The Rotation is Set

Tito Francona will go to battle with the Rays with his starters in this order:

Game 1, in Tampa or St. Pete or where ever that awful park is: Daisuke Matsuzaka
Game 2, down there, again: Josh Beckett
Game 3, in America's Most Beloved Ballpark: Jon Lester
Game 4, Fenway again: Tim Wakefield

Genius! The man is brilliant.
Daisuke will give you basically the same game, regardless of where he pitches it (9-3, 3.34 at home; 9-0, 2.37 road). He will leave two men on base, minimum, each inning. He will surpass 100 pitches late in the fifth or early in the sixth. I warned The World's Most Generous Friend about what we were in for in Baltimore last August with Dice on the mound. He thought I was joking pregame. About halfway through he turned to me and said, "You weren't kidding at all, were you?" That's Daisuke! He will leave the game with the Sox up a run or two, tied, or down a run. Highly unlikely it will be any more than that in either direction. Perhaps when you are from Japan, everything feels like a road game. Good choice to begin the series.
Josh comes back for the second. He will not be bothered by pitching on the road. In fact, his road ERA was barely half of his home ERA this year (away: 2.85; home: 5.65). He will have a start (Division Series Game 3) under his belt. If he is well, as he says he is, then the rust should be knocked off a bit, and giving him an extra day won't hurt under any circumstances.
Lester in Game 3 is insurance, plain and simple. He has been utterly brilliant at Fenway this year (11-1, 2.49 at Fenway; 5-5, 4.09 away) and any missteps in Games 1 or 2 will be corrected with the best starting pitcher on the staff going in the first home game of the series.
Wake gets the Game 4 start. He earned it this year (7-4, 3.10 at the Fens; 3-7, 5.14 away) and for the last 13 years (Guess who holds third place all time in Red Sox wins? Yep, Wake. With 164 he trails only a couple of guys named Cy Young and Roger Clemens, tied with 192). I like Wake's knuckleball after Beckett and Lester throw hard for a couple of games. Tim went 10-11 this year, but when you look at his ERA (4.13), as the game has changed, he deserved better. He has been effective throughout his career against Tampa, and will be again.
Projecting out through the whole series, if it goes long, Lester will be positioned to pitch a Game 7, which would be outstanding-probably more exciting than I need!
Tito doesn't miss much, and he surely did not miss a foreseeable trick lining up his staff for another ALCS.

John McCain: Lying Bastard

In the 2000 Republican primary in South Carolina, John McCain was the target of one of the ugliest, most vile examples of dirty politics in American history. This atrocious attack was perpetrated by Karl Rove on behalf of the governor of Texas, soon to subvert the Constitution of the United States of America by stealing an election won by Al Gore. The lie went like this: Rove, following the example of his guru, the thoroughly evil Lee Atwater, set up a phone bank that posed as a polling agency. The Bush operatives then called Republican voters throughout South Carolina asking those who answered the phone this question: "Would it affect your opinion of Senator McCain to learn that he fathered a mixed-race child out of wedlock?" The reality is that John McCain and his wife had adopted a Viet Namese child, a genuinely noble act. But that little darker-skinned girl looked to many South Carolinians like a black child, and since she was with the Senator and his wife as they campaigned, the Bush campaign scored an upset victory (after having lost in the early primaries to Sen. McCain), and were set on the road to the Republican nomination and, ultimately, their occupation of the White House.
At the time, McCain decried that kind of politics.
As recently as April 24, 2008, McCain told Fox alleged News that he would not engage in negative campaigning, as it had no place in American life.
The Senator has had an epiphany.
He is losing the election to Sen. Barack Obama.
So, now, with Karl Rove on board the "Straight Talk Express" (more of a joke every day), McCain and his Pitbull in Lipstick have labeled Obama a terrorist (his alleged "connection" to Bill Ayers-see the earlier post), have taken up Hillary Clinton's trick of identifying Sen. Obama by his middle name (which I'm guessing he did not choose, as most of us don't), and even, at one of Gov. Palin's rallies today, failed to challenge a shout from the audience for someone to kill Sen. Obama.
These people, these pathetic people, have realized that they are losing the election to Sens. Obama and Biden. And they have decided that the means, any means, will be justified by their ends. But this is what Republicans do.
Look up Katherine Harris from 2000. Look up Kenneth Blackwell from 2004. Look up the Swiftboaters. Look up Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. When elections don't go the way that Republicans want, they lie, cheat, and, ultimately, steal those elections.
And "maverick" Senators act just like every other piece of garbage that Karl Rove has worked for. Not much rebellion in that. No change, whatsoever, in evidence there. Just the same old garbage we have suffered through for the last eight years!

Whew!

Jon Lester deserved a win! The defacto ace of the Boston Red Sox was himself tonight, after Josh Beckett wasn't much like himself last night.

Lester's line: 7 innings pitched, 4 hits, O runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts.

The bullpen gave up the lead in the eighth, but Lester was awesome!







The cliche says that baseball is a game of inches. The truism was proved again when Jason Varitek chased down Reggie Willits on a failed squeeze bunt attempt by Erick Aybar. The slow-footed, veteran catcher chased down one of the fastest men in the game by running him back to the base, ball in hand ready to throw--in other words, textbook execution of the rundown. That's why Tek is The Captain. The inches reference? Tek tumbled over third base after tagging Willits. As he flipped and hit his mitt on the ground, the ball came loose. Third base umpire Tim Welke ruled a good tag.


At the end, it was Jed Lowrie knocking in Jason Bay. Jed Lowrie and Jason Bay? Lowrie started the season at Pawtucket, expected to jump to the big club next spring. Julio Lugo was the shortstop for the Sox. But Lugo played poorly all year, and wound up injured. Jed got his chance. He made the most of it. He just hit the walkoff single that won the Division Series!
Jason Bay played for Pittsburgh. The Pirates. Going nowhere, no hope, no fans, no nothing. Then Manny was Manny one time too many, or 100 times too many, and Jason wound up in front of the Green Monster. And has provided all of the grit, hustle, determination and daily availability that the Sox have been missing in left field for the last few years.
Lowrie and Bay represent, as the tip of the iceberg, the ability of the front office to do the right thing to build this team and constantly make it better.

Bring on the Devil Rays!

This Is the Best They Can Come Up With?

This is William Ayers in 1968. He was a member of the Weather Underground. They opposed the Viet Nam war and anything else the US government was up to. They did bad things. Some of those bad things were bombings. In one of their bombings, a San Francisco police officer was killed. In another, the bomb went off unexpectedly, and killed three members of their own group.





Barack Obama was 8 years old when the Weather Underground bombings took place.



















This is William Ayers today. In the 1980s, Ayers earned two Masters Degrees and a Doctorate in early childhood education, curriculum development and instruction. He became a respected authority in his field, publishing many articles and books. He was used by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley as a consultant in remaking the city school system. He served on the board of the Woods Fund, a Chicago charity fighting poverty.


He was an author on an Annenberg Foundation grant that brought $49.2 million to the Chicago city schools.

A young community organizer named Barack Obama was named to the board that oversaw the spending of the Annenberg grant.

When Obama first ran for office, Bill Ayers hosted a fundraiser for him.


Pitbull with Lipstick is now spewing her talking points, attempting to make Barack Obama a terrorist via his "ties" to William Ayers.
I'm glad she's not after me. Because if Obama is a terrorist through William Ayers, I must be a dictator. After all, I've read a book about Adolph Hitler. And another about Josef Stalin. But then again, in a world where the view from some portion of your state constitutes foreign policy experience, I guess it makes sense(?).

Recap: As an 8 year old child, Barack Obama was responsible for the behavior of the Weather Underground.


That brings us to this fine fellow.
This is the mug shot of Charles Keating.

The last time that the crooked Republicans (redundant, I know) decided to take all the regulations off of financial institutions, it was the Savings and Loans in the 1980's. Thieves like Keating, operator of Lincoln Savings and Loan, saw their opportunity, but, at the same time, wanted to cover their asses. So, Keating bought protection, in the form of several US Senators, via his campaign contributions. One of those protectors was John McCain.

Keating went to jail for 5 years for his shenanigans. McCain, examined by those rough investigators-his fellow senators-escaped with a reprimand for his "poor judgement."

Today, we're encouraged to elect John McCain our President based on the solidity of his judgement.

What must those ever-vigilant Republican watchdogs think of this fellow, found at age 58 to have protected a crook who stole from grandmas and grandpas all over America? After all, if an 8 year old is responsible, what must be the responsibility of someone almost 60?

This is the best they can do to come up with "dirt" on Barack Obama?

On the Other Hand...

Smiling Dodgers' manager Joe Torre is thinking...

a) I'm glad I don't have to drink anymore of that State Farm wheatgrass drink!

b) It sure is good to advance in the playoffs!

c) I really do love L.A.!

d) Manny can be Manny as long as he wants!

e) I wonder what the Yankees are doing these days?

f) Kiss my warm, L.A. loving, still in the playoffs ass, Hank Steinbrenner!


(The correct answer is f!)

Winter Dilemma in the Fall

As I write, it is Dodgers 3, Cubs 0 in the top of the 8th inning in Game 3 of the NLDS. If that score holds up, the Cubs will be eliminated from the postseason. They will be swept for the second consecutive season.
No major league team wants to be there. But that result will pose a quandry for the Cubs ownership (whoever that may become--Please, God, make it Mark Cuban!), General Manager Jim Hendry and Manager Lou Piniella. It will be much the same dilemma that the Mets and Tigers (both defeated by a poor Cardinals team that caught fire at the right time to win the World Series) had to wrestle with after the 2006 postseason: are we what we looked like in the regular season, or are we what we looked like in the postseason?
The Cubs were the National League's best team most of the summer, but there has been precious little of that ability on display this October.
Dodgers 3, Cubs 1, moving to the bottom of the 8th.
Ryan Dempster became the staff ace as he moved from the closer's role in 2007 to a starting spot this season. Was he worn out in his Game 1 start from all the additional innings he pitched this year? Is Carlos Zambrano Nuke LaLouche, or a fiery latino with tremendous ability? Or is he injured? Is Derek Lee in decline? Or just having a couple of poor seasons, by his standard? Is Kosuke Fukudome a major league player or not? Is Ryan Theriot a starting major league shortstop? Does Jim Edmonds have anything left? Is Reed Johnson an everyday player? Can you afford to have Alfonso Soriano stay in the leadoff role when he is as streaky as he's always been?
Or did they just have the misfortune of having to deal with this year's team of destiny, who got hot at the right time, from the biggest trade deadline acquisition of the year: Manny Ramirez. We'll know more about the Dodgers as they move on to the League Championship Series, and, perhaps, the World Series.
We'll have to wait a bit to know what the Cubs' brass will make of their situation.
There are a lot of questions that another early exit will force upon the Cubs' leadership. I, for one, hope they take their time, get a little distance from this moment, take a deep breath, and think hard about where they are. It may not be as dark as it looks right now.
I just hope Ron Santo lives to see them win it all.

(Note: it ended at 12:10 am, Sunday morning, on a check swing by Soriano. Let the questioning begin.)

Poor Red Sox

They did well to make the postseason. Really a credit to them. But obviously they are just too banged up to do any good in the playoffs. Don't even know if half of them will be able to play, and not having Manny...and that Bay kid, he's never been in the postseason.

Kevin Youkilis, playing third for Mike Lowell, spectacular catch on foul pop in 9th.
J.D. Drew, herniated disk, 3 for 5, 2 runs scored, 3 rbi; game winning 3-run homer in the 8th.
Jason Bay, 5 for 9, 2 runs scored, 5 rbi, 2 homers and a double in the first two games.

Game Two: Red Sox 7, Angels 5

Boston leads the series, 2 games to none.

Red Sox' Major League record postseason winning streak versus the Angels: 11.

Beckett at Fenway Sunday Night.
Life is Good!

Note: One of my favorite people in the entire world is a dedicated, life-long Angels fan. You know who you are. I feel your pain. I am genuinely attempting to be as circumspect as possible in my little reflections here. Please pardon my enthusiasm. I'm being as gentle as I can.

Vice Presidential Debate Prep

Wasilla City, AK, population (2000 US Census): 7,028
Humboldt, TN, population (2000 US Census): 9,467

Alaska population (2000 US Census): 670,053
Memphis population (2000 US Census): 674,028

Gov. Sarah Palin's tenure governing 670,053 people: 1.5 years
Mayor W.W. Herenton's tenure governing 674,028 people: 18 years

Humboldt, TN, Mayor James Hill holds a part-time job. His city is approximately 33% larger than the town Sarah Palin served as Mayor.

No one seems to be mentioning James Hill or W.W. Herenton as candidates for Vice President of the United States of America. Odd. They each have more experience than Gov. Palin.
Regardless of the view from the Aleutian toe of her state.

Vote Obama-Biden. For God's sake. And ours.

Somewhere in America, Earlier this Afternoon

Angels fan: "I'm sorry Josh Beckett's hurt, but now we get to face Jon Lester tonight, instead. We're lucky!"
Red Sox fan: "Really?"

Lester's line: 7 Innings Pitched, 6 Hits, 1 Run, O Earned Runs, 1 Walk, 7 Strikeouts

Red Sox 4, Angels 1.

Boston leads, 1-0.

Red Sox' Postseason Winning Streak versus the Angels: 10.

Good Management

Joe Torre managed the 1982 Atlanta Braves to a Division Championship. He later had some small degree of success with the New York Yankees: four World Series Championships, six American League pennants, ten Division Championships and two Wild Card playoff entries. Plus this year's Dodgers' NL West Championship.
Terry Francona has led the Boston Red Sox into the postseason in four of his five seasons at the helm. He won the 2004 and 2007 World Series.
Lou Piniella has won an American League Wild Card, six Division Championships and the 1990 World Series.
Ozzie Guillen has won two Division Championships and the 2005 World Series.
Mike Scioscia has won an American League Wild Card, four Division Championships and the 2002 World Series.
Joe Maddon is a baseball lifer who served for several years as Mike Scioscia's bench coach.
Charlie Manuel is a baseball lifer who has won four Division Championships.
Dale Sveum has all of twelve major league games managed under his belt. He did, however, serve as Terry Francona's third base coach for several years. (He replaced Ned Yost, who managed the Brewers through the first 150 games of this season. Yost worked for Bobby Cox for the better part of a decade.)
Torre played for Birdie Tebbets, Chuck Dressen and Red Schoendienst. Terry Francona played for Dick Williams, Pete Rose and Bill Virdon. Piniella played for Billy Martin, Bob Lemon, Jack McKeon, Virdon, Dick Howser and Yogi Berra. Scioscia played for Tommy Lasorda. Ozzie Guillen played for Tony LaRussa, Jim Fregosi and Bobby Cox. Charlie Manuel played for Billy Martin, Bill Rigney and Walter Alston. Dale Sveum played for Fregosi, LaRussa, Piniella, Jim Leyland and Joe Torre. In their playing careers, these managers performed under a Who's Who of baseball managers. (Joe Maddon never played in the Major Leagues.)
These are the eight managers left standing for baseball's postseason. These guys are good. Good managers make good teams great.
Success and/or a good pedigree matters.

Ozzie's In

The Southsiders joined their Wrigleyville cousins tonight, as both Chicago teams are in the playoffs in the same year since the 1906 World Series. The Windy City teams, following the lead of their managers, are so bland as to be unrecognizable. And I have a bridge in New York, and swamp land in Florida, to sell you.
People like Ozzie Guillen and Lou Piniella make the game fun.
If Der Kommissar for Life wants to actually do something in The Best Interest of Baseball, he should decree that Ozzie must be employed as a manager somewhere in the game for the rest of his life. The White Sox skipper is honest, even when it gets him in trouble, and that is a regular occurrence. On multiple occasions, Sox General Manager Ken Williams has wanted to fire Ozzie for shooting off his mouth. Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has not allowed it to date. They haven't even thought about a change due to on the field performance. The Sox play for Ozzie, as evidenced by their 2005 World Series championship, the franchise's first since 1917. We Red Sox fans liked to point out that their wait was 88 years; ours was only (?) 86! Ozzie analyzes the games honestly, and, so, sounds like he is ripping his players from time to time. Not so. Ozzie protects his guys. When things get too hot and heavy, he'll say something outrageous to keep the press focused on him. His player can then go about the task of getting straightened out without being constantly bugged about how long it's been since his last hit or win or save. Ozzie was a very fine shortstop who didn't hit much; he knows what the players go through. He does everything in his power to keep the reporters off their backs.
Ozzie had a famous feud with Jay Mariotti, late of the Chicago Sun-Times. Mariotti is the load that likes to try to match wits with Woody Paige on Around the Horn. Unarmed men should never go into battle. Mariotti is also the guy who somehow held, for years, a sports columnist's job, when he never went to the ballpark, the football stadium, the hockey rink or the basketball arena. He developed the habit of ripping everyone from the players to the executives to the ownership to the kids that sell popcorn, all the while failing to every talk to any of his subjects, or meet any of them face-to-face. Ozzie called Mariotti on his shenanigans, and Jay was hurt. Insulted. Almost in tears. Poor Jay. Jay no longer has a job. Good for Chicago. Chalk up another one for Ozzie.
Baseball needs more Ozzie Guillens. That's more real people who tell the truth, as they see it, and are willing for the chips to fall where they may. Ozzie missed the class on coachspeak. He was never trained by the diplomatic corps. He's a baseball guy!
And a very, very entertaining one.
The postseason will be much more fun with both Chicago managers involved.

Paul Newman, American

It is especially important at this moment to applaud the life of a great man who was, genuinely, a great American.
Paul Newman was a great actor. He was a great figure in automobile racing. He was, in my opinion, a great political figure, as he once reckoned his spot on Nixon's Enemies List as "the greatest achievement of my life." Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward, gave generously to liberal candidates and causes, and raised millions more for them through fund raisers thrown in their homes. None of these items is the reason for my deepest appreciation of the man. And that reason is why he matters so much right now.
Paul Newman appreciated the blessings of his life, and showed that appreciation by using his notoriety to provide camps for ill children. That would be, he cared for people outside his own home, circle, and those who were not his economic peers.
That's not the way it's done among American leaders today.
We have been taught, throughout the Conservative Revolt (as in, to channel Mel Brooks' History of the World, Pt. 1, Crony: "Your majesty the Conservatives are revolting!" King: "You're telling me!") that the whole point is that "Greed is Good." Yes, Gordon Gecko's gospel from Oliver Stone's Wall Street came to life. Is it totally lost on the NeoCons that Stone's character was named for a slimy lizard? What, Bush missed the satire? Who'd have thought!
Nonetheless, Goober may have seen the movie, and thought it was an instruction manual. (and by the way, a friend refers to the alleged President as Gomer. No, no...Gomer did his military duty. Goober hid out at the gas station; hence Bush is Goober. Only Goober was smarter. Paul Begala was close to the truth; I don't think the moron is that high-functioning. But I digress.)
If Paul Newman had started a food company as a family business, and handed it down to his kids and grandkids to grow the Newman family coffers, no one would have thought anything about it. And you can be damned certain he wouldn't have run the company looking to loot pension funds, cut insurance benefits and disregard his firm's footprint in the environment. We know that, because he didn't do any of those things, creating one of the most responsible companies environmentally, and one of the friendliest for employees. Newman gave away over $250,000,000. Two Hundred Fifty Million dollars. No wonder he wasn't welcome in conservative circles. He didn't pass the selfishness test.
The Hole in the Wall Gang camps serve children who suffer from cancer, HIV/AIDS, hemophilia and sickle-cell disease. There are six of the camps in the U.S. and six more around the world. None of the families are charged for their participation; Mr. Newman saw to that. (If you would like more information, http://www3.holeinthewallgang.org/default.html)
How different the world would be if the Friends of Henry Paulsen had spent their lives and their blessings focusing on the needs of the world's children, the poor, the sick, the neglected and the desperate, rather than seeking the end of one more regulation that would enable them to cut one more corner so that they could have a solid gold umbrella stand ($15,000, Dennis Koslowski, former CEO of Tyco, out of over $600,000,000 pilfered from his company), or a birthday trip dropped on the wife, paid out of company funds ($200,000, Ken Lay, CEO of Enron, out of billions stolen from pension funds and kept off the books by crooked accountants, some of whom went to jail, while others committed suicide when exposed for what they were).
Retirees from one coast to the other wouldn't be making decisions between food and medicines. Parents who had held good jobs wouldn't be despairing for their sick children's lives because of the health care that died with their looted companies. And that's just if the deregulated crooks had been honest. Imagine the change if they had consciences and souls!
We need to celebrate Mr. Newman. We desperately need to be instructed by him, as a nation. We need to see those who need assistance the way Paul Newman saw them.
And, God knows, we need to be different from our pathetic, grasping ways.
We need to, uh, change direction!
"Repent, and believe the Gospel," someone said.
God bless you, Paul.

Mr. Red Sox Takes His Rightful Place

(Mr. Red Sox, Johnny Pesky, escorted from the Fenway Park field by his ceremonial first pitch catcher, Big Papi David Ortiz, on Sunday, September 28. Mr. Pesky's number was originally scheduled to be retired on Sept. 25. The event was moved to Sunday due to rain.)

Sometimes the rules just have to be broken.
John Michael Paveskovich, Johnny Pesky, will receive his just due tomorrow night at Fenway Park. His number 6 will be officially retired alongside Ted Williams' 9, Bobby Doerr's 1, Joe Cronin's 4, Carl Yastrzemski's 8 and Carlton Fisk's 27. Jackie Robinson's 42 is retired in every Major League park.
There are rules. For the Sox, a player must have played 10 years. He must have ended his career with the Sox. And he must have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The rules were bent for Pudge. Carlton Fisk ended his playing career with the Chicago White Sox. But you couldn't keep the New England native who had won Game 6 of the 1975 World Series by waving that home run fair in the bottom of the 12th, the man who caught more Major League Baseball games than any other, out of the line of Red Sox immortals.
Johnny Pesky didn't play 10 years for the Sox. He didn't end his playing career with them. He certainly isn't in the Hall of Fame. He simply embodies the living history of the franchise. Johnny was nicknamed "Needlenose" by Ted Williams. He was along for the trip that was chronicled in David Halberstam's wonderful book (Halberstam, wonderful book...never more redundant than that) Teammates, as Johnny and Dom DiMaggio made one last journey to see Teddy Ballgame. Pesky played with Dom and Ted and Bobby Doerr on the best Red Sox teams (until now) in anyone's living memory.
He has done everything for the team that a man can do. He has played, coached, managed, broadcast, taught as an instructor and represented the team everywhere and anywhere. Johnny will be 89 on Saturday. He is marking 69 years in baseball. 57 of those have been spent with the Red Sox, the last 40 consecutively. Some of the most touching moments in the clubhouse celebration of the 2004 championship came when Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, Jason Varitek, David Ortiz and others grabbed Johnny up in turn and told him that the moment was for him as much as any of the current players. And anyone who didn't tear up when the old man, in uniform, was called out to receive his World Series ring at the 2005 home opener just doesn't have any humanity in them.
On the eve of his 89th birthday, Johnny Pesky's number 6 will be officially retired. As it should be. Mr. Red Sox forever!
Rules? We don't need no stinking rules!

Don't Worry, George Has Your Back

The alleged President of the United States appeared on television tonight, again, playing the part of someone who is in charge. He spoke on the critical circumstances of the U.S. economy.
Not once did he accept any responsibility for the situation. Not once did he acknowledge that the deregulation of anything that resembles a business that has been Republican gospel for the 20 of the last 28 years that they have occupied the White House has directly lead to this moment. Not once did he lay the blame on any of his cabinet or staff, nor did he announce the resignations or firings of any members of his administration.
Instead of acting like an adult, he talked about this situation building for 10 years...when Bill Clinton was President! George blamed him for 9-11, why not this, too?
Instead of even pretending to be a leader, he still refuses to stipulate in the bailout that our money shall not be used to pay for any more golden parachutes for CEOs who made bad loans and paid themselves and their cronies so absurdly that they bankrupted their firms.
Instead of telling the truth and taking responsibility, the Decider passed the buck again. But at this point, no one in this country should be surprised at his course of inaction. This man has never been at fault in anything at any point in his entire life. Not when the businesses that his father had the Saudis pay for went belly up. Not when he spent his first 20 adult years addled on alcohol and cocaine. Not when he toughened Texas state law to give life sentences without the possiblity of parole to people who did exactly the same things he had done earlier in his life. Not when he stole the Presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution that, in the greatest lie of a life full of them, he twice swore to God to protect and uphold. Not when he became the first U.S. President in our history to openly and proudly start a war against a smaller country that had done absolutely nothing to us whatsoever, and then declare, upon the Russian invasion of Georgia, that in the 21st Century, larger countries no longer have the right to invade smaller countries. Not when he hides his responsibility for the deaths of over 4,000 Americans in his Iraq war by barring any photographing of the flag-draped coffins being brought home. Not when he was asked in one of his extraordinarily rare press conferences if he could name a mistake he had made in office. And he couldn't.
This man is beneath contempt. He has ruined our standing in the world. He has discarded the moral authority of our country, both in the starting of his wars and his refusal to adhere to American policy that dated to George Washington himself, that we do not torture. He has ruined our economy. He is bankrupting our government with his wars, his cronyism after natural disaster, and now his paying off of his Pioneers in the bailout of the banking system that he deregulated so that it could become entirely corrupt.
I wrote two years ago that George W. Bush was the most reprehensible public figure of my lifetime. Little did I realize that he was just warming up at that time.
He closed his speech tonight by saying, "May God bless you." My prayer is a bit different: God help us. Deliver us from this evil, evil man and all of his sycophants.

Oh, And About that Elitist Thing...

Just click the pic if you need a bigger look. Enjoy!

Tito Goes 4 for 5

As the Boston Red Sox' closer, Jonathan Papelbon, retired Victor Martinez on a pop to short to end tonight's game against the Cleveland Indians, Liza Minelli broke into the lovely strains of New York, New York, signalling the biggest NYA loss of the season: elimination from the playoff chase for the first time since 1994. (Sinatra's version follows an NYA victory; take a break Frank, they don't need you any more this year!)
At that moment, Terry Francona went 4 for 5. Tito led the Sox to their first World Series title in 86 years in his first season at the helm, 2004. In '05, the Sox were swept in the ALDS by eventual the eventual champions, Ozzie Guillen's White Sox. '06 was a disaster of injuries, and the only year so far that saw Francona out of the postseason. 2007 brought Tito's second title, and tonight his team clinched at least (most likely) the AL Wild Card.
At this moment, Terry Francona is, officially, the most successful manager in Red Sox history.
And that, almost necessarily, makes Theo Epstein the most successful General Manager in Red Sox history. Theo's contract is up at the end of the season. Word is that the Mets have extended Omar Minaya for four years. Given the Mets' performance, what does that make Theo worth? It's good to be Theo!
And Tito. He was basically run out of Philadelphia as a nice guy who was widely perceived as incompetent. Maybe he was. Maybe he wasn't. But name another young guy who went to school so well on a first managerial job in Major League Baseball.
As he sets out in pursuit of his third World Series championship, Francona has, undeniably, joined the ranks of the top handful of managers in baseball. That club basically includes Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Lou Piniella. And now, Tito Francona.
Att'n, Messers. Henry, Werner and Lucchino: redo Terry's deal, and redo it now.
And make his contract, and Theo's, very, very rich and very, very long!

The $700 Billion Bailout of Whom?

"Democrats demanded that the measure limit pay packages for executives of companies helped by the biggest financial rescue since the Great Depression. The administration was balking at that, and also at a proposal by Democrats to let judges rewrite mortgages to lower bankrupt homeowners’ monthly payments." Associated Press, 22 September, 2008

There is no clearer statement of the difference in the two American political parties than this: King George II and his cronies want one more opportunity to pay off the Pioneers before leaving office. This administration has no intention of helping the American people whose backs are against the wall. They only wish to further cushion the landings of the fatcats whose demand for deregulation, whose importuning to "trust us" created this fiasco in the first place.

His majesty wants one more blank check for the people who brought you trillions of dollars of irresponsible spending in Iraq, and billions spent after Katrina on people other than those who lost everything. This from the same "philosophy" that gave us the Savings and Loan debacle twenty years ago, one part of which was the discovery of the Senators who took bribes from one S&L operator named Charles Keating to cover up the deregulated corruption as it was happening. Let's see now, one of those Keating Senators had a familiar name...was it...McLane...McDane...Oh yeah, I got it: McCain!
I wonder what those reform conscious Republicans ever did with that bribe-taking, corruption-covering-up, Washington insider?

The Babe's House Closes Its Doors

They weren't even on the map before he arrived.
The New York Highlanders started with the American League in 1901 as the Baltimore Orioles before relocating in 1903. They derived their name from Hilltop Park, their home from 1903 through 1912. They weren't very good. Their futility reached its nadir in that 1912 season. They finished 50-102, a whopping 55 games behind the eventual World Series Champion Boston Red Sox. In fact, prior to the Babe's arrival in 1920, the Highlanders, officially renamed the Yankees as of 1913, finished fewer than 11 games out of first only three times.
After the Polo Grounds burned in 1911, the Highlanders allowed the Giants to finish their season in Hilltop Park. That generosity led the National League team to accept their AL cousins as tennants at the new, rebuilt Polo Grounds. Relations stayed warm until the Babe showed up. John McGraw, ever the ferocious competitor, became furious that the Yankees were outdrawing his Giants, and he threw them out. That eviction led to the decision to build Yankee Stadium. The House that Ruth Built was, actually, the House that McGraw Made Necessary.
Once Harry Frazee, owner of the Red Sox, sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees (and his soul to the devil), the ultimate nightmare of John McGraw came true: the Yankees set out upon the greatest period of success in the history of professional sports.
They have won 39 American League pennants and 26 World Series championships.
The Dodgers have won 21 National League pennants, good for second place in Major League Baseball. Second in World Series titles: the St. Louis Cardinals, who won their 10th in 2006.
In case you're struggling with the math, the Yankees have almost twice as many pennants as anyone else, and almost three times the World Series titles that anyone else owns. And to play with the numbers a little more, only in the dreadful 1980's did the Yankees win fewer than three pennants in any decade since the 1920's! Only in that same decade of the 1980's did the Yankees fail to win at least two World Series; they took 5 in the 1930's, 4 in the 1940's and 6 in the 1950's. That averages to every other year for 30 years!
The names of the others are universally known: Lou, the Clipper, Whitey, the Mick, Reggie, Munson, Gator, Catfish, Jeter, Billy and The Boss are just some of the baseball immortals who have seemed a bit bigger for playing on the biggest stage.
Theirs is an amazing legacy of achievement. The Babe's House deserves all of the accolades and attention attendant upon its closing this weekend. There will never be another like it.

The Cubs Win...Again

It hadn't happened in 100 years.
The Chicago Cubs successfully defended their National League Central Division championship, and, as a result, they will play in consecutive postseasons for the first time since the 1907 and 1908 seasons. And this time, it certainly appears that they will not have to face the Arizona Diamondbacks. In fact, it seems, with only a week left in the regular season, that the Cubs will secure the home field advantage (considerable at the Friendly Confines) by virtue of the league's best record, and will then host the Wild Card winner. In all likelihood, the Wild Card will be the National League East loser. Milwaukee has slipped so badly that it's almost impossible to see them resurrecting their season.
The Cubs, under Lou Piniella, are lovable losers no longer. They are a big market team whose front office now acts like it. They have built a considerable team. They should represent the National League in the World Series, because they have been the league's best team all summer. Of course, baseball doesn't always work out the way it should. Pardon the cliche, but that's why they play the games.
The ability to play the games behind Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly and Rich Harden is the reason the Cubs are where they are. Kerry Wood seems to have a meltdown about once a week as their closer, but in the playoffs, once a week may not even roll around. Theirs is a balanced attack, with veterans like Derrek Lee and Mark DeRosa providing leadership, Aramis Ramirez providing Gold Glove defense and joining with Alphonso Soriano to deliver a basket of homers and rbis, and the enthusiasm of youth with Geo Soto, odds on favorite to be named NL Rookie of the Year, as a catcher no less!
I don't envy the Mets, Dodgers and Phillies (as it appears today) having to deal with these Cubs.

The True Conservative Position

It's all about the money.
Ultimately, it's never about anything else for the conservatives. I will never forget the speech that George I gave at his second nominating convention. Polite applause for all of the talking points: abortion, homosexuality, school vouchers and so on. But the eruption came with the main point: Read my lips, no new taxes. I remember it so clearly, because it was the last of their conventions I watched. Keeps my blood pressure down, don't you know.
By the way, all of the "social conservative" points are all about money. I'm not talking about the decent, well intentioned people out there in the red states. I'm talking about the ones you see on TV and hear on the radio. For them, it's all about the money. They don't give a damn about aborted babies. They just don't want to pay taxes that might go to the bills of poor women.
This is precisely why government is bad, according the the right-wing whacko mantra: it takes my money.
Interesting, then, isn't it, that the first word out of the mouths of all the big, unregulated banks and investment houses when things went belly-up for them over the last few weeks: GOVERNMENT!
I don't disagree with the government assisting them, by the way. That's what the government should be doing: helping those who need help.
I just wish there were some reason to believe that this month has been an epiphany for George II and the rest of them. I would love to believe that they now understand that they need to be helping those who are hard up against it. Like the unemployed, and not just those afraid of becoming unemployed. Like the poor, not just those afraid of becoming poor after another bad week for the Dow.
For decades, conservatives have labeled the government bad any time that a finger was lifted to improve the lot of people having problems.
Perhaps now, they will see the light.
And monkeys will fly out of my butt.
Vote Obama.

A Much Better Night

Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 3. -1.5 for the Eastern Division; +7.5 for the Wild Card.
That's good news. The Sox ventured north of the border on the heels of that terrible visit to Tampa, knowing that A.J. Burnett and Roy Halladay were waiting to welcome them today and tomorrow. Also, Mike Lowell is out of the lineup while on the plastic grass, trying to spare his damaged right hip. So, somewhere south of their best (J.D. Drew's back still has him parked, and he may be done for the year), the Bostons went out behind a just-good-enough Paul Byrd, and beat the birds, kept pace with the Rays, gained another game on the Twins in the Wild Card standings, and generally accomplished all that they could tonight.
Now we look to the second round of the Jon Lester-Doc Halladay show at High Noon (at least by Central Daylight Time). Lester better be at his best. But then again, these days, when is he not?

Time to Vent: Keep Thy Saliva to Thyself!

I am a patient man. I navigated teenaged years with two daughters. I have served eight churches, and over 3,000 elderly people in the retirement homes. I have served under eight District Superintendents and four Bishops. As I said, I am a patient man.
This condition is about to change.
It must be clearly understood: I have never, ever, not once in my life, spat upon money that I was about to hand to someone else. Never. Ever.
However, I have repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly been expected to extend my hand and accept money that has been coated in saliva by various clerks in multitudes of stores.
Apparently there is an epidemic afflicting those in the retail industry that causes one's fingers to be ineffective in picking up cash, and an accompanying notion that the only resolution to the problem is licking one's fingers. I'm sorry for your plight. I will donate to research on the problem. I will pray for you if you tell me it is a physical, psychological, emotional or even spiritual problem.
But I will no longer, ever, not once more, accept money from anyone who slobbers all over their hand before handing me said cash.
I will call your manager. I will, as calmly as possible, explain the problem. I will ask for different money from someone who has not just tasted herself or himself. I will propose that your manager send you to the restroom to wash your hands. I will explain that I will never, ever again shop in your store. And should I ever come in again, and be treated in this same disgusting manor, I will do everything in my power to see you fired.
Stop the spit! It is gross. It is disgusting. It is not in the interest of public health. And, first and foremost, I didn't spit on the money before I gave it to you. You shall not spit on the money before handing it to me!
Now then; I feel better.
Until the next time I have to go and buy something. And I will be watching! And dry!!!

A Very Discouraging Night

The Sox had the opportunity to leave Tampa tied for the AL East lead. It seems that they left their carpe diem at the hotel. I have trouble faulting Wake. Knuckleball pitchers can be great, mediocre, or horrible on any given night, and Wake has been great far more than he's been anything else this year. The team, apart from Papi, just didn't seem ready to play tonight, and that's really disappointing.
While they depart Tampa/St. Pete only two games behind, and three in the loss column, I have a real sense that they should now look to the Wild Card and prepare for the postseason. They will face A.J. Burnett and Roy Halladay in the series at Toronto. Happily, the Twins don't seem to have any energy for getting back into the WC race.
Congratulations to Joe Maddon and the Tampa front office. It seems that the right people are now in place to make that franchise legitimate after 10 years of awful ownership, poor drafting, signing of broken down free agents, and general stupidity. The more good organizations in the game, the better the game.
I'm not particularly concerned about the route taken into the postseason, and the rest of Red Sox Nation shouldn't be, either. We won in 2007 as the Division Champion, and in 2004 as the Wild Card winner, so Tito and the boys have done it following both paths. The obvious difference is that little matter of the Fenway home field, but the Angels still have to show that they can find a way to beat the Sox after October 1.
Get the pitchers in order. Rest Lowell's hip as much as possible. Figure out if Drew will be available, and if available, helpful. Play Kotsay until he finds his stroke. Get Tek a little rest.
Then bring on October! Something, by the way, they won't be saying in the Bronx.

More Evidence for the Ballot Box

The Republican mantra from the time of the 1980 Reagan campaign: "Government isn't the solution to our problems. Government is the problem!" Always spoken to great cheering.
Nobody is cheering now.
Enron. Bear Stearns. Lehman Brothers. Merrill Lynch. More airlines than you can count. Fannie Mae. Freddie Mac.
Deregulate Everything, along with Don't Tax the Rich, are now thoroughly discredited as the sum total of Republican economic policy. To everyone, that is, except Sen. McCain. Today he was making the rounds to try another explanation for his "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" pronouncement. Today's attempt: "I mean that the productivity of the American worker is fundamentally strong." Get real!
The American worker isn't working. The jobs are all in Singapore. Or Malaysia. Or China. Being performed by prisoners. Or children. Or women, locked into sweatshops and dreaming of being treated as well as slaves.
The big companies, unmonitored, became too big, too greedy, too stupid. So they have, over and over again, killed the Golden Goose. And we foot the bill for all of it.
Republicans believe that you trust corporations to do the right thing, and regulate people, because they won't act right.
Democrats know that you can trust the people, but you trust these corporations only as far as you can throw Wall Street, and even then, to your own peril. Our regulating should be limited to those who steal the retirements of elderly Americans, who finance the movement of our entire manufacturing sector to foreign countries, who cynically count on the government that they do not trust to save their asses when they screw up. That would be the corporations.
How can anyone really want to keep these same people, with their same idiotic policies and ideas, in charge?

To Quote Charlie Brown, "Argh!"

Rays 2, Red Sox 1

In Which the Defending World Champions Finally Catch the Upstarts

Since shortly after the All Star Game, the Devil Rays (I know, I just don't care-and they picked it ten years ago) surged to the top of the American League East standings.
Top of the first, Kazmir pitching: Crisp, walk; Pedroia, walk; Ortiz, home run; Youkilis, fly out; Lowell, home run; Bay, strike out; Lowrie, fly out; Boston 4, Devil Rays, 0.
Ever since, the Sox have been trying to catch up.
Bottom of the first through bottom of the third, uneventful. Boston 4, Devil Rays 1.
After the Devil Rays took 2 out of 3 in Boston last week, many people said that the race was over.
Top of the fourth, Kazmir still pitching: Bay, home run; Lowrie, walk; Varitek, home run; Ellsbury, single; Crisp, double; Kazmir replaced by Talbot; Pedroia, single; Ortiz, force out; Youkilis, home run; Lowell, ground out; Bay, strike out; Boston 11, Devil Rays, 1.
Sox fans were despairing as only Sox fans can.
Bottom of the fourth: uneventful. Boston 11, Devil Rays, 1.
Then, with a good weekend for the Sox at home against the Blue Jays...
Top of the fifth: Lowrie, walk; Varitek, gidp; Ellsbury, home run; Crisp, walk; Pedroia, fly out; Boston 12, Devil Rays, 1.
...while the Devil Rays had a bad weekend in the Bronx with our new best friends.
Bottom of the fifth: uneventful. Boston 12, Devil Rays, 1.
That left us one game behind heading into Tampa for three games this week.
Top of the sixth: Ortiz, double; Youkilis, double; Lowell, HBP; Bay, gidp; Lowrie, walk; Varitek, strike out; Boston 13, Devil Rays, 1.
With Dice K on the hill, hopes were running high.
Remainder of the game: uneventful; final score: Boston 13, Devil Rays 5.
And the Beantown Bombers have caught up. And will go for the outright lead tomorrow night behind a little fellow named Beckett.
I do hope the Devil Rays have enjoyed their little fantasy!

Big Z!

He is a big man with a big arm who swings a big bat while trying to contain a big ego, a bigger temper, and some humongous emotions. He is the ace of a very fine Chicago Cubs' starting rotation who hadn't pitched since September 2 due to rotator cuff tendinitis. He is a Venezuelan made good in the United States. It was an Astros home game, against the Cubs, being played in Milwaukee. All of which made it the perfect night!
Carlos Zambrano has pitched a no-hit, no-run game.
Big Z is as entertaining as any character in the game. He is living theater. He seems to always walk along the razor's edge. And tonight it all fell his way. Ron Santo sounded like he wouldn't make it until the end. Pat Hughes was, as always, spectacular in recounting the action. Even Lou Pinella got caught up in the excitement, allowing a returning from injury, front of the rotation pitcher to go 110 pitches deep into a game that meant very little to the Cubs. At least it meant very little until that linescore was posted: Cubs, 5-7-0; Astros, 0-0-1.
Cubs fans look for any sign, absolutely any sign. Here's another in a year full of them: first Cubs' no-hitter since Milt Pappas in 1972!
I've gotten to see the Red Sox' 86 year drought ended. I've seen the White Sox' 88 year wait rewarded. Now we're down to cases: the Cubs have waited for a century. Maybe Z's great game marks the path. Can Next Year really be This Year?

Fifth Anniversary: Warren Zevon and Johnny Cash

Warren Zevon looked like he knew something you wouldn't want to know. There were reasons for that. Warren may not have been the original sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll boy, but if he didn't write the book, he surely edited it for a new edition.
In the course of living the life, he produced the work to back it up. Sure, I knew Werewolves, but I learned Warren just like most of America (outside Southern California) after David Letterman introduced us. Warren filled in for Paul Shaffer on the High Holy Days, and any other time he was needed. And he played his music, his wonderful, wonderful music. Another godawful crime committed in the community? Awww, he's just an Excitable Boy according to the neighbors. Think boxing is all art? Listen to Boom Boom Mancini. Tired of hearing all that crap about potential? Try Genius. And talk about real life love songs? Get Mutineer, Reconsider Me, Searching for a Heart or Keep Me in Your Heart. Want the even darker side of Hotel California? Go into a room by yourself and play Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me; just make sure it isn't the abominable Ronstadt mutilation.
Warren was just plain noble following his terminal diagnosis (he had mesothelioma-the asbestos cancer; even his illness was bizarre). His appearance on Letterman's program in October, 2002, was designed as a public farewell of sorts. He lasted almost another year, and produced a final album that is as powerful and poignant as anything you'll ever listen to. Dave tells a story about that night in the current edition of Rolling Stone. After Warren had shared his now epic advice to "Enjoy every sandwich" and thanked Letterman for being the "best friend my music's ever had" the long-time friends visited after the show. As they talked, Warren stowed his guitar in its case. As he closed the snaps, he handed the case to Dave, and told him to take good care of it. The legendary wiseass was reduced to sobs.
So was I when Warren died on September 7, 2003. So am I each year when I lift a glass in his memory.

Johnny Cash looked like he knew something he wished he didn't know. There were reasons for that, too. Cash made as many runs up to the abyss as anyone who ever lived, and he lived to tell the tale every time until September 12, 2003, five days after Zevon left us. Johnny didn't sing as much as he rumbled. He had this BIG baritone voice that seemed to come from somewhere down around the earth's core. He was the voice of apocalypse, the voice of doom, the voice of a prophet.

He started in the Cradle of the Immortals, Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service, soon to be known as Sun Records. Elvis, Jerry Lee, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Howlin' Wolf, and Cash, among many others; not bad company for schooling. Fresh out of Arkansas, Mr. Sam got him, as only Sam could, and made him a star.

Johnny Cash knew from early on that life sucks and then you die. He knew it from childhood (inflicted on him) and adulthood (self-inflicted). But he also had hope of redemption, as learned through the eternal grace of love that came into his life through June Carter. Johnny kicked against the goads all his life. He kicked out of anger before June; he acted out of expectation once she entered his life. He sang and fought for the downtrodden, whether prisoner, minority or radical. The authorities at San Quentin told him he couldn't perform Folsom Prison Blues due to the line about having "shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die." Don't want to rile the inmates, don't you know. Maybe that's why he seems to almost scream those words on the recording of the concert. Debuting his short-lived Johnny Cash Show on ABC, he wanted Bob Dylan on the premiere. The network shrieked that he would lose his audience if he had one of those anti-war anarchists on the show. Dylan performed. That was Cash.

Eventually Cash, like Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard (championed from his prison time by Cash), couldn't find a recording contract in Nashville. Country Music without Cash, Nelson and Haggard is pretty much the best definition (next to Dubyer) of "All Hat and No Cattle." So in typical Cash fashion, he went to work with Hip Hop Entrepreneur Extraordinaire Rick Rubin, and produced some of the most powerful, most American music (no pun intended) of his career. Hunt up those last albums. They are gold, and I don't measure by units sold. Most everyone knows the gut-wrenching take on Trent Reznor's Hurt that became a sort of valedictory for Johnny's career. The sound recording was devastating. The video (which, all by itself, made the medium acceptable), featuring June but released only after her death, as Johnny moved through the closed House of Cash museum, intercut with images from younger, and much happier days, proclaimed, again, the apocalypse: "I got old and you will, too" the old prophet boomed out. "I should have done better" said the voice of experience. "Don't throw your time away!"

Johnny Cash was America. That's why I got my first taste of a Cash concert. He was chosen to headline the show on July 4, 1976, beneath the Washington Monument on the Mall in our nation's capitol. Then Vice President Nelson Rockefeller ran on at length about something or other, and then this figure took the stage, almost invisible in his black mourning coat, black shirt, black pants and black shoes and thundered "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash!" Before, I had known who he was. That night, I learned what he meant.

He still means that much to me. And to everyone else that knows about life's shit. And believes in the possibility of redemption. Well done, good and faithful servant! I'm certain that you've entered into the joy of your master. But, brother, would I be grateful to have heard you sing about where our country is now, and how much better we should be doing!

The Problem of a Free Society

We just passed the day that posed arguably the greatest challenge to a free society. September 11, 2001, forced us to evaluate just how precious our freedoms are to us and how committed we are to them. To date, we have failed that test miserably.
Today, we find the test posed again.
As Hurricane Ike raged toward Galveston and Houston, the United States Government, in the presence of the National Weather Service, called on citizens of the Texas coast and inland areas in Ike's path to evacuate, or "face certain death." Let that sink in for a moment.
In other parts of the world, parts I don't even want to visit, much less live in, the government would simply send in the troops and remove people from their homes, perhaps even relocating them permanently. We don't work that way. And so, there are still more people than can be counted trying to ride out the storm in their homes.
What do we do about that?
Is there any rationale for asking those valiant young men and women who serve in the various helping agencies to go into an area that has been declared to "face certain death" to rescue hardheaded people who were warned in advance (this time)? Certainly, they are trained to deal with deadly situations, but where is the line?
At what point does personal responsibility for decisions made really become personal? When does society's responsibility to help end?
As a Christian, it is a mandate to say that we must help no matter what. But there is a big difference in handing a hamburger to the man with the sign at the intersection and risking an entire helicopter crew (with spouses, children and parents depending on them) to save Jim Bob whose case of Budweiser told him he was tougher than any goldarned storm.
As an American, I find one more place where we still will not respect the decisions that other free people make. We will, before this is over, hear tragic stories of the loss of brave people trying to save others, who made bad decisions, from themselves.
And I have no idea how to grade this one.

...And A Word In Support of Community Organizers

Please don't be surprised at the attempts to disparage Barack Obama's work as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago after he finished law school. Rudolph Giuliani, or 9/11 Man as he wishes to be remembered, laughed at the thought of a Harvard law grad wasting time helping people thrown out of work by Republican corporate overlord-types seeking greater profits by moving their factories to foreign countries at the expense of working Americans. Barbie also dismissed Obama's work, likening it to a small town mayor's job, only "mayors have real responsibilities." In my little neck of the woods, towns of about 8,000 people don't even have full-time mayors. But I digress.
Of course, Republicans will never understand why a brilliant young man would spend several years of his life helping the unemployed, the underemployed, the desperate and the despairing. Republicans like Giuliani sit back and laugh when the people who do the real work in this country, paving the streets, staffing the assembly lines, waiting the tables and cleaning the mayor's $5,000 suits, find their jobs disappearing because of the policies of George II. Suburban blight like Sarah Palin run as far away from the real problems and suffering in this world as they can possibly get, and then pretend that they are being persecuted when one of their kids acts like a kid. Look, madame governor, it's your boys, the Bill O'Reillys and Rush Limbaughs of this world, who have built careers screaming about the irresponsibility of parents who let their little girls get pregnant out of the traditional family order of things. Community organizers have the courage and the passion for people that takes them into the very neighborhoods that people like the good governor try to avoid, to look the problems in the eye, and pursue solutions. And it is precisely us awful Liberals who have developed and implemented all of the programs to help young women in the position your daughter is in, and children coming into the world as your grandchild is. Prenatal healthcare, Headstart, school breakfasts and lunches, day care and afterschool care, public education; that's all courtesy of your friends, the Liberals. And mostly through the initiative and efforts of those awful community organizers you think so little of. They are the people who deliver the change that you Republicans strive so hard to avoid or squash.
You're welcome. You lying jerks. Why don't you go quote some more of that scripture that you love to toss around so much, but understand not one bit, for instance, how we treat "the least of these" is how we really feel about God!

Old and Tired

Senator McCain's speech is made. It was, indeed, old and tired.
I do not aim those words at the Senator. Just his rhetoric.
The Senator decried Washington, the Washington that he has been part of for 26 years. He decried the financial irresponsibility of Washington, the Washington that his party has run for the last eight years. When Bill Clinton left office, this country had a record surplus in the bank. George W. Bush and the Republican Congress that ruled for the first six years of the Bush administration have squandered that surplus and run up the greatest debt in the history of our nation. Not "Tax and Spend Democrats." Republicans, the "financial conservatives", have done this. The only sacrifice that Bush called for was for the wealthiest Americans to wrench their arms reaching for their wallets so that, for the first time in our history, he could dump another tax cut into their pockets. Senator McCain knew, at the time, that was a bad idea. Candidate McCain wants to extend those same tax cuts. And, apparently, incur the even greater deficits that will come with them.
There desperately needs to be a change. But change cannot come by leaving the reins in the same hands that have held them for the last eight years, hands that have failed miserably.
Morally bankrupt from a war that should never have been fought, financially bankrupt from the waste in Iraq, out of ideas after showing the Neocon "vision" for what it is (bullshit), McCain has no option but to deny any responsibility for the Bush years.
And, by the way Senator McCain, Barack Obama has never, ever, claimed to be put in place by God to be President, not once, not ever. But one person did, indeed, make that claim about himself: George W. Bush. And, clearly, if King George II is accurate in that assessment, God has a lot to learn about American politics.

Do You Know This Woman?

Sen. John McCain has selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, 44, to be his running mate. Gov. Palin was elected to her current office in 2006 and took office early in 2007. Prior to winning the governorship, she served three terms as the mayor of Wasilla City, AK, a town the size of Humboldt, TN.
Apparently Sen. McCain has decided that Senator Barack Obama's youth and experience will no longer be raised as an issue by the Republicans.

Is That So Wrong? (In Jon Lovitz' best Harvey Fierstein voice)

Word tonight that the goopers are considering delaying their convention due to Hurrican Gustav's anticipated arrival.
Given the publicly announced prayers of one James Dobson, asking God to pour down rain on Mile High Stadium tonight, is it so wrong to enjoy biblical injunctions against self-satisfied praying?
For just a moment there, I envied the late Rev. Falwell, Rev. Robertson and Dr. Dobson their theological position that bad things that happen are necessarily punishments from God.

The Next President of The United States of America

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [people] are created equal

Tonight, for the first time in our history, these sacred words are true. Senator Barack Obama is the nominee of the Democratic Party for President of The United States. No less a conservative than Patrick J. Buchanan pronounced Obama's presentation as perhaps the greatest convention speech in American history.

Given the differences between the candidate nominated this week and the one to be nominated next week, there is only one question to be determined: Have We, the People grown beyond our racist, redneck identity enough to elect a man who is defined by our society as black? Do we believe the premise on which our nation is founded, or not? Are we a complete and total fraud, or do all Americans have a part in this nation, do we all belong?

Barack Obama is America. He is black and white. He is Christian with a Moslem father. He is Patton's 3rd Army from World War II, and an immigrant. He is Harvard educated, and South Side of Chicago employed. He is the child of a single mom, and the father in a traditional family. He is a devoted husband of a wife as educated, professional and able as he is--and she's the primary parent for two little girls, too (ie: Ginger Rogers did all Astaire did, only backwards and in high heels!).

John McCain is a good man, but his beer baron wife, his 7 houses (and don't tell me he couldn't remember--he was just embarassed to admit it), and his "$5,000,000 annual salary equals middle class" comment just doesn't look or sound like the America most of us know anything about.

This young man, with his big dreams and big visions, is the antidote needed after eight years of Darth Cheney and Goober. If only we can get to what another dreamer, 45 years ago today, said should be the deciding factor: the content of one's character, rather than the color of one's skin.

Lies and the Lying Liar Christians Who Tell Them (with apologies to Al Franken)

Throughout the primary and now convention season, I have received two or three emails per week, forwarded by parishoners, purporting to tell "the truth" about Barack Obama. Those that include citations of their sources invariably come from Fox News, James Dobson or Rush Limbaugh. More of them are simply anonymous. The messages recount how Sen. Obama makes fun of the Bible (Dobson). How he holds Kenyan citizenship (Limbaugh). How he attended a Moslem school as a boy (Fox News). The anonymous ones are, of course, even more enthusiastic and absurd. Obama trained as a terrorist. He's a member of a Moslem cult. My favorites are the ones that within one message make the Moslem accusation, and criticize him for his membership in Trinity Church (supporting that preacher, of course). Can't beat that! And, of course, there are the "Michelle hates America" ones, and the "Obama won't wear a flag pin or put his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance or national anthem" business. (I wish that last one was true, as it seems to me just about time that someone in this faith pointed out that when the Ten Commandments that are so cherished by the right wingers say that there are to be no other allegiances but to God, and no graven images to be worshipped, that means the ones we like as well as those we don't; ours, as well as other peoples'. Perhaps, intead of simply seeking to post them in courtrooms, classrooms and in public squares, they should try reading the Commandments?)
On my better days, it breaks my heart that good people will accept, unquestioningly, the pronouncements of people who set themselves up as oracles.
On more days, I marvel that some people never seem to have a thought until Dobson or Limbaugh fart. Yes, that is, indeed, a "head up their ass" reference.
My deepest anger over this nonsense is that it is coming from groups that present themselves to the world as Christian. No one else would make the Moslem accusations.
The last time I checked, there is nothing illegal about being a Moslem in America. I know several. They have been guests in my home, and in my churches. After 9-11, I participated in several community meetings with leaders of Moslem congregations near where I was serving at the time. But those who pass on this garbage know their audience. And as though it's not enough for that crowd that Obama is seen as a black man (odd, as he is just as white as he is black, but that's America--any drop of "black blood" and you're "marked"), they seek to define him as Moslem.
Here's the thing: he is a brother in Christ.
Regardless of November's vote totals, "Christian" people in this country are denying a member of the family. They are cutting him out of the body of Christ. They are rejecting his baptism and his profession of faith in Jesus Christ. They are dismissing his discipleship, his marriage before the altar of God, and his commitment to raise his children in the Christian faith.
In short, they are putting their own souls at risk.
And they are selling their souls for nothing more lasting or valuable than political advantage.
Obama is not Jesus Christ, but these persecutors are Pontius Pilate. They know full well that Obama is a Christian, and they condemn him anyway. Wash your hands as much as you want, it doesn't change what you are doing, or what you are.
Remember, brothers and sisters, that you stand before God. You will have to answer for your actions. And attempting to injure a member of the family, in Jesus' own words, leads to such unpleasant consequences that millstones around the neck in deep water would be preferable.
Debate the issues. Vote for who you want. But deny a fellow Christian? The truth is not in you!

Lies and the Lying Christians Who Tell Them

With apologies to Al Franken,

Hillary Makes the Case

I voted for Hillary Clinton in our state primary.
This isn't a lecture from outside the fold.
It is a lecture to say, much as Senator Clinton did tonight, that if you voted for her in the primaries, you cannot vote for John McCain in November. What did Hillary run on? The same things that she has worked for her entire adult life! Opportunity for all. Healthcare for all. Education for all. You know, as in "...and liberty and justice for all!"
That is the Democratic platform. That is Barack Obama's purpose in life, too.
The Republican party is about keeping what they've got and acting like they accomplished something, when all they've done is keep their boot on the neck of the poor, shovel out money to the rich like coal into a steam locomotive, start wars that are basically fought by the children of families who can't find jobs, serve their shareholders by refusing to raise the minimum wage, provide adequate healthcare or keep college affordable for working families dreaming of moving up. All this and much more as bad if not worse.
If you voted for Hillary Clinton and now intend to vote for John McCain, what were you doing in the primary? The Senator asked the question herself tonight: were you in it just for her, or for the people and causes that she has fought for all her life?
Sober up! Straighten up! Get back to work, and stop this Republican madness while we still have a country at all!

Teddy Stole the Show

After a beautiful, heartfelt tribute from his niece, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, and a majestic filmed tribute, Senator Edward M. Kennedy was introduced to the Democratic National Convention tonight. Unless you've been off the planet the last six months, you know that Sen. Kennedy is fighting a brain tumor that typically takes the life of those who are stricken with it within a year. There was a lot of speculation about the Senator's attendance at the convention, and if he were able to appear, whether he would be able to speak. He answered both questions powerfully.
At 76 years of age, with a miserably bad back that causes him to stoop and keeps him from raising his arms above his shoulders, and just a short time removed from brain cancer surgery, Teddy was awesome. He again lent the Kennedy imprimatur to Barack Obama. The Old Lion of the Senate and the party roared out the great theme of his legislative life: healthcare for every American. He invoked his brother's inaugural speech in calling for the passing of the torch to yet another generation of American leader. He was strong. He was clear. He was Ted.
I will readily confess that I cried throughout Caroline's speech, the film, Teddy's speech and his farewell as his children, nieces and nephews and all of their children crowded the stage around him. Any realistic reading of his prognosis suggests that this will be the last time that Ted Kennedy will rally the Democratic faithful in convention. We can hope and pray for better, and, after all, I didn't think he would make this one. But the Kennedy name has been The Name in Democratic politics longer than I have been alive. Ted Kennedy has been in the United States Senate since the year after I was born. He couldn't go earlier, when President Kennedy left the seat upon his election to the Presidency, because he wasn't old enough yet. I cannot imagine our country, and certainly not my party, without him.
He has done more for the unemployed, the working poor, the old, the young, those without healthcare, the immigrant, the disabled, minorities, women, and any other downtrodden person you would care to name, than any other person in this country, period. He has taken seriously his obligation as a privileged man to work for the good of others. He is reckoned by many as the greatest Senator in the history of our country.
Ted Kennedy is anathema to the right wing. They raise great amounts of money off of his name to this day. But they raise that money from people who do not want others to succeed, or find assistance. Ted is the boogeyman to everyone who wants to keep the minimum wage below a living wage; who wants to abuse their employees by witholding healthcare; who wants to be able to discriminate in hiring and firing; who wants to keep poor children poor by denying them an equal start; who wants to throw the elderly to the wolves; who thinks that disabled people don't deserve to have lives. He wears that great label, "Liberal," as the badge of honor that it is. Ted has room for all people, and believes that government should always, always, always act in the interest of those having trouble making their way.
He is not perfect. Everyone knows that. But Ted Kennedy has served this country well. He has fought for those who couldn't fight for themselves. And he will be one of my heroes as long as I live.

It's Joe!

Senator Barack Obama has passed his "first decision test" with flying colors: on Saturday morning he will name veteran Delaware Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate. Biden brings tenure. He brings gravitas. And, most importantly, he brings long experience on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as both Chair and Ranking Member. He has also chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee. Biden's Senate credentials trump those of John McCain. He will be an articulate and energetic partner for Sen. Obama, and is, quite simply, an excellent choice.
Biden has stood at the top of the Democratic party for twenty years. He has a compelling personal story of loss and triumph. Shortly after his election to the Senate in 1972, Biden received the telephone call that every person dreads. His wife, Neilia, and baby girl, Naomi, had been killed in an automobile accident that also critically injured his young sons, Beau and Hunter. Democratic leaders pleaded with Biden not to resign his seat. He finally agreed, beginning his continuing practice of commuting to the Senate everyday from his home, so that he could care for, and then raise his sons. Biden married Jill Jacobs in 1977, and they celebrated the addition of a daughter, Ashley. His family then cared for him when he suffered two brain aneurysms in 1988, and was away from the Senate for more than two months. Beau is now the Attorney General of Delaware, and also a member of the Judge Advocate General's corps. He is due to be deployed to Iraq this fall.
A powerful orator, and highly credentialed legal and foreign policy expert, and loving and committed father, a husband and devout Roman Catholic, Biden is a marvelous choice to serve alongside Barack Obama in the White House. He will be an exceptional campaigner for the ticket until November's election.
Senator Obama has done very, very well!

Baseball Is Life on the Road Again: Baltimore

Through the good offices of The Most Generous Friends Ever, your humble blogger has spent enough time in Charm City to look forward to going back for a full-blown vacation trip at some point.
Baltimore holds more significance, professionally, than I realized before arriving. I knew that I would find there the home of The United Methodist Church. John Wesley concluded late in his life that his Methodist Movement would need to become a church in the new United States of America. To that end, he did something (just what Father Wesley did with Francis Asbury has been debated to this very day) to enable the establishment of a church through the 1984 Christmas Conference that met at Baltimore's Lovely Lane Methodist Church. The good people of Lovely Lane, still a worshipping congregation, had organized in 1771. I knew that the site of the current church housed a museum of Methodism, and that it is not at the original 1771 site. What I did not know was that the Old Otterbein Church, the mother church of the United Brethren in Christ, one of the lines that led to the 1968 merger that produced The United Methodist Church, was also in Baltimore. Philip William Otterbein became pastor in 1774 and stayed 39 years, the rest of his life. Otterbein was close to Francis Asbury, as was his church. Testimony to relations between the two: Lovely Lane Methodist Church organized and met at Old Otterbein in its infancy; it was the original site of the congregation that would birth the Methodist Church! Little wonder that Otterbein so frequently had Asbury fill his pulpit. Remarkable that the seeds in this relationship led, almost 200 years later, to a joined church.
It was a joy to experience this part of my history first hand.
It was also not at all unpleasant to have the opportunity to study another piece of Baltimorean architecture, just a couple of blocks from Old Otterbein. A beautiful patch of green over the hallowed grounds of the George Ruth Saloon. Oriole Park at Camden Yards is as absolutely and completely beautiful as it has appeard on television for the last 17 years. It is not at all difficult to sit in the stands and envision the 2,131 banner that hung on the old B&O Warehouse along Eutaw Street when Cal Ripken, Jr., saved Baseball in 1995. It is a blast to shake hands, take a picture and get an autograph from John "Boog" Powell, former Orioles' first baseman and 1970 American League Most Valuable Player, as he presides over Boog's Barbeque, also on Eutaw. Think John Goodman, only with a believable swing. The Booger is having fun, and likes for everyone else to do the same.
While there does not appear to be a bad seat in the place, I can attest that the section behind home plate, about 18 rows up, is specatcular beyond belief. How Mr. Most Generous Friend Ever managed to get those tickets is beyond me! Combine that with a Red Sox offensive onslaught and a now-typical performance by my hero, Jon Lester, and Monday night was, to use the Bay State vernacular, wicked awesome!
Tuesday was more of the same, hits and runs galore, with only the indigestion of an also now-typical performance by Daisuke Matsuzaka, and seemingly 75-80% of the park occupied by Red Sox Nation. It was a two evening riot.
Along with the daytime educational exercises, this was one terrific road trip!
My thanks, again, to Mrs. Most Generous Friend Ever for allowing the loan of her husband for a couple of days, along with the chance to sit in a seat she might have had without me along. And to the Mr. for giving up a Monday night that he might have spent at home with their totally awesome two year old son. And everybody should see the family portrait that my friend carries with him--oddly, in the very front of the photo album--where the boy is gazing adoringly at his dad. Great, great stuff!
And now, (yawn) back to real life, work and home. And even gone only for two days, and really nice days, life, work and home are pretty darned good.

A Memphian Mourns on August 16

Today is one of those truly historic days. A day when an historic life ended, a life that changed the world, overwhelmingly for the better. A life that will be remembered forever, honored, researched, celebrated and imitated. It was a life of genuine accomplishment, achieving feats no one else could duplicate, even years after the death that ended this remarkable person's journey. Only that assessment doesn't cover things, because, if anything, the individual's face, story and records are better known today than during his lifetime.
Babe Ruth died on August 16, 1948.
Babe Ruth was the Home Run King. His long ball escapades are not generally appreciated accurately. Last year, when the artificially enhanced Barry Bonds was surpassing the thoroughly honorable Hank Aaron, it was continually reported that Aaron had broken Ruth's 39 year old record, and Bonds was taking down Aaron's 33 year reign. Only problem: Ruth didn't become the home run champ upon his retirement in 1935; he set the career home run record in 1921, with number 139. Roger Connor, a first baseman pricipally for the New York Giants in the 1880's, had held the record since his 1897 retirement. Ruth lifted the record from 138 to 714, and held the record for 53 years. (Take just a moment to consider the extensions: Aaron went from 714 to 755; Bonds from 755 to *762; Ruth went from 138 to 714. That is an increase of 417%!)
It took Ruth only 8 years, and just three of those as an every day player, to make the record his own. You see, there is one simple basic reason that Ruth will always stand as the unquestioned best player in baseball history: before he was the greatest slugger in the game, he had been the best left-handed pitcher in the game.
As much as we enjoy Rick Ankiel's exploits this year, Ruth was the best lefty in the majors from 1915 through 1918, and the greatest hitter from 1918 until 1935. There is no comparison, and give the age at which kids are forced to specialize today, there never will be.
To this day, fantastic exploits are "Ruthian." Players who look younger than their years are still "Babe." Top guys must still be given nicknames, and we're not talking about that Chris Berman junk, either. The Sultan of Swat. The Maharishi of Mash. The Bambino. The Big Bam. That's why we have The Hammer, both Iron Horses, The Say Hey Kid, both Pudges, Mr. October and The Goose. They are all following in the footsteps, the larger than life footsteps, of George Herman "Babe" Ruth, who died sixty years ago today.
Thanks, Babe! We'll never forget you.
Or that other King who died today. You know, the rock'n'roll guy.
(It is interesting to me that Aug. 16 has seen a number of notable deaths: The two noted, Babe Ruth in 1948 and Elvis Presley in 1977, but also Bela Lugosi-1956, Admiral Bull Halsey-1959, Margaret Mitchell-1949, Gunsmoke's Miss Kitty, Amanda Blake-1989, Stewart Granger-1993, Newsman and Timex shill, John Cameron Swayze-1995, Idi Amin-2003, and, after the Babe and the King, dearest to my heart, legendary Bluesman Robert Johnson-1938)

Swiftboaters, Round 2

To call Jerome Corsi a lying bastard is an insult to lying bastards everywhere. He was the author of 2004's campaign screed that created a character named John Kerry out of whole cloth, a character who bore no resemblance whatsoever to the very fine public servant who was the Democratic Party's nominee for President. Now he's back for more, with a new character named Barack Obama. This new character bears no more resemblance to the current Democratic nominee than Corsi's Kerry did to the real man.
What does it say about this pathetic man's confidence in his obviously weak candidates-George II in 2004 and John McCain today-that he attacks his opponents so viciously and inaccurately? He clearly knows that, just like Bush the last two times, McCain can't win on the truth. So he rehashes all of the gooper crap that has been circulated in emails, whispered in the back rows of "Christian" churches and passed from the lips of such exemplars of virtue as Limbaugh, Hannity and O'Reilly. At least they have peddled this trash when they haven't been busy defending themselves against drug charges (Limbaugh), sexual harassment suits (O'Reilly) and being just plain stupid (Hannity).
Obama is a Moslem! Only he's not. He attended a Moslem school! Only he didn't. He's a tool of the terrorists! Yeah, the Senate is full of them. His (white) mother married an African, and then a whatever-it-is-that-comes-from-Indonesia, wherever that is! Yeah, so?
The only reason the Corsis of the world haven't put Obama in the pilot's seat of one of the hijacked planes on 9-11 is that he's still alive. And they'll probably find a way to do that even yet.
Lying about your opponent is a long-standing, time-honored tradition in American politics. But this has gotten ridiculous.
And it shows just how scared the right-wing is!
Ooh! The big, scawy bwack man giving the itty-bitty wepubwican boys nightmawes?
Hey, you jackasses! Remember those Ten Commandments you're so fond of? Thou shalt not bear false witness. It made the Top Ten list, so check into it!

Revival Preaching

So a colleague had one of his members call a month ago with the request/order that I had to preach their church's revival. At the time it was a while off. I said I'd be glad to do it.
Then time passed, and Sunday night will bring the beginning service. And I'm not so glad I'll be doing it.
I mean no disrespect to my colleague, his revival chairperson, or their congregation. I just puzzle over the revival's place in our world.
I don't even know how these worship series came to be named such a thing. Words have to matter to someone in my line of work, or at least, they should matter greatly. And one does not require much familiarity with language to understand that "revival" refers to a rekindling or renewing of life.
In many communities, or lack of communities, people would come from great distances, gather for days or weeks at a time, eat, dance, worship and whatever else all together. Those pioneering souls could go some time without a member of the clergy passing by, or a neighbor, or any face that was outside the family. So the camp meetings/revivals were special times spiritually, but also socially.
And they became times when conversions were expected to happen. New life was to be sought, often by hard-headed children of the families involved, but also by community drunks and other sorts of reprobates.
But these days, the only people who show up for revival services are the same ones who show up for Sunday evening worship: the ones who could be leading the thing themselves. OK, there is the "we all need..." dogma to acknowledge, but the folks I will be facing Sunday night through Wednesday night will be the finest, most devoted participants in their church.
What in the world am I going to "Re-" with them? And why would I aim for evangelism with this group that is already so firmly entrenched in the faith?
You who know me well know that I don't do well in the realm of "Since this is what's always expected and done, we'll just ignore reality and keep the fantasy in place." Not my best thing! And I won't do it in the coming week, either.
So, we will lay aside the fantasy of wailers from the Mourners' Bench wending their way to the altar, convicted by the overwhelmingly powerful preaching brought to bear by the visiting Evangelist. We will, indeed, shoot for revival. I continue to struggle with aspects of my own faith, and will, as always, work out of that. It seems to resonate.
I believe that I have been more changed by the revivals that I have preached than anyone who was parked in the pews. That's no insult to those faithful people. It's probably a confession about where I've stood on my journey, compared to where others have been positioned on theirs. But it is one of those odd Southern phenomena, to be paid something to show up at someone else's church, fill someone else's pulpit and work on my own faith.
I do hope that someone else will get a little work done next week, too.