Smythe's World

Maybe it's just Jupiter aligning with Mars, or maybe things change when we're on the eve of an election, but Kausfiles has actually been rather interesting of late. I guess with a down-to-the-wire horse race, he has something else to write about other than welfare "reform", trivial corrections of Krugman columns, and the satanic conspiracy that is organized labor. He doesn't get a permalink here, as he still links to hate sites, but I had to give credit where due.

Now its Howard Kurtz' turn to take a dump on the memory of the late Senator Wellstone.

Isn't it time to start lobbying the Pulitzer Committee to honor Bob Somerby? This morning, he eviscerates the mythology created by the far right concerning the Wellstone Memorial.

Is there anything more idiotic than GOP demands for "equal time" over the Wellstone memorial. First, the Fairness Doctrine was ditched by Reagan back in the '80's; there's no such thing as "equal time" anymore. Second, if you want equal time, you have to earn it, and unless there's a prominent Republican politicians out there who wants to take one for the team, you ain't gonna get it.

I was disappointed, but not surprised, that Gov. Ventura had a hissy fit and walked out in the middle of the service. Anything that would reenergize the D-FL will likely hurt his own future prospects, as well as the prospects of his political party in this election. Hence, his announcement that he will appoint a successor from that party before the election.

As far as the notion that it was somehow inappropriate to urge attendees to carry on the battle of Paul Wellstone at a memorial, all I can say is, GROW UP !! This wasn't a funeral, where jokes, laughter and cheering would have been inappropriate. This was a memorial, a remembrance of a passionate, political animal, who lived and breathed causes, both when he was a professor and later as a Senator. The service reflected his life. If there aren't people laughing, cheering and crying at your memorial, than you have lived a very sad life indeed.

Cause I ain't got a dog-proof ass: Well, maybe "Michael Kelly" is trying to be a serious, albeit lame, pundit, and not the brilliant leftist satirist that I heretofore thought. Tonight's topic is on the now-dated topic of "chickenhawks", and their disproportionate leadership behind the President's imperial designs in Iraq. He too disapproves of the term, but for reasons different than what I expounded on earlier in the month. Raising the canard that people who use the term believe that only veterans should have the right to decide when a country goes to war, he manages to dis Lincoln and FDR (both of whom would have been too old to fight against Mexico and Germany, respectively, and both Lincoln and Roosevelt did perform some legitimate reservist duties in their lifetime), while at the same time arguing that it was the Founding Fathers' desire that life-or-death decisions always be made by a clique of middle-aged men who went out of their way to avoid military service in their youth. The thing that makes Kelly, and other neo-conservatives, so disagreeable, is the manner in which they demean all those who disagree as twisted and evil, without having to make any effort to empathize with the positions others might take (ie., like Sen. Wellstone). Kelly would have been much more comfortable living in another century, say, the sixteenth century, where he could have worked with the Inquisition, and followed a calling where he could pull the tongues out of "pacifists" and "heretics" for their own salvation.

Just a reminder, the other great show from last season, 24, debuts its second season premiere tonight. Don't expect Nina to return until mid-season. Don't expect Teri to return, period. She's dead.

As if the Angels haven't already given SoCal a sugar-high to last til X-mas, the three-time champion Lakers start their season tonight at Staples against San Antonio. On paper, there is little reason to believe that a quatro is likely; Shaq will be out for awhile recovering from off-season toe surgery, and the team did nothing in the off-season to improve. Sactown is younger, and should have won it all last season. There are at least three other teams in the Western Conference that can give the Lakers a run, and if LA starts off badly, they might find themselves in a hole that it can't dig itself out of come playoff time. Boston surged well at the end of last season, and might be the team to beat from the Eastern Conference.

But I thought all that last year, and the Lakers still won.

No doubt you've heard that the media "got it wrong" when it supposedly was speculating the last couple of weeks that the Maryland Sniper was an "angry white male". Well, someone actually took the time to do a NEXIS search, and discovered that, in fact, almost no one made that assertion, either in TV or print. That's right, it's an urban legend, invented by people who cum everytime they get to blame a crime on an African American or a Muslim.

The Frog and the Poodle: Remember when the Times of London was viewed as the world's most prestigious newspaper? When it stood apart from the rest of the tabloid rags in Europe? Well, Murdoch bought it a while back, and did to the Times what he's done to the LA Dodgers and the NY Post: vulgarized and cheapened what had once been classy institutions. This editorial, which compares the war against the villains of 9/11 with "a search for the perfect cosmetic surgery", all the while attacking French President Jacques Chirac for opposing an invasion of Iraq (which it compares with research for a cancer cure), must represent a nadir in punditry [registration required]. It's nice that the voice of the British establishment views our efforts to capture the Al Qaeda murderers as being equivalent to Princess Di's search for the ideal hair coloring, or the right nose job for Posh Spice. Don't worry, Brits: we'll make Baghdad safe for B.P. !!

Lord, and I thought James Traficant had a lame rug....

It appears that there is at least one loose end still remaining from the sniper investigation.

As one would expect, Lileks has an interesting and moving take on the death of Paul Wellstone.

GAME 7: The most remarkable World Series of my lifetime. Well, maybe 1975 was better, but then again, Cincy and Boston don't have a natural rivalry. The Angels went eight innings with rookie pitchers, two of whom weren't even on the roster at the All-Star Break, and captured their first World Championship, 4-1. In typical Angel fashion, they went ahead not with power but through a barrage of hits, the key one being a three-run double to right by Garrett Anderson, a player ripped earlier in the week by an LA Times columnist for being a lazy choker. As the Giants' bullpen shut the Angels down thereafter, the decision by Dusty Baker to start Livan Hernandez over Kirk Rueter will be scrutinized in the off-season; Hernandez had a solid post-season rep going back to 1997, when he won the MVP award for the Fall Classic, but he had a mediocre season, and didn't belong out on the mound last night. In reality, the Giants seemed broken by their collapse in Game 6.

Having said that, Barry Bonds deserved the MVP, even in defeat. Glaus had a great series, but in reality, Bones was the dominant figure in every game. His mammoth home run in Game 1 put the Giants ahead to stay, and his numbers thereafter were astonishing: .700 OBP, batting average of .471, 4 home runs, 8 runs scored, 6 RBI's. The latter number is a bit deceptive, since the Angels put him on base almost every time there were runners on. The whole key to stopping the Giants was making sure there was no one on base when Bones was up; that way, the staff could challenge him, knowing that if he went deep, the damage would be minimal. The alternative strategy was to walk Bonds if a base was open, even in the first inning; that tactic had less success, as Benito Santiago had a pair of big hits in Games 4 and 5. The point being, every move Mike Scioscia made in the Series was to minimize the harm that one player could impose on his team, and he still hit .471 !! The fact of the matter is, Troy Glaus won the Series MVP because the Angels won (duh!!).

Poor Darren Baker !!!

GAME 6: If I live to be a thousand (or more likely, 55), I will never again see a team like the Anaheim Angels. Through 6 1/2 innings, a feeling of unqualified gloom settled at Joxer's: Ross Ortiz was cutting a gem; Bones had hit his fourth of the series, this time off of the heretofore fearless and invincible K-Rod; and the Angels were down, 5-0. After that, pure orgasma !! The Angels get a couple of men on, knock out Ortiz. Scott Spiezio, a career journeyman, hits a wind-aided three-run homer to get the Angels back in--the bar gets loud again. In the eighth, Darren Erstad crushes a Tim Worrell fastball, and the Batterychucks are starting to feel the pinch of having used their top middle relievers in the Game 5 blow-out. Tim Salmon singles. Garrett Anderson, ripped by the local fishwrap for not coming through in the clutch in the World Series (by Bill Platchke, natch; Anderson had a glorious September, while his beloved Shawn Green disappeared during the Dodgers tank-job, yet that hack somehow always manages to rip the African American), bloops a single into right that Bones mishandles, putting the tying and go-ahead runs into scoring position. Baker panics for the second straight game, bringing his closer, Robb Nenn, with no one out in the eighth. Troy Glaus, again, comes through, blasting the ball into the right-center field gap, giving the Angels the lead. And in the ninth, Percy completely out-classes the top of the Giants order. Allah Akbar !!!

Tonight is a bit more problematic. The Halos start John Lackey on three days rest. Lackey pitched well for five innings in Game 4, but he is a rookie. Livan Hernandez goes for the Giants on four days rest, and he was unbeaten in post-season play until his poor outing in Game 3. The Angels have definitely got the momentum back, but in this series, that and $4.25 gets you a cappuccino at Starbucks. The Giants will have to get the Angels on the ropes early and knock them out, or they will probably have to settle for watching another team from California celebrate a world championship. GO ANGELS !! RALLY MONKEY IS ALL-POWERFUL AND KIND !!!

The wise and merciful Eschaton advises those of us who view the loss of Paul Wellstone as the national tragedy that it is to buy the late Senator's book, Conscience of a Liberal, an idea with which I wholeheartedly concur. The title, interestingly enough, refers to a classic tome written by the late Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, a conservative whose integrity and honesty were much admired by Wellstone. In fact, the reaction of those on the right to the Senator's passing has been heartfelt and deeply emotional: several GOP Senators were in tears when they discussed his death, and just in this little corner of the media known as the blogosphere, a number of my more conservative brethren have been especially eloquent in their memorials. What strikes me about most of these elegies is how personal they are; rather than paying innocuous tribute to some politico's "integrity" or to legislation he passed, these tributes all seem to be about the man himself, about ways in which he touched them, even if they disagreed with him. In short, conservatives seem to have viewed Wellstone with much of the same respect and appreciation that liberals felt towards Goldwater, a feeling which speaks to the underlying humanity within each of us.

This is what they call a "vote of confidence". Mike Scioscia, facing an elimination game tonight, has pulled Ramon Ortiz from his seventh-game starter role, and intends to use the Dominican-born pitcher tonight in relief. Obviously, Scioscia does not believe Kevin Appier is going to last long, a not unreasonable prediction based on the way Frisco lit him up in Game 2. If the Angels somehow outscore the Batterychucks tonight, John Lackey, a rookie who was called up in July, will start Game 7.

Here's a very touching elegy about Senator Wellstone written by, of all people, Peggy Noonan. The same tone that I tend to find so annoying when she writes about issues and politics really works in this context (via Cursor)

Of particular importance for me was Senator Wellstone's yeoman work in delaying the passage of the odious "Bankruptcy Reform Act" currently before Congress. In 1998, he was the only dissenting vote in the Senate on the measure, which was subsequently vetoed by then-President Clinton. With a Republican President poised to sign the more recent version, his task became more difficult, but he rose to the occasion grandly, as this speech shows. Preserving the people's right to a fresh start in our bankruptcy courts ought to one of his greatest legacies.

Although the temptation is great to view the tragic death of Paul Wellstone this morning through the prism of how it affects control of the Senate, my immediate feeling is that his loss is one too terrible for liberals to bear. Even if he had lost his reelection bid, he still would have been one of the more inspiring public figures of his generation, a man who never backed away from taking an unpopular stand. He will be dearly missed.

GAME 5: Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. CRAP. Crap. Crap.

My first visit to a dentist in over a decade (sorry, my ancestors were English) confirmed the bad news I had been trying to avoid, that I have several cavities, and that the metal fillings on my other cavities would have to come out. Also, that my lower left pre-molar would need to have a crown, but I kinda knew that already, since it broke in half during the sixth inning of Game 1 Saturday, and had been slicing a hole in my tongue ever since. My compliments to the dentist, who actually got his education and training in the old Soviet Union, for the very professional manner in which he examined me, after he confirmed that I had insurance.

Excellent synopsis in TAPPED of recent GOP efforts to intimidate black and Native American voters by fabricating "voter fraud" controversies. In light of what happened in Florida two years ago, when a concentrated effort to remove black voters from the rolls on the bogus (and factually incorrect) ground that they were "felons", the media would do well if it considered the source the next time these allegations arise.

GAME 4: Giants get lucky, scoring three in the fifth set up by an infield hit and a fair/foul/fair bunt single, and the winner in the eighth following a passed ball, to beat the Angels, 4-3. The Angels' offense stunk after the 3rd inning; this time it was the Giants that kept blowing scoring chances.

Having been burned before on making predictions on teams I care about, I will avoid doing so here, but this pundit feels that the winner tonight better be the Angels, or they're cooked. I can see his point, but I would also add that Baker may have made a questionable move starting Reuter in Game 4 rather than tonight, and not Jason Schmidt. Under that format, Schmidt could have come back on three days rest and pitch in Game 7, if necessary. Instead, after tonight, the Giants lose their ace for the series, and will have to pitch Hernandez instead; a big factor, if you saw the Angels tee up on him in Game 3 (the other move would be to bring Reuter back on three days rest).

Next to follow the Anna Nicole route: Angeline Jolie ?!?

Freed from the burdens of having to attend any campaign fundraisers this morning, The Governor and Mrs. Bush paid a visit to daughter Noelle this morning, the first time they had seen her since she was sentenced to jail last week. Although they couldn't be troubled to attend her sentencing hearing last week, they did show they had their priorities straight when they permitted a campaign contributor and family friend to visit her over the weekend.

GAME 3: Again, Anaheim has no problem solving the Giants' starting pitcher, and breezes to a 10-4 victory that wasn't even as close as that score would indicate, as the Angels left 15 runners on base. Ramon Ortiz looked sluggish in the opening inning, ran out of gas in the fifth (when he allowed homers to Aurillia and, natch, Bones), but still got the win, and the Angel middle relievers faced only one batter over the minimum in four innings. K-Rod and Troy both got the night off, and should be rested for Game 4, which features two rookie starters. Long live our benevolent ruler, Rally Monkey !!

One of the first things I do every morning is link to "The Note", ABC's on-line posting of political gossip, news, and data. Its filled with snarky asides, and is very much the fave with bloggers who specialize in snarky asides. However, one annoying habit it has is to play up the Beltway spin about the political drift of the country; much of the time, it reads like a Karl Rove blastfax. In the past couple of weeks, it has hyped "scandals" involving Democratic Senate candidates in Iowa and South Dakota, long after those stories were discredited or minimized. The typical "Note" will usually begin with how Iraq is completely dominating the news cycle, so therefore the American people aren't going to be concerned with the rotten economy, and will elect a GOP Senate.

Nevertheless, I still like reading it, since it does give good gossip, but this morning it did something that I absolutely despise in journalism. It granted anonymity to a source for no good reason. In case you don't bounce obsessively around the internet, or don't subscribe to the Washington Post, the big political story today concerned an article published this morning by Post political writer Dana Milbank, which basically stated that the President is a liar. Not in those words, of course; this is the new, right-friendly, Don Graham Post, but still, saying the Boy Prince has a "malleable" interpretation of the truth is awfully close to the hated "C-word". The story itself wasn't extraordinary for being a scoop, but for the fact that it was published at all.

The reaction by "The Note" was as follows: it quoted a "senior Administration official" who blasted Milbank and took exception to the claim that three of the examples used in the article were dishonest. So why, may you ask, was the source not quoted by name? After all, whoever said it wasn't going to lose his job for defending the President. It wasn't under oath. He didn't defame Dana Milbank. I doubt his life will be in jeopardy.

As I see it, there were two reasons why the "senior Administration official" would be granted anonymity. One, it's Karl Rove himself, and printing the attack under Rove's name would confirm what most of us already believe, that "The Note" is basically his spinsheet (not to mention the fact that Rove does not have the best reputation for veracity either). Or two, their anonymous source is someone with so little credibility that printing his name would diminish the credibility of the assertion. It's kind of like when a sportswriter refers to what "informed sources" say about a player from Georgetown or UCLA around draft time: his informed source could be Jerry West, but more likely it's Donald Sterling, and giving the source anonymity allows him to publish whatever he wants without losing credibility in the eyes of his reader. After awhile, of course, the reader begins to mistrust much of what he reads.

Well, in any event, it's a pet peeve of mine. I just wish the news media would show its cards a little more often. After all, they are in the truth business.

I don't think the Supreme Court decision to permit the California Coastal Commission to compel public rights-of-way through private beachfront property will have much effect. The Commission is one of the most corrupt entities in American politics, having much in common with traffic ticket collection in Brooklyn or construction permit approval in Chicago. The governor (or the Speaker of the Assembly) typically appoint their flunkies and hacks, who are expected to defend the interests of private beach owners on the coast. With this governor, it will be a warm day in Frisco before he allows the Coastal Commission to pave a bike path through David Geffen's back yard, even if it does belong to the public.

Either the life of an econ prof is really sheltered, or the estimable Paul Krugman laid an egg with this morning's column. It may well be true that SEC lawyers have to type their own briefs, and do their own copying. In the real world, most lawyers (and almost all good lawyers) do the same, including the lawyers at the megafirms that represent the stock cheats the SEC lawyers are prosecuting. That has become routine in the era of the personal computer and the internet; no one dictates anything to a secretary anymore, unless you want to find yourself replaced/passed over for a promotion by an attorney willing to do the work herself. Secretaries still do much of the routine clerical work, such as filling out court forms, assemblying and copying multiple pleadings, debriefing clients, etc., but the average attorney can expect to spend most of her day in front of a monitor (unless she's at a depo, in which case she will spend the afternoon in front of a laptop). It's not simply a matter of cost or convenience; an attorney needs to type everything important simply to maintain a high level of quality for his work. One of the most important classes I took in high school, and the only one that had any real-world applications to the practice of law, was a one-semester typing class in the 10th grade (btw, the rest of Krugman's column is dead on; in matters of policy, Bush is the most dishonest President since Nixon).

Some random thoughts about American foreign policy: if the reason we're not picking a fight with North Korea, but might go to war with Iraq, is that North Korea claims to have nukes, whereas Iraq doesn't, which we only know because the North Koreans themselves admit having nukes, not from any intel the CIA might have, what's to stop Iraq from claiming that it's now a nuclear power; wouldn't that mean we'd have to give peace a chance with the Iraqis as well. Also, if the principal reason we aren't fighting North Korea is that they are a threat and could fight back, whereas Iraq isn't now a threat, but could be in the future, aren't we simply wasting resources fighting Iraq that could better be used against North Korea, a country that actually has weapons of mass destruction (of course, North Korea is not an oil exporter). Just asking....

GAME 2: Outstanding !!! Angels take BP off the vaunted Giants' pitching staff, K-Rod shuts down all nine batters he faces on only 27 pitches, and Percy, after giving up the obligatory home run to Bones, gets the save in one of the highest scoring (and longest) games in World Series history, 11-10. For all the talk about how this was a must-win for the Angels, the pitching match-up last night was the one that probably most favored the Giants, with their best starter going up against the least effective starter in the playoffs for Anaheim. So far, the Angels have showed no fear pitching to Bonds, who has not backed down himself. Of interest now is the Game 4 starter; with Lackey pitching two innings last night, will the Angels come back with him on Wednesday, or do they pitch Washburn on three days rest?

GAME 1: Tough loss, with the Angels blowing numerous chances and losing 4-3. Washburn didn't back off from pitching to Bones, for all the good that did. I seem to remember that one of the neat things about the first World Series game at each city would always feature a complete introduction of the team rosters, much like the All-Star Game, rather than just the starting line-up. It gave the fans an opportunity to cheer the team as a whole, from stars to utility players. I don't know if its one of the things they have given up for TV, but they don't do that anymore. Also, no TV coverage of the first ball: I guess if you're not a President, Fox won't show that ritual--so sorry, Mrs. Autry. I'm hoping that the pattern of the first two series holds, and the Angels can recover from a Game 1 loss, and give SoCal another title (Way to go, Galaxy. Viva, Carlos Ruiz)

Tonight the first ever World Series game in Orange County will be played, and for some of the longest-suffering fans in the sport, its not a moment too soon. This article is a heartfelt tribute to those much-maligned folks, written by an Angels fanatic who now lives in Hollywood, and is a must-read for anyone who may be tempted to think of Southern Californians as "laid back" Hollywood types.

The other team to ward off contraction, the Montreal Expos, will probably stay put another season. Unlike the majority of baseball pundits who seem to demand that the franchise move out of Quebec to Washington D.C., I have no great interest in seeing that team move. From the late-70's on through to the mid-90's, the Expos were one of the top draws in baseball, and the city of Montreal has a long history in the sport (Jackie Robinson's career in white baseball started there). Inept ownership, combined with the '94 strike killing off the chances of the Expos' best-ever team, have caused the recent slump. If the team were to move, I would favor San Juan over D.C. (which, win or lose, never supported the Senators) or Portland, Oregon (small media market--likely replay of the Tampa fiasco).

It's times like this when I'm proud to be p.c. Earlier this week, I noted that a prominent warblogger had made a derogatory remark about Jews and the handicapped, either in jest, in irony, or in just plain bigotry, about Charles Krauthammer. Although I disagree with just about everything Mr. Krauthammer has written (he seems to belong to that strain of neo-conservatism that always seems to blame African-Americans first), I would rather get fitted for testicle piercings than refer to him, or anyone else, as a "crippled Jewboy". In any event, I figure that was what "fiskings" are all about, except this time aimed at someone who wasn't Arab, black or leftist, and I decided to get on with my life.

Which was probably a big mistake, since I immediately got e-mail from people who pointed out that the article in question is mostly a defense of Krauthammer, and that therefore calling him a "crippled Jewboy" was ok. Apparently, the belief is that if you actually like and admire someone, you have open season to fire racial or ethnic slurs at them, in much the same way Quentin Tarentino might use the word "nigger" a couple hundred times in one of his scripts. Sorry, I'm not buying. Besides the fact that the slur is only tangentially related to the rest of the piece (in the comments section, fellow blogger Max Sawicky points out that Krauthammer's religion is not otherwise mentioned in the underlying article, and his handicap mentioned only indirectly), there just something about his choice of words that's just so, so snobbish: the writer reminding you of the differentness of the target, even a target he happens to like, while he himself is "normal".

What a relief it must be to Kim Jong-il that his country isn't sitting on a pool of oil.

Giving in to temptation, I finally motivated myself to watch a few minutes of The Bachelor tonight. I have yet to encounter a more debasing, repugnant example of entertainment. Every woman who appears on that show is gorgeous and pathetic; the whole show reads like a wet dream of Steven Bing's. Eventually, some network is going to air a series that consists of nothing more than Kobe Bryant vacationing on an island with at least one groupie from every NBA city. And of course, people will watch.

What might make this a more interesting Fall Classic than most is the fact that the Angels and Giants have played each other with some degree of frequency in the recent past: besides interleague play, the teams see each other a ton in the Cactus League, and probably have played nearly as many games over the last five years as either team has played against New York. I'm going to be working quite a bit the next couple of days on a World Seriesblog that I'm starting, which, like Condredge's Acolytes, will be open to whoever has an interest and wants to post (and, I might add, is able to keep his posts clean; there are children who read these things). It goes up tomorrow, so if anyone is interested, contact me at your leisure, so long as you do so before the Series ends. In addition, I may driving up to enemy territory (ie. Frisco) on Friday to complete my sister's moving arrangements, or I may not; everything is in flux, depending on whether I can make arrangements.

Man, is the Material Girl so over or what? Even Camille Paglia doesn't think she's hip anymore....

I find nothing even remotely amusing about the sad story of Noelle Bush, who has to confront her addictions in the bright spotlight generated by someone else's notoriety. Bloggers of the left who find schadenfreude in her misfortune, or in the sorority girl hijinx of the First Twins, are no different than the warbloggers who moan with pleasure everytime a member of the Islamic faith sets off a bomb.

I was hoping that "Michael Kelly" would have a follow-up to his hilarious attack a few weeks ago on Al Gore, in which he explained how terrorists who were supposedly dead somehow managed to kill a couple hundred people in Bali over the weekend. Incredibly, this week he decides to focus instead this week on that notorious phony and appeaser, Jimmy Carter, and how that former President stole W's Nobel. You know, every time I post a link to "Michael Kelly" people either take him seriously or ask me if he's kidding. IT'S A JOKE (oops, I think I just norah'd Eschaton).

Reading a London newspaper article on baseball is much like listening to a report on same on NPR: it's just a little too high-brow for my taste. To their credit, though, the English do have enough good taste to employ journalists who at least know something about the sport, which is something to respect and appreciate the next time someone like Mitch Albom, Jim Rome or Allan Barra decide to "opine" about soccer, or some other sport that those vulgar foreigners dig.

One of the more intriguing policies that studios follow when they have a really bad movie on their hands is to make it disappear, which is detailed in this article. Just from the description, I would love to be able to see D-Tox before it goes straight to video. Just wondering: since almost everything Hollywood makes nowadays is crap, and you still have to spend over twenty bucks on tickets, popcorn, soft drinks and parking to see it, and since even the best movies are demonstrably worse than the best TV (admit it, what's better, The Sopranos or A Beautiful Mind? The Shield or Gladiator? Alias, or any James Bond movie since The Spy Who Loved Me?), why even go to a theatre?

I may have defamed the late heavyweight champion Sonny Liston last week, in juxtaposing a quote of his with the behavior of the "chickenhawks" in Washington. In particular, even "the Bear" wouldn't have done anything so cowardly as to question the patriotism of a Senator who lost several limbs in Vietnam, particularly when the attacker sat out 'Nam with a "knee injury".

"Comments" are back, at least on a trial basis, for those of you who care. Direct links to posts can be done via the square to left of "comments". If you have any problems accessing this site, then by all means e-mail me with your gripes, and I'll put an end to all that.

Screw the East Coast parasites: all the World Series games this year should start at 7:35 p.m. local time, when night baseball is supposed to be played. I sincerely doubt that Jerrod Washburn or Troy Percival is going to give Bones an intentional pass with the bases empty. Bring on Frisco. BTW, it's neither the I-5 series (since the 5 continues north around 65 miles from the City) nor the 101 series(as that highway ends 50 miles north of Anaheim). C'mon, we have a battle between two California cities that are as politically and culturally different as any two cities in the country: we have to be able to come up with something better than a road to call the upcoming battle.

Check out this classic version of "fisking", in which a conservative commentator refers to Charles Krauthammer as a "crippled Jewboy". Of course, we all know the real anti-Semites are on the left....

The horrific bombing this past weekend in Bali, and the recent reemergence of Osama Bin-Laden should be a sobering reminder to those who thought that the "war on terrorism" was nearing an end, and that Al Qaeda was finished. Unfortunately, the irrelevant sideshow concerning Saddam Hussein and his alleged "weapons of mass destruction" (memo to Bush: a bomb that can kill a couple of hundred people at once is a "weapon of mass destruction", even if seeking out such perpetrators doesn't benefit the campaigns of John Thune or Saxby Chambliss) has returned the nation to its pre-9/11 mindset, when our adversaries were countries and dictators-of-the-month, not moral concepts.

My late granddad always had a soft spot for the Angels: even though they played out in Anaheim for almost forty years, he always referred to them as "L.A.", since that was the old PCL team out here. He's been gone now for a couple of years, but wherever he is, I think tonight he's got a s***-eating grin, and just waiting for "Frisco" or whoever to win the NLCS and get their asses kicked next week.

In a little less than four hours, the Anaheim Angels will attempt to win their first-ever A.L. pennant, and exorcise some of the ghosts that have haunted this franchise since it was created back in December, 1960. Yesterday was the game I thought was most likely going to favor the Twins, with their best pitcher going against an Angel pitcher who wasn't even in the rotation until September, and it turned out to be the most one-sided of the series, although that appearance was deceiving: the Angels didn't score until the seventh, and broke the game open with five runs in the eighth off an unimpressive Minnesota bullpen. As this article reminds us, yesterday was the 16th anniversary of the Fifth Game, the darkest day, at least on the field, in the history of Southern California sports. Attempting to end that jinx will be Kevin Appier, going against first game winner Joe Mays. Go Angels !! Avenge Donnie Moore !! Long live our wise and beneficent ruler the Rally Monkey !!!

Finally, some truth, to overwhelm the pro-Twins propaganda coming from the national media (compliments of Counterspin).

Tonight my sisters and mom took me out for a belated birthday dinner at Tiramisu in Sherman Oaks, and I didn't feel guilty in the slightest for peeking at the TV over the bar to catch Game 3. Washburn either pitched splendidly, or the Twins suck against lefties, but in any event, the Angels bookended homers by Anderson and Glaus to win 2-1, and now lead the ALCS by the same margin. Rodriguez got the decision, and now has three post-season victories, giving him three victories for his career. The Twins now have a do-or-die game, with Angel nemesis Brad Radke on the hill for Minnesota. Normally, I would be inclined to think that if the Twins don't prevail tomorrow, the series is all but over, but then again, I felt the same way in '86, after Clemons couldn't win Game 4 in the ALCS against Sutton. I'm at Joxer's tomorrow for the duration, with a morning pit-stop at Over-Under to see if the Michigan Sorority Goddess shows up to watch the battle with Penn State, and a possible trip to Venice late night to see the Samurai Homeboys at O'Brien's.

Beltway pundits who believe that The Bell Curve is a brilliant analytical study of race and intelligence probably should not be the first to call a political ad, "homophobic", especially when it isn't.

How would you like to get a home loan from this guy?

The critics are raving about Madonna's latest film, which solidifies her well-deserved reputation as the female Ben Affleck. A few months ago, when I held the Miss Overrated 2002 beauty pageant / scholarship contest, I inexplicably omitted the 40-something Material Girl, whom I always had the impression was someone that people who were not sexually attracted to women thought was what a sexually attractive woman looked like. As much as I like her singing, I've always thought she looked rather scuzzy and vulgar, having more in common with Ann Coulter or the ladies of the W.W.E.

Leave it to the Euros to ruin W.'s day: this morning it was announced that former President, and notorious traitor and appeasor Jimmy Carter, has won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2002.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION AND REVIEW:

U.S. Senate Vote on Iraq Resolution
[*up for reelection in 2002]

Democrats Yes
Baucus, Mont.*; Bayh, Ind.; Biden, Del.; Breaux, La.; Cantwell, Wash.; Carnahan, Mo.*; Carper, Del.; Cleland, Ga.*; Clinton, N.Y.; Daschle, S.D.; Dodd, Conn.; Dorgan, N.D.; Edwards, N.C.; Feinstein, Calif.; Harkin, Iowa*; Hollings, S.C.; Johnson, S.D.*; Kerry, Mass.; Kohl, Wis.; Landrieu, La.*; Lieberman, Conn.; Lincoln, Ark.; Miller, Ga.; Nelson, Fla.; Nelson, Neb.; Reid, Nev.; Rockefeller, W.Va.; Schumer, N.Y.; Torricelli, N.J.

Democrats No
Akaka, Hawaii; Bingaman, N.M.; Boxer, Calif; Byrd, W.Va.; Conrad, N.D.; Corzine, N.J.; Dayton, Minn.; Durbin, Ill.*; Feingold, Wis; Graham, Fla.; Inouye, Hawaii; Kennedy, Mass.; Leahy, Vt.; Levin, Mich.*; Mikulski, Md.; Murray, Wash.; Reed, R.I.*; Sarbanes, Md.; Stabenow, Mich.; Wellstone, Minn.*; Wyden, Ore.

Republicans Yes
Allard, Colo.*; Allen, Va.; Bennett, Utah; Bond, Mo.; Brownback, Kan.; Bunning, Ky.; Burns, Mont.; Campbell, Colo.; Cochran, Miss.; Collins, Maine*; Craig, Idaho; Crapo, Idaho; DeWine, Ohio; Domenici, N.M.*; Ensign, Nev.; Enzi, Wyo.; Fitzgerald, Ill.; Frist, Tenn.; Gramm, Texas; Grassley, Iowa; Gregg, N.H.; Hagel, Neb.; Hatch, Utah; Helms, N.C.; Hutchinson, Ark.*; Hutchison, Texas; Inhofe, Okla.*; Kyl, Ariz.; Lott, Miss.; Lugar, Ind.; McCain, Ariz.; McConnell, Ky.*; Murkowski, Alaska; Nickles, Okla.; Roberts, Kan.; Santorum, Pa.; Sessions, Ala.*; Shelby, Ala.; Smith, N.H.; Smith, Ore.*; Snowe, Maine; Specter, Pa.; Stevens, Alaska; Thomas, Wyo.; Thompson, Tenn.; Thurmond, S.C.; Voinovich, Ohio; Warner, Va.*

Republicans No
Chafee, R.I.;

Others No
Jeffords, Vt.

After Daschle's cave-in on authorizing an invasion of Iraq, can there be any reasonable argument for maintaining the current Democratic control of the U.S. Senate? Daschle not only betrayed those who opposed giving this President such a broad mandate, based as it was on lies and contempt for the citizen, but he also undercut the raison d'etre for a Democratic Senate: slowing down judicial nominations. No true liberal can countenance the slaughter of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians simply to prevent the appointment of conservatives to the appellate courts. A good rule of thumb should be, if your Senator or Representative votes against authorization, vote for him; if he votes for authorization, and he is a Democrat up for reelection, don't vote at all in that race, and let the chips fall where they may.

Read this column, and try to decide whether it's a savage parody of right-wing cant, or just right-wing cant (via Eschaton)

Is it just me, or has Ramon Ortiz aged, like, four years since last season? In any event, he was in trouble almost every inning, allowed ten hits in less than six innings, but sacked up and got the Angels even in the series. With Game 4 likely in the bag for the Twins (Radke, who owns Anaheim, pitches against Lackey), Washburn has to come through Friday to keep the Angels afloat.

Terrific op-ed by Senator Robert Byrd (W.Va) in opposition to the pending adventure in Iraq--the part at the end about the President seeking to "unleash the dogs of war" is especially good, although if this were one of his patented floor speechs, he would use the actual line from Julius Caesar. (via TalkLeft).

The great thing about being a sports fan is that it provides one of the few healthy avenues in life to express the emotion of hatred (or at least, a healthier avenue than the more traditional choices of religion, nationalism, or politics). Which is to say, the ALCS promises to be a real frustrating event for baseball fans, since neither the Angels or Twins generate much antipathy. I had the sense last night that the fans in Minnesota were almost going through the motions, much like the Angel starting line-up did against Joe Mays for eight innings.

Is there anything more lame than a blogger/pundit who cites Dick Morris as a source? My pal Vinnie has a phrase he likes to pull out from time to time that's appropriate here: patheticism.

Ever wanted to be the subject of a "Michael Kelly" or Andrew Sullivan column? Is your greatest aspiration in life to be "fisked"? Do you dream one day of seeing your name slandered by Ann Coulter? Then run, don't walk, to R.Robot, and type in your name !!

ChickenHawk Coalition, Part II: It has drawn much comment that a disproportionate number of supporters for the proposed adventure in Iraq, from the President, the Vice President, et al, were men who somehow managed to avoid military service when God and Country called during the Vietnam War. The term "chicken hawks" has been used to describe such characters, replacing the less evocative phrase, "War Wimps", that was so popular during the Reagan Era. I believe that such a term should be used sparingly, not only because the term refers, in a completely different context, to pedophilia. People change their views as they grow older and gather more experience, for reasons not always connected to whether they fear being sent to die in an ugly war. In addition, the current conflicts in the Middle East differ from Vietnam, just as Vietnam differed from WWII. One should not be forever wedded to a dovish worldview just because one opposed the Vietnam War.

However, it is also largely true that the hawks in the Bush Administration avoided service in Vietnam not because they were too busy organizing for the SDS, as this list makes clear. There is reason to be skeptical of armchair generals who spent the late-60's at grad school or in some cushy Air National Guard position (or, in the case of W., not spending time at same), or nursing some convenient weight problem. The reasoning of the Perle/Wolfowitz/Cheney clique as to why they never served their country in battle reminds me of what the late, great Sonny Liston supposedly said in 1963 when asked why he wasn't joining his then arch-rival, Floyd Patterson, in Birmingham to march against segregation: "Cause I ain't got no dog-proof ass".

I know its counterintuitive, but if recent polls are correct, the longer the President pushes his Iraq obsession, and the more Congress dithers, the better it is for...Democrats. As long as this issue, which the American people seem to feel is an irrelevancy at a time when their 401k's are tanking, is on the front-burner, the more likely it is Bush will appear to be like his dad, an effete snob who doesn't give a rat's ass about the economy. I doubt that W. and his chickenhawk coalition will benefit from the continued focus on this issue.

The US Supreme Court has refused to intervene in the NJ Senate race, thereby upholding last week's state supreme court decision authorizing the replacement of Frank Lautenberg as the Democratic nominee. Damn, damn, damn; now that the Scalia Five has failed to act, we're going to have to use something else to get our base out on November 5.

I couldn't let my birthday pass without mentioning that both The Sopranos and Alias were much, much better last night than they were the week before. As to the former, any show not directed by "Christopher" is going to be an improvement. Regarding the latter, last night's has to have been one of the darkest episodes in the history of television; the Sydmom seems to be more evil now, after she has been confined, than she was before.

One of the articles of faith in the last month has been that the continued debate over Iraq favors the Republicans, and that the principled opposition to performing a Pearl Harbor on Baghdad will prevent the Democrats from retaking the House and/or gaining seats in the Senate. Since this position does not appear to be reflected in recent polling (national preference polls show the Democrats leading the GOP, while polls from individual races do not reflect any Republican surge), articles like this focus on the opinions of certain Democratic insiders to show a decline in the party's fortunes. One guideline for the reader to follow: if said article uses Zell Miller or Evan Bayh as sources, the prognosis contained within is bullshit.

Happy Birthday to Me. I just spent six hours or so of my life on the stretch of highway known as Interstate-5, which traverses about a thousand miles, from the Canadian to the Mexican borders. It's probably the most vital artery on the West Coast, connecting the cities of Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego without a significant curve or detour along the stretch. Of interest to me and other Californians is the fact that the I-5 is the fastest way to drive between the Valley and the Bay Area.

The big joke, of course, is that here, in the most populous state in the Union, there is almost nothing on the I-5 from LA to San Francisco. No cities of any significant population; a couple small towns that you barely notice; lots of off-ramps that seem to have no other point but to connect drivers to fast-food restaurants and truck stops. Until you reach the Grapevine (shorthand for the 70 mile path the I-5 takes through the mountains in north LA County), it's all flat, arid and dull. Unlike the five hour drive to Vegas, which passes through a couple moderate-sized towns and a desert that can be breathtaking at times, the LA to Frisco trip pretty much forces you to have driving companions and/or a multiple-CD player to break the monotony.

At least until you get to the Harris Ranch. Better yet, try passing through the Harris Ranch after reading the muckraking classic, Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser. The Ranch is about halfway to your destination, and it's easily the most interesting thing you sense during the drive. Just east of the highway, you suddenly encounter a vista consisting of hundreds of thousands of cattle in a relatively small area, and almost no grass or vegetation to speak of. The aroma of cow waste permeates the highway for about a mile before it becomes safe to open up the air conditioning vents in your car. It is an ungodly advertisement for a vegetarian diet, particularly after you realize that much of what you smell is going to wind up in your Whopper.

But there is almost no traffic to speak of, or at least, no congestion; this weekend, there were trucks everywhere, mainly because of the dockworkers' lockout. Truckdrivers tend to treat the I-5 as their own private autobahn, and other drivers follow suit. My mother drove the whole way, and she usually hates driving on the freeway, but she had no problem averaging 75 mph for the trip.

But I suppose I shouldn't complain, because I survived; one more day closer to the big 4-Oh.

Today, I will spend the 39th anniversary of my birth on the I-5 travelling between the Bay Area and the Valley, hoping to mediate any quarrels between my sister and mom. The two-year old daughter of my hosts has just given me a chocolate-and-vanilla muffin, disguised as a birthday cake, which I have graciously offered back to her as a good will gesture (I already warned her that if she misbehaved one more time, I was going to leave). Up here, they are going to have two playoff games and a 49'er-Ram tussle at Candlestick; it's been some time since there was anything like that down in LA.

One of my hosts told me that for someone who's so funny in person, it's a shame that my site is so deadly serious, which is her way of saying that I'm dull. Such criticism weighs heavy on my mind.

From 6-14 to the ALCS--WHO'S NEXT!?!

I'm in SF this weekend, and damn it if I didn't miss one of the most remarkeable come-from-behind wins for the Angels since, well, the 4th game of the 1986 playoffs. I only hope the outcome this time is a bit different. The editor of Rittenhouse Review has passed along this link to a worthwhile cause: the McBride campaign to restore Florida to the civilized world, a philanthropic endeavor I wholeheartedly endorse.

Perhaps the nicest thing about the Angels' run this year has been that this is the first playoff team in franchise history to be made up substantially of home-grown players. The accidental champions of 1979 and 1986 were mainly free agents and trade acquisitions who would be gone from the team in a year or two; the best previous team, the 1982 team that blew a two-game lead to the Brewers, (remembered in this article) had only one player on the roster who had been exclusively with the team. Kids can follow and grow attached to this year's team, the way I grew up and followed the Dodgers in the '70's; players like Salmon, Glaus, Erstad, Anderson, Percival, et al., are career Angels, and give this team a distinct identity.

In any event, I'm going to be watching the next two games up in Frisco; my sister is moving, and I'm going to hang out with my college friends for a few days. In the meantime, my posts will be infrequent....

It would almost be worth losing the NJ Senate seat to have the Supreme Court intervene again on behalf of its employers, the Republican Party. If anything would mobilize the base nationwide, it would be another 5-4 decision to curtail democracy.

While many of his devoted readers might think this morning's Paul Krugman column does a pretty classy job retracting an earlier unsubstantiated charge against Army Secretary Thomas White, it is unlikely to satiate the baying right, which demands the full ritual of seppuku beforehand.

Kudos to Mr. Brad Bolkcom for winning the month of September in the Joxer's Home Run Pool, and thereby sweeping every month of the season (with one tie). Wherever you are, I hope you kicking back with a pitcher, cheering on the Angels and plotting next year's draft. In the meantime, I have a hockey pool to worry about.

One of the more interesting things I've noticed in the Blog O'Sphere debate on the controversy in the New Jersey Senate race is that almost all of my compatriots on the liberal end of the spectrum have generally taken a position in favor of giving the people of that state a choice in the election, therefore enabling Frank Lautenberg's name to be placed on the ballot, while our learned adversaries on the right, although quite pleased that Sen. Torricelli has withdrawn from the race, are more skeptical that the law permits such a last-second substitution. Having recalled the opposite stances taken by both sides when the candidate arguing for a more "expansive" interpretation of state election law was Kathleen Harris, I hadn't thought that those positions necessarily fit into any position along the left-right spectrum, but there could be a nuance I haven't picked up yet.

If Tom Daschle had a backbone (yeah, right), the CIA's refusal to brief Congress on its contingencies for Iraq would be grounds for halting any debate on a Congressional resolution. An Administration that has already followed a policy of deceit in pushing for war should not be allowed to get away with covering up possible divisions within the executive branch; unfortunately, Senate Democrats seem to be much more concerned with shoring up their position in New Jersey than with stopping an unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation.

Tonight, all of Scioscia's late moves worked, as the Angels came from behind to win only the second road playoff game in franchise history. Thrilling game, with the Yankees loading the bases in the eighth and putting the tying run on with one out in the ninth; ground fouls in both innings, just to the right of first base, enabled the Angels to hang on. I wasn't surprised that the Angels stole one in the Bronx...but I will be shocked if they win both in Anaheim.

Round 1 is over. The NJ Supreme Court just upheld the Democratic Party's attempt to replace Torricelli's name on the ballot with Frank Lautenberg. The decision will probably be appealed to the federal courts, but the longer the GOP fights this, the more they are going to seem like they are scared of competition. Ultimately, they will have to accept the fact that they are not going to be able to run against Torricelli anymore.

There was a very brief period, sometime in the 8th inning last night, when I honestly thought the Angels might be able to stretch this thing to four games...Scioscia needed to throw the bomb to beat the Yanks, and instead he went into a prevent defense. The next time I see Donnelly pitch, it better be in B.P. or during a ten-run blowout.

Did Syd's mom actually shoot her with a real bullet? Is Khasinau really dead? Wouldn't Will Tippin's friends and co-workers have noticed something in the past three years if he had really been on heroin? Lord, what a weird episode that was...and what was the deal with that operating room?

Beginning tonight, and for the next four weeks, PBS airs a documentary on the history of Jim Crow at 10 p.m. that is well worth seeing. Admittedly, though, I'm going to have to tape it, due to something else starting tonight.

[ED.-My bad. It seems the local PBS affiliate will not be showing it til Thursday]