know, like “The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well” - I guess he doesn't remember Superbowl winner Doug Williams - and “Feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream” and “The difference between Los Angeles and yogurt is that yogurt comes with less fruit”.

So Rush, your bid was doomed from the start. And it’s nobody’s fault but yours.

And no, just record, maybe the folks at redstate.com think they're Limbaugh, but I’m not.

Dow Reaches 10000! Unemployed Millions Rejoice!

It’s interesting. We bailed out Wall St. just about a year ago. They're doing fine, aren't they?

Goldman-Sachs, the glad-handed recipient of hundreds of millions in government money, announced their latest earnings yesterday. And a robust $16 billion in payouts for employee bonuses (see marketplace.org). I’m sure the announcement gladdened the hearts of those millions of unemployed, grateful that the big boys are doing so well. Their CEO says they need so much to keep talented people at their firm. These would be the same 'talented people' who put the economy in the mess it's in now.

But, hey, the conservatives tell us ‘capitalism benefits everyone.’




At least, in theory…

Deja Vu With A Twist

In the mini-series “V” (the original back in the ‘80s), earth scientists start to suspect the aliens aren't as benevolent as they're letting on, and start speaking out against them. The aliens’ response is to go about discrediting the scientists with the public, and it works.

Life imitates art.

Republicans, beholden more than Democrats to big, polluting corporations are busily following this script. And corporations, who fear loss of profits far more than loss of jobs or increased costs they will just pass on to the consumer if climate change legislation passes – despite the fact that environmental laws they opposed in the past haven't had this effect – have been busily pulling their strings.

Look back a ways and you'll see a pattern. Just in case you don’t remember, this is a repeat from the 1970s when the Clean Water Act and Clean air Act were being debated. It’s a repeat of the 1990s when acid rain legislation was being debated. But it’s being done with a new twist. Don’t just attack the science, attack the scientists. They have an agenda. They’re really leftists bent on destroying capitalism.

Look on the websites of these ‘concerned citizens’ groups’ (with deliberately misleading names like the American Council on Science and Health) and see who’s really backing them. And understand you’re seeing a dog and pony show.