Truth, Lies, and the American Culture of Screw You

It is an axiom in life that those in public service lie. Not just misspeak or misremember, but with cold calculation pronounce falsehoods intended to deceive the listener, usually for the advancement of some personal agenda. We have become so inured to the practice that we almost forgive it, expect it, and do not permit our blood to boil at the practicioners.

I, for one, have had enough. First, not all involved in politics lie. There are some among us who make a strenuous effort to conduct business in public view, to be straightforward about intentions and goals, and behave ethically. I am deeply tired of being lumped in with those who not only fall short of this, but who intentionally engage in dishonesty in pursuit of their ends. It is disgusting and should be rooted out whenever it is found and the malfeasers cast out of any role that involves the public trust.

I'm not even talking about the national level at this point, where its gotten so difficult to parse the truth from the lies that most give up the effort and simply resort to rooting for a uniform. I like Barack Obama, so I tend to assume he is telling the truth and his opponents always lie. Of course that's not the case, but it's so much easier. Delete the emails from right-wingers with the latest crazy accusation and read only that which supports my conclusions. Or, if you are on the other side, watch FOX and listen to Limbaugh because it feels good, like listening to the local broadcast of a Red Sox game, where the home team is always right.

No, I am more concerned with the local and state level, where the lies are just as invidious and more dangerous. This is where people fail to recuse themselves from votes where they have a financial or personal interest, where political careerism and advancement is more important than the public's business. I am sick to death of people lying to my face, of back-alley dealings and no governing philosophy beyond the pursuit of power and an adherence to ideology.

This is why we get what we get for public servants. Who in their right mind would spend time and energy sifting through the bullshit when we could be with our families? As a culture we encourage this, by the way. We celebrate deviousness and conniving. Television is rife with programs where "contestants" have to screw each other over to win cash and prizes, and we wonder why young people perceive ruthlessness as a positive trait? Double-dealing as something to brag about in a job interview? "They're all bums," we claim, so that's what we get.

I've had enough. Over the last thirty years we've successfully winnowed out of public life almost all of those who might have held the public interest above their own. There are no more giants anymore, and no more leadership. So now, with the economy in crisis, we get this foolishness in Washington, junior-high school crap about hurt feelings, and no men or women big enough to pull it together. New Hampshire's budget is is similar straits, but we can't even talk about revenue enhancements because it might mean an extra dime out of some pockets for the greater good. And while I've made it a point to avoid discussing local issues here, we have our challenges there as well.

My advice? I have none. I've tried to do my part and all it's come to is grief. So screw it. Make as much money as you can and take care of your family. Everything else is bad television.

A Heartbeat Away

Yeah, this is who I want a heartbeat away from making Supreme Court appointments. Someone who can't even name a Supreme Court case other than Roe.

Death of "The Bradley Effect"

If the McCain campaign is counting on "The Bradley Effect" to erode Obama's growing polling lead come voting day, there is ample evidence to suggest that is a red herring. A paper by Dan Hopkins at Harvard is a great read on how underperformance by blacks as compared to their pre-vote polling has largely vanished.

The numbers just keep getting better for Obama/Biden. North Carolina is now a very possible Democratic pickup in November along with Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia. Nevada, Ohio, Florida, even Missouri and Indiana are looking within striking distance. Increasingly, the question is whether this will be a close win or a blowout for the Obama forces. Still, with five weeks to go there is always the chance of an "October Surprise" that could resuscitate McCain's chances: an invasion of Iran, for instance, or a major terrorist attack in Europe or on US soil. A capture of bin Laden, anyone?

Small Town Politics as Usual?

THIS is supposedly OK for "small town politics"? When Mayor of Wasilla, GOP Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin pushed agendas and projects that benefitted her and/or her family personally. Favorable zoning variances to allow for home sale, tax breaks for the industries her husband and father-in-law had interests in. Free gifts and services from local merchants.

I am unsurprised, as the weeks since her selection have been an unending stream of stories of her heavy-handed, bull-in-china-shop style as Mayor and Governor. The unethical behavior does not shock me. What bothers me is this:

James Svara, professor of public affairs at Arizona State University and author of "The Ethics Primer for Public Administrators in Government and Nonprofit Organizations," suggested such behavior is part of small-town politics.

I like to think I have some small knowledge of local municipal government. I will say only this: if any colleague of mine ever behaved this way, they would be run out of town on a rail. Not nominated for the second-highest office in the land. I don't know if Professor Svara thinks this is 1920 or 1960, bribes and kickbacks and backscratching have no place in today's local governance. To blithely accept them as endemic is a disservice to all of the aldermen, selectmen, councilmen, and others, male and female, who serve their communities well without resorting to this cheap mafioso behavior. To make that claim as an apologia for Sarah Palin is just wrong.

2012?

One of the first conversations after any SuperBowl or World Series is...can they repeat? Our society is in such a hurry that we never savor moments but rather always look ahead to the next big thing. I guarantee that no matter who wins the election November 4, the November 5 headline news will be who the contenders are for the challengers in 2012. In this Atwater/Rove era of the perpetual campaign, there is no honeymoon for the elected official. Even before being sworn in, they are targeted for destruction by the opposition. For evidence, see Carol-Shea Porter in the First Congressional District in NH. Mere moments after her election in the 2006 Democratic landslide midterms, the half-truth character assasinations began in the local papers and John Stephens and Jeb Bradley were elbowing for 2008 position.

That being said, some speculation. If McCain wins, which is seeming increasingly unlikely as Obama widens his electoral lead, there's little doubt who would headline the Democratic field. Hillary Clinton's "I Told You So" Express would crank into high gear before Veterans' Day. Other Democratic challengers might include Mark Warner of Virginia, given a successful Senate run this year. Evan Bayh, this generations Hamletesque Mario Cuomo, might finally be able to raise enough money to compete. Other women? Claire McCaskill of MO and Kathleen Sebelius lack the charisma, and would be boxed out of the Emily's List/NARAL/NOW bucks by the Hillary behemoth. Joe Biden would be tainted by the 2008 choke, as would Obama, even if the loss is amazingly narrow. Obviously John Edwards has "slept" his way out of any future contention, and I don't see any more enthusiasm for Bill Richardson or Chris Dodd than we saw this cycle.

The far more likely scenario is an Obama/Biden win, which puts the onus on the Republicans to find a standard bearer for 2008. Given that their current nominee makes every effort to repudiate the party that he supposedly leads, some soul-searching may be in order for the GOP. Obviously McCain is on his last shot, and Sarah Palin has demonstrated her abject lack of qualifications for national office. The obvious choice would be Mitt Romney, which would please the Wall Street Republicans, though who knows what the next four years might bring in the nation's economic condition. Giuliani and Thompson are clearly not serious contenders, and from the 2008 crop only Huckabee could mount a meaningful run. His candidacy would depend on the continued vitality of the fundamentalist evangelical wing of the GOP, which the way things are going, might be their last bastion of strength. There are of course some young risers in the party, including Bobby Jindal of LA and Tim Pawlenty of MN, either of whom I am sure the GOP elites would much rather see debating Joe Biden this week.

The other scenario of interest is a McCain victory that results in a single term, either through his untimely death or advanced age by 2012. That would likely result in a Hillary-Romney clash that would make this election look like a school play.

Red Sox All-Time Team

And now the Red Sox team from their all-time history.

C: Carlton Fisk (backup Jason Varitek)
1B: Jimmie Foxx (Mo Vaughn)
2B: Bobby Doerr (Jerry Remy)
3B: Wade Boggs (Rico Petrocelli)
SS: Nomar Garciaparra (Johnny Pesky)
LF: Ted Williams (Carl Yastrzemski)
CF: Tris Speaker (Fred Lynn)
RF: Dwight Evans (Harry Hooper)
DH: David Ortiz (Manny Ramirez)

SP: Pedro Martinez
SP: Roger Clemens
SP: Cy Young
SP: Babe Ruth
SP: Lefty Grove
RP: Jonathan Papelbon
RP: Dick Radatz

MGR: Terry Francona

New England Patriots rankings (1985-present)

Why 1985-present? Because while I have some awareness of the 1960-1985 history, I have no basis for comparison when it comes to John Hannah, Sam Cunningham, Gino Cappelletti and the rest. This ranking is, then, confined to the players I actually watched.

Offense:

QB: Tom Brady (backup Drew Bledsoe)

RB: Curtis Martin (Corey Dillon)

FB: Sam Gash (Mosi Tatupu)

3DRB: Kevin Faulk (Keith Byars)

WR: Troy Brown (Irving Fryar)

WR: Stanley Morgan (Randy Moss)

TE: Ben Coates (Marv Cook)

LT: Bruce Armstrong (Matt Light)

LG: Logan Mankins (Joe Andruzzi)

C: Dan Koppen (Dave Wohlabaugh)

RG: Todd Rucci (Ron Wooten)

RT: Max Lane (Ed Ellis)

Defense:

LE: Willie McGinest (Ty Warren)

DT: Vince Wilfork (Chad Eaton)

RE: Richard Seymour (Garin Veris)

LOLB: Mike Vrabel (Chris Slade)

LILB: Tedy Bruschi (Vincent Brown)

RILB: Ted Johnson (Todd Collins)

ROLB: Andre Tippett (Ed Williams)

RCB: Ty Law (Raymond Clayborn)

LCB: Maurice Hurst (Ronnie Lippett)

SS: Lawyer Milloy (Don Blackmon)

FS: Rodney Harrison (Larry Whigham)

Special Teams:

K: Adam Vinatieri (Matt Bahr)

P: Tom Tupa (Rich Camarillo)

The Myth of the Common Man and the Truth of Elitism

There are a couple of maddening phrases that arise in every election cycle, buzzwords that lodge in the zeitgeist and get repeated ad nauseam by the punditocracy. In 2008, there are two concepts/phrases that have arisen that are related and equally fallacious. They are not new, but are old saws freshly framed in this go-round.

You will hear about "taking power back for the people." The flip side, and equally as dangerous, is the commentary about the evils of the "elite".

Let's explore this a little deeper. When these statements are casually tossed around, what we're meant to think is "Washington is bad, politicians are bad, they're different from us. If only they were regular people instead of the elites, we'd be fine. After all, the founders wanted government by regular people, not a governing class."

BZZZZT! Wrong, but thanks for playing anyway. First of all, the founders were elites. Oh, we romantically refer to the southern members of the Continental Congress of 1776 and the Constitutional Convention of 1987 as "farmers". Yeah, right. You think there guys were pulling weeds from the rows of corn in floppy hats? These were landed aristocracy, owning huge plantations of cotton, tobacco, and other cash crops tended by slave labor. Equally, the northern representatives were attorneys or wealthy merchants, often times transporting and selling the slaves working those southern plantations. What they were able to get together around is that they could all make more money if the Brits wouldn't tax them so much. It was like a Mafia cell deciding they could do better breaking away from the parent family and going into business for themselves.

So they weren't "common men". They were elites. Not just from a financial or status perspective, but intellectually. These men were educated. The Declaration and the Constitution didn't spring from the native American wisdom hard-earned from moose hunting and hardscrabble frontier life, or the beauty of the New England town meeting. Jefferson, Madison, and others were steeped in (gasp!) European political theory, from Hobbes and Locke to Rousseau and Voltaire, Smith and Diderot. These documents were the product of highly academic minds, likely the best of their generation, expert in political science and philosophy.

If a similar group today produced similar documents using similar source material, they'd be flamed on FOX and talk radio as liberal elitists, pointy-headed academic liberals out of touch with the common man. And yet, their work continues to be the be the seminal work in history on fashioning a working, dynamic republic. By they way, these founders had no intention of seeing their life's work subsequently shredded by the uneducated masses. The checks and balances of the Constitution were as much to protect the government from the people as the other way around. The celebrated compromise of the bicameral legisltaure was to satisfy large and small states, but it also allowed the mob a place to express the political momentum of the moment while being restricted by the aristocratic Senate, chosen by the state legislatures.

In any event, to decry "elites" while extolling the "common man" is to defy the basic precepts of our secular gospels, and to miss to point. It's important to have elites. When I go to the doctor I want the best one, the one who's built a house in the Hamptons working on the disease I suffer from. I don't want the mechanic who we pulled yesterday from the farm and handed a wrench working on myy car. Give me trained experts, thanks, people who have read widely and been tested by the campaign trail and the legislative chamber.

Some will read the above paragraph and claim it clearly endorses John McCain as opposed to Barack Obama. Nonsense. Yes, McCain's been in government longer. But look at their academic backgrounds, their training. More importantly to me is how their respective experiences have informed their political philosophies. McCain's lifetime of officeholding have led him to faulty conclusions, while Obama's relatively brief life in the public sphere have led him to the correct conclusions. This matters; experience has a qualitative as well as quantitative measure.

The next time somebody calls you elite, say thanks. And the next time somebody claims this politician or the other is "like everybody else" run in the other direction. Think about your neighbor or your Uncle Bill. Do you want them with the nuclear codes in a briefcase?

Obama in Control

Generally I found much of the debate to be a draw, with little bloodletting by either side. I liked that it was issue-dominated, and we have Jim Lehrer to thank for this. I cringe to think of what we have to look forward to when the network newsies get their chance in the forthcoming debates. I am sure you can count on more personality-driven or scandal-oriented questioning from the chattering classes. Conservatives always try to do away with PBS, but tonight should be in their trophy case of why they are still important (Sesame Street aside!).
When it came to the intangibles, Obama was a clear winner. Cool, calm, in control, the demeanor of a commander in chief. Presidential. McCain seemed irritated and rarely if ever made eye contact with his young whippersnapper (uppity?) opponent. The contrast, in age and physical presence, posture, diction, was vast. This may help explain why so many snap polls indicate a clear victory for Obama even though no serious punches were landed by either side.
At the end of the day, McCain, running from behind, needed Obama to falter, and he certainly didn't.

"Serious People Trying to do Serious Work"

Chris Dodd nails it, just nails it at 1:35 of this Youtube clip. The House and Senate, both parties, together with the executive branch (Sec Paulson and Pres. Bush) spending days to stitch together a sucky compromise everybody will hate but many agree is needed. I disagree, I think the bailout sucks if it doesn't directly bill the wealthiest Americans who have profited from the years of plunder. However, government was functioning until John McCain apparently stuck his addled skull into the middle of it, trying vainly to score political points somewhere, like a drowning man casting about for any flotsam to cling to.

It seems Sen. McCain charged into negotiations that were nearly finished and proposed something way off-base, a moronic plan including more deregulation of financial markets (wha--?) and tax breaks for large corporations! Holy hell! Were McCain and Phil Gramm on an all-day drinking binge and wrote this thing on a cocktail napkin? This is one of the major problems with the conservative (nearly dead) movement...when in doubt, do more of what got you into trouble. Did John McCain's doctor prescribe lots of sun when his skin cancer was diagnosed? Wall Street, drunk on your dime for years, finally gets shut off at their favorite bar, and John McCain wants to buy them some drinks. Oh, no, wait...he wants US to buy them some drinks.

Electoral Gains

Consider this. Not only is Obama leading in all significant national polls, with a widening spread (more than 3% according to RCP), but the electoral college is beginning to swing decisively.

According to state-by-state polling, Obama looks strong to hold onto all of the Kerry 2004 states. In other words, all of John Kerry's 252 EVs look safe for Obama/Biden. Not only that, according to RCP's compilations of polling, there are few Kerry 2004 states in which Obama is faring more poorly than Kerry did 4 years ago. Of states that might conceivably be in play, only in Minnesota (from +3.5% in 2004 to +2.8% in 2008 polling) and Washington state (from +8.2% in 2004 to +6.0% in 2008 polling).

Let's look at states that voted Bush in 2004 that are now considered safe Obama 2008:

Iowa, 7 EV, from Bush +0.7% to Obama +9.4%
Colorado, 9 EV, from Bush +4.7% to Obama +5.4%
New Mexico, 5 EV, from Bush +0.7% to Obama +6.0%

Just with those 21 additional votes, Obama gets to 273 and the win.

But what others are within striking distance according to current polling? How about:

Ohio, 20 EV, from Bush +2.1% to McCain +1.6%
Florida, 27 EV, from Bush +5.0% to McCain +2.1%
Nevada, 5 EV, from Bush Bush + 2.6% to McCain + 1.7%
Virginia, 13 EV, from Bush +8.2% to McCain +0.8%
Indiana, 11 EV, from Bush +20.7% to McCain +2.3%
North Carolina, 15 EV, from Bush 12.4% to McCain + 4.2%
Missouri, 11 EV, from Bush 7.2% to McCain +4.7%

I think NC and MO are a stretch, but some of the shifts in the above states are staggering. An 18% swing in Indiana? More than 7% in VA? These are national dividends from the Dean 50-state strategy and the collapse of the Bush years, and the payoff will be both in the Presidential race as well as downticket, where Democrats are challenging in states and districts where they have not done so for years. It is this downticket success, as well as the shifts by states like Iowa, Colorado, Virginia and Indiana that give 2008 a chance to be a realigning election like 1932 or 1860.

Rufus T. Firefly

Does anybody else feel like they're living in Freedonia these days? Country bankrupt, at war over false pretenses, and a leader whose primary qualification is the ability to turn the English language into something farcical.

And of course, the Bush administration summed up neatly:

Rufus T. Firefly: You're a brave man. Go and break through the lines. And remember, while you're out there risking your life and limb through shot and shell, we'll be in be in here thinking what a sucker you are.

For those not conversant with the Marx Brothers and their early comedic genius, I recommend Duck Soup as your first glance, though Horsefeathers is a close second for me. A nod to my college roommate, Joel Mellin, who insisted I watch the Marx Brothers. Of course, I got him back when I insisted he watch 1776.

"We just wanted to pick a really big number"

More foolishness from the most (you pick: corrupt/incompetent) administration since Harding's. The following from Forbes.com:

In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.
"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number."

Oh. I'll try that one with the Exeter taxpayers this budget season.

http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/09/23/bailout-paulson-congress-biz-beltway-cx_jz_bw_0923bailout.html

Country Last: McCain Blackmails America

So John McCain won't debate? Why? As we learned with the Palin pick, this campaign has thrown haymakers before when they were on the ropes. It worked, at least as a short-term fix for sliding numbers after Obama's Invesco Field speech. So what's the reasoning here? Some have speculated that debate prep has gone so horrifically that they'd rather skip it than look bad. I disagree. The man can stand there for two hours and spout RNC platitudes with the best of them; he demonstrated that in St. Paul. Others have suggested that the real goal is to push this off into next week, postponing the Palin-Biden indefinitely. This is plausible, as clearly they have no desire for Palin to emerge from her hothouse, especially against a seasoned brawler like Biden.The real reason, I suspect, is more craven and ugly. This is a man in the Bush mold, fully beholden to the upper-level (elite?) investor class. These guys have mugged America for energy interests for decades, and even fought a war for corporate profiteering. This debate manuever is blackmail. PAY THE $700 BILLION OR I TAKE MY BALL AND GO HOME!!! Obama should laugh, make the point that walking and chewing gum simultaneously are executive requirements, and refuse to be blackmailed. On our behalf.

Vinick v. Santos: Life Imitates Art

Speaking of the West Wing, has anybody else noticed how eerily prescient the final season's Presidential election was of the wreal-life 2008 version?The GOP, without much primary struggle, nominates an aging western Senator with a maverick reputation and cross-party appeal (Vinick/McCain) over a fundamentalist preacher (Butler/Huckabee). To shore up questionable social conservative credentials, the nominee selects an attractive young right-wing, fundamantalist, evangelical small-state governor (Sullivan WV/Palin AK) as running mate.

The Democratic primary season is far more fractious. The presumptive nominee has most institutional support but limited enthusiasm (Russell/Clinton). Enter an insurgent young ethnic-minority candidate with limited experience from a large state (Santos TX/Obama IL), a pretty wife and two young children. On the periphery is a once-powerful southern senator with lurking sex problems (Hoynes/Edwards). The race is neck and neck, and eventually the insurgent secures the nomination, then selects a longtime Washington insider to join his ticket (McGarry/Biden).We can only hope that the results of the general election, a close Democratic victory, are equally as congruent.

Ranking Classic 80's Comedies

Because it so desperately needed to be done, the definitive Top Ten classic comedy films of the 1980s:

Honorable mentions: Monty Python's Meaning of Life (not a true comedy), The Blues Brothers (a musical).

10. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
Stylistically more of a 90's movie (the 80's ended culturally in 1988), and yes, I've grown a mangina, this is an achingly funny movie and has classic performances from Meg Ryan and Bruno Kirby. Billy Crystal's best-ever effort with a nod to City Slickers. "Give it to me Sheldon."

9. Spies Like Us (1985)
Chevy Chase and Dan Ackroyd are perfect here. "There's a thousand dollars in there, or...maybe there isn't." You'd be surprised at how well this holds up.

8. National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
You could lump the franchise in here, as there are quality moments from each installment. But this is the granddaddy, including some of Chevy Chase's finest moments. Not to mention a skinnydipping Christie Brinkley at the peak of her powers.

7. Spaceballs (1987)
Could have put Airplane! here, but this is more quotably classic. From ludicrous speed to combing the desert, you know all the lines. And my Schwartz is bigger than yours, by the way.

6. Back to School (1986)
An underappreciated Rodney Dangerfield. This movie, or at least his performance, is funnier now than it was 20 years ago. Thornton Mellon!

5. Fletch (1985)
6'5", 6'9" with the afro. Chevy Chase at his smarmy best.

4. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Every male my age knows about the Phoebe Cates bikini scene. But this sucker is full of classics and budding young stars. "What are you people, on dope?"

3. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Yes, we all wanted Sloan, but who knew Ferris' sister could dance like that? A great Charlie Sheen cameo and Matthew Broderick at his best combine for a hall-of-fame flick.

2. Caddyshack (1980)
This might be more at home with the late-70's era, alongside Animal House, but it is in many ways the prototype for the 80's comedy. From Ty Webb to Judge Smails, the roster of characters is better-known than almost any other movie. And the lines just keep coming. "I was born to rub you...". Would be #1 except for Noonan and his annoying girlfriend.

1. Ghostbusters (1984)
The Rose Bowl, the General Motors, the gold standard. Career performances from Bill Murray and Dan Ackroyd, flawless writing, effects that are aging but still hold up, and a unique story. You quote this movie all the time without even realizing it.

That's it - chime in and disagree, tell me what I missed and what doesn't belong! Coming soon, more Top Ten rankings to debate and shred.

Race in the Race

It's been widely reported that poor whites are having difficulty swallowing the Obama candidacy, and that race is a major factor.

http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-obama-race

Naturally the media is having a field day. If it has boobs or a dead body or reeks of some sort of -ism, it leads the news. Never mind that the way the campaign or candidates are covered feeds into that perception. "Exit polls show whites don't trust Obama!" "Exit polls show Latinos hate blacks!" And similar drivel.

I have been reading David Pietrusza's book 1960: LBJvs.JFKvs.Nixon. It's a good read, if a bit fluffy. There's lots of fun about the 1960 LA Democratic convention and primary season. Anyway, I saw an LBJ quote that rings true here: "If you can convince the lowest white man that he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you picking his pocket. Give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." He was referring to the southern disdain for civil rights enforcement, and how it endangered the ticket's chances in Dixie. It is sad to note that almost 50 years later the same Republicans are practicing the same politics of racial division and selling it in lieu of any real ideas. Racial bias, reinforced by the Reagan myths of welfare queens and Bush Sr.'s Willie Horton ad blitz, distracts poor whites from the corporate hand in their pocket. So much so that even when a black man runs for President on a platform sure to improve their economic condition, they prefer to rest on tired stereotypes and the racial fears sold by conservatives for generations.

Joe Biden - The Ninja Candidate

No one seems to pay any attention to Joe Biden. He prowls the rust belt like a character from an earlier era, like from the pages of All the King's Men or Citizen Kane, drawing crowds bigger than the Celebrity from Nowhere and talking about things that matter. Jobs. Manufacturing. Trade. Kitchen table economics, the things that will decide this pivotal election. Yet, the mass media seem to have agreed to ignore him unless they decide something he says is a "gaffe". That's all that would fit their prearranged narrative for Joe. "We called him gaffe-prone, so unless we call something he says a gaffe, it'll be a gaffe on our part." I can imagine that sentence, fully formed, in Wolf Blitzer's furry little head.

Joe Biden is a huge asset to the Obama campaign, not as some eminence grise content to ride in the sidecar, but one who has more often than not had the right of it. Yeah, I thought he was a little too angry in the primaries, but that may be why Obama picked him. Somebody should be angry, because working-class Americans are (or should be), and Obama himself can't seem too pissed or all of a sudden he's Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, the scary black man come to shoot us or at the very least drink our Sprite.

So let the media ignore Biden. Let them shower attention on the upjumped Naif of the North and her Abe Simpsoneque Henry Higgins. Biden will keep on winning votes of white, Catholic, male Americans who are tired of being told they won't vote Democratic because somebody ate some arugula.

Patriot Lames

I'll admit that was as bad as I've seen the modern, Brady-era Patriots play. It was like watching Tommy Hodson and Leonard Russell struggle through a 2-win season back in the early 90's. No run defense, no appreciable pass blocking, and no real fire. I'm hoping this was just a flat effort and not any kind of harbinger of what the 2008 season will look like.

I'll admit too that I was wishing for an earlier look at O'Connell. Cassel plays too much like Bad Bledsoe, statuesque in the pocket and mortally offended when pressured. I imagine Belichek and the staff simply aren't convinced the young man has the chops to play at this level yet.

A bright spot? Mayo is all over the field, and if Hobbs brought his kick-return energy to the defensive backfield we might have a shot at stopping someone.

Back for more

I've come back to give this thing another shot. I really didn't give it much effort the last time around, but we'll see what happens this time.