Have a Super Tuesday

I hope you go vote. Participating in a representative democracy is, as Charlie Spoonhour might say, a heck of a deal.

The most important issue facing our country, I believe, is confronting the radical Islamic threat. I think most everything else pales in comparison. I am convinced that some of my friends and family may disagree with me on this. Other Christians probably take a different view. I can live with that and, I trust, those others would extend the same courtesy to me.

I believe either of the two leading Republicans would be a better choice on this issue than either of the two Democrats. My opinion.

If you are thinking Republican, don't vote for Huckabee - he cannot win, period. Confine your thinking to McCain or Romney. On this most important issue, McCain is fine, as is Romney. How to distinguish them?

How about these items: Supreme court nominations, illegal immigration, taxes and economic issues. When I consider these I come down on Romney's side. I think he is a better choice. I would encourage anyone to do the same.

Briefly, on the Democrats, my two cents. If I were voting in their primary, I'd go with the one I know instead of the unknown one. Hillary we know. Obama's a wildcard. He calls it "Change" because it sounds better than "You Don't Know Me From Adam and I'm Not Going To Divulge Anything!"

That's what I think.

A Chill In The Air

Today was one of those interesting weather days that you get from time to time. A nice warm start early and then the bottom drops out. Here's how it played out:

(temp) (wind) (humidity)
8:00 am 59 F SSW 19-26 75%
11:00 64 WSW26-45 30%
11:25 57 W 25-44 32%
12:25 32 NW 29-36 71%
I looked at the temp map right now (12:30) and the front is bisecting Missouri from the northeast to the southwest and has, obviously, past us here in Springfield - it’s 18 in Kansas City and 70 in St. Louis. The temps continued to fall throughout the afternoon, though less rapidly, until:
3:00 21 WNW23-44 56%

As Col. Henry Blake once said, "Better bring the brass monkey in tonight!"

Also chilling, McCain wins Florida.

Here's what I wrote this afternoon before we knew tonight's results:
Paul Mirengoff of Powerline in his post “Simplified But Not Simple” expresses what many who call themselves conservative have been going through for many weeks now. I won’t recap it here, but please read it, you vast numbers of Central Standard readers, ahem.

I do have this, though. I don’t understand the assumption that only McCain can ward off the liberals come the fall. It has been in vogue, since about 1992, for party nominees to tack to the middle in an effort to win the presidency. This has resulted in Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Bush. Clinton had the blowout and Bush barely survived using this model. I’m not convinced that trying to be moderate is a winner for Republicans. I know the media like McCain in the primary, but I don’t think that’ll carry over to the general. The things that agitate us about McCain now will be on display for all to see come the fall. I actually think McCain would wind up looking frail, bitter, old and out of touch in the general election, especially against Obama. McCain-Obama would be the rout that Mirengoff, and the rest of us, fear. Is this why the NY Times endorses McCain?

I liked Fred best and Rudy’s a fighter, but it’s going to boil down to Romney, I believe. I think Romney is the engine that could. There has been quite a lot written about why he’s not the guy and he can’t win and the media doesn’t like him, etc, etc. All he does is win and pick up delegates. Oh, by the way, he leads in delegates on the Republican side. (And he’s supposed to drop out?)

Watch his speech about faith if you haven’t seen it. It’s simply one of the better speeches I’ve heard in a long time. Romney looks inevitable to me and I don’t just mean for the Republican nomination. I think he’ll be underestimated all the way to the White House.

Just like a recent governor of Texas.

I still believe what I wrote earlier. Obviously the delegate math has changed but still, I think Romney will pull it out and I think McCain is brittle. When you think McCain '08, you should think Dole '96.

Now here's some opinion from a couple of guys who actually know a thing or two - Ruffini - Hewitt.

News, Weather and Sports

I have never seen a feeding frenzy before, but there is one going on now in Democratic politics – the Clintons are being eaten alive by the party they have led for 14 years. Stories here and here.



I think, though, one probably shouldn't write Billary off just yet, but I would have never forseen the rejection they are experiencing just now. I wonder if some of the machinations of Dem politics are merely being carried to the logical conclusions. Politics on the left is, among other things, characterized by segmenting the population into women, black, Latino, handicapped, gay, poor, uninsured, etc. groups. They've catered to and enabled these groups and now, lo and behold, a woman is running against a black man for the nomination. Look out!

It also occurred to me that Bill Clinton is being thrown overboard, along with his wife, by vocal and influential members of the Democratic Party. It’s as if party leaders are saying, “Thanks for the ride, Bubba, we got what we wanted, see you later!” It’s almost like they’ve been using poor Bill all this time, like, oh, I don’t know, maybe like a philandering executive would use a young intern.



What do I do with these invitations to join groups? I got one today for LinkedIn. What is that? I never heard of it. Reminds me of a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon where Calvin gets the chain letter and he freaks out over the imagined doom headed his way if he breaks the chain.



So do I have to answer the invitation? Is it rude not to? I barely know this person. Will I have bad luck? Does so and so really consider me such a valued asset that they will be hurt if I decline? Is it dumb to accept?

So it just sits in my inbox, unopened, unresponded to.



Happy Birthday to Legos! Fifty years old today, that makes us roughly the same age. Yep, me and Legos, sturdy, delightful, colorful!


Number one son came in the room and asked about the weather for later in the week. "Mom said one day would be nice." I'm not sure when that day is, but it's not tomorrow. Temps dropping all day from a start in the 50s. Nasty.


Finally, a man (besides myself) who understands the place of football in the world. Translation: the game is very caught up with the notion of its own self-importance. Good article.

Mr. Seahawk

Mr. Seahawk is flying the coop. This article has the story.

When I was a kid we had a store in Branson called Cardin's Insurance Salvage. Cardin's was (and is) a store (warehouse) filled with salvaged items. A truck might wreck and insurance covered the whole thing. The usable goods went to Cardin's. A store might have a fire or a flood and the usable merchandise might wind up at Cardin's. You can pick up some real bargains.

So one day I came home from Cardin's with replica Seahawks jersey, number 10, quarterback Jim Zorn's number. What a find! You have to understand, this was the late 70's and nobody was wearing caps and jerseys as a part of their wardrobe and they weren't in any store. You couldn't find this stuff at the mall or anywhere else. Maybe you could order some replica jerseys from Sears, but not all the teams were available. This was big deal!

Anyway, I followed the Seahawks and liked Zorn a lot. He's a lefty like me and gosh, those Seattle teams were a blast in the late 70's. There was no telling what they might try.

Zorn was Seattle's first starting qb and he played from 1976 to 1984. He is Mr. Seahawk, but now he's moving on. He will move to Washington to be the Redskins offensive coordinator and I hope he has great success. However, working for Daniel Snyder is a dicey proposition. The coaching carousel spins so fast there it glows.

Seattle's coach, Mike Holmgren, is only on board for one more year and the heir apparent, Jim Mora, is already on staff. It could be that Zorn thought this was the time to move.

But, I don't like it. Zorn is a Seahawk in my mind. I hope he is a great OC, I just wish it could be in Seattle.

Not What It Appears

Last night I wrote a post that would have been in this slot on my blog. After posting it and laying down to sleep I began to wrestle with regret. I began to feel dishonest and slimy for having written something so purely speculative about people I don't know. I honestly felt as if I had attacked someone.

I am sorry and I apologize. I am hopeful that because of the lateness of the hour and the short lapse between posts that few, if any persons, actually read what I wrote. (Of couse it helps that hardly anybody looks at the Central Standard.)

So, that post is gone. I started to do an update and correction on the same post and I realized, "Hey, Doofus, by doing this, the post you say you feel so bad about is still up." In other words, "Here, please read what I should never have written and now apologize for!" So, as I said, it's gone.

However, after reading this story in the light of day, I don't feel nearly so bad.

Meaty bits:
On the weekend before his State of the State address, Gov. Matt Blunt convened his campaign team for a strategic retreat at a luxury Ozarks resort just south of Branson.

Confidence filled the room. Blunt's trusted advisers discussed a fundraising goal that could have shattered the state record, developed a TV ad blitz to begin airing before spring and honed a campaign message for a competitive challenge from Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon.

Although the Republican governor never said so directly, he left little doubt: Blunt was running for re-election, and he was running to win.

So perhaps no one was more shocked than those in Blunt's inner circle when, just 10 days later, Blunt announced his exit from the race.

And:
Blunt's message, as sharpened during the meetings, would proclaim he converted a $1 billion inherited shortfall into three straight years of budget surpluses, significantly boosted education spending, presided over the creation 90,000 new jobs since he took office and transformed a broken health care system.

Finally:
"When you saw the story that could be told on an election campaign, you began to see the road map to victory very quickly," (consultant John) Hancock said. "You just looked at that message and you said, 'Yes, that's how you can get elected,' and everybody felt it."

Something happened in the few days between "Here's how we get re-elected!" and "Eh, never mind."

So let me re-state what I said last night in a way that doesn't leave me feeling like a stringer for the National Enquirer.

Gov. Blunt's somewhat less than satisfying explanation of his reasons for not seeking re-election create a vacuum which his friends and foes alike are eager to fill. I succumbed to the temptation last night. I don't believe, as some Dems have been yelling, that the governor is about to get busted. This seems kind of obvious to me, but just because I disagree with someone, I don't reflexively want them incarcerated. Anyway, I don't think it's that.

I am of the opinion that Gov. Blunt has gotten wind of another opportunity and it's just not time to say what it is.

And the silence you hear is the sound of the other shoe not dropping yet.

BCS? No Problem!

There is no college football playoff and I, for one, don’t think it’s a problem. It often sounds like I’m the only one who doesn’t think it’s a problem. Socialists running for president in a free republic and proposing more and more ways to establish government control over our lives is a problem. The lack of a college football playoff is not a problem.

It wasn’t that long ago that this BCS system was initiated, then tweaked and tweaked some more. Before that, the polls determined who the National Champ in NCAA Division I football was. And I can remember when nobody was terribly perturbed about that. The season ended, the bowl games were played, there was a final poll and the number one team in the poll was national champ. We moved on. On January 2 we moved on.

Then came 24-hour sports channels on cable TV. All of a sudden “it’s obvious” we have to have a college football playoff.

I wonder if this playoff would be on TV? Right.

Well its trash the BCS Season again and, once again, everyone bought a permit. Every year someone gets slighted by some perceived BCS flaw, hence, the aforementioned tweaking. It’s very wearying to listen to the sports talk when this is the topic. After a while, fantasy football talk begins to sound interesting. Or, come March, let us devote hours of airtime to debating the 65th team selected for the NCAA basketball tournament. It’s like soap operas for men. Well, “guys” might be more accurate.

Where was I?

Anyway, one of the schools which is “suffering” this year is Missouri, whose football team I’ve made no secret about rooting for. For one glorious week, the Tigers of Ol’ Mizzou were the number one team in the land according the poll. This week, after falling to Oklahoma, they were relegated to a non-BCS bowl, the Cotton.

Can I say, I’m not complaining? Can I say Mizzou went a lot farther, a whole heck of a lot farther, than anyone thought they would back in August. There’s a lot to be thankful for here. Can I just ask, did anyone really think Missouri was the best team in the land for that one week. I didn’t. I don’t believe anyone really did. And that opinion, THAT, is the major flaw in the BCS as far as I can see. The problem is the voters and what they do.

And I propose a solution.

Just put the teams in order from best to worst. If you believe that a two loss USC team is really the best team in the land, then vote ‘em number one. Is this so hard? This cockamamie stuff that allowed Missouri, my team mind you, to get to number one because LSU, Ohio St and Kansas all lost is crazy. Do you really believe Missouri’s Tigers are better than LSU’s Tigers. I don’t. So why vote them number one?

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

I think if people voted their opinion about the relative strength of teams instead of according to unwritten rules, or whatever, there might be less carping about the BCS.

Or not.

The Red Queen

There are things you know that you know, but you don’t know how to say them and that is why I am thankful I know how to read because every so often I will find the words that have eluded me.

Today was such a day for me. In a column on Hugh Hewitts blog today I found these words concerning the behavior of Hillary Clinton during Bill’s occupation of the Oval Office:

Here's a lovely glimpse of the inner Red Queen at work in Senator Clinton, from the article's extensive account of the rise and fall of HillaryCare:

She courted skeptical Senate Finance Chairman Daniel Patrick Moynihan, but undercut the stroking with threats. At a weekend retreat after the State of the Union address in 1993, she dismissed worries about meeting a 100-day deadline set by her husband for a healthcare bill. Asked what would happen if they were late, she said: "You don't understand. We will demonize those who are blocking this legislation and it will pass."

This is the Clintons, period. They. Will. Demonize. You. And then plead, maybe while biting on their lip, for an end to the politics of personal destruction. Right.

The Dems have had no new ideas since ’92. They have offered us nothing since the Clintons ascended to power in the way of progress or policy. And how do they keep winning elections?

By demonizing their opponents. At least that’s what Hillary said.

I Predict Some More

Two and one half hours until the ABC broadcast of "The Border War", Mizzou and Kansas 2007 style.

Since we last opined on the topic of Mizzou football, they have steadily climbed the rankings week by week, despite the setback after losing to Oklahoma. Missouri and Kansas have both got themselves in the mix for a national title. This is hard to put into words. I'll just say what I told my bride the other day. As thrilled as I have been for the exploits of the St. Louis Cardinals, nothing would beat a national title for Mizzou. She seemed surprised. But that's where we are. First things first, though. We gotta beat Kansas and then beat the Big 12's South representative. Difficult tasks, obviously, but possible.

I ask again, can you believe we, 1) are discussing the possibility of Mizzou winning a national title, and 2) have not suffered any head trauma?

Beating Kansas will be no walk in the park. The Jayhawks are thumping lesser opponents the way good teams are supposed to thump lesser opponents. However, the string of lesser opponents has run out. The Tigers will be, hopefully, the best team Kansas has seen this year.

I say Mizzou gets it done 41-28.

I Predict

I am sure you have noticed the motorized shopping carts they have at Wal-Mart and other stores. It seems to me I see more of them in use as the years go by. Are we that much less able than our forbears were to pick up the milk and bread and bologna?

I mentioned to my bride tonight that I thought in 20 years Wal-Mart will need to be twice as large because half of the people in the store will be using motorized shopping carts.

And they will be driving aggressively, too.

Maybe It's Busted

We are assured, as the new film The Golden Compass is set to release, that atheism is making a resurgence.

That's nice. Can I ask where it went?

What's it say about a philosophy that is in need of "resurging"?

Incredibly, Mizzou in Control

I read these words yesterday -

The possibility of Mizzou finding a way into the BCS championship game has just been upgraded from darned-near-impossible to real as real can get. Missouri still needs some help, but not as much as a week ago.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Bryan Burwell wrote those words and I just about could not believe my eyes. He's right, of course, but anyone who has followed Mizzou football for any length of time would have trouble digesting it, despite the logic.

It boils down to the Tigers winning out (K-State, Kansas, and, probably, Oklahoma) and either LSU or Oregon (or both!) stubbing their toe along the way. Obviously this is not easy, but, and this is the part that makes a long-suffering Tiger fan shake his head in disbelief, it is possible. I didn't say probable, I said possible.

Next door, the Jayhawks are the media darling right now and that's understandable, they haven't lost a game. And the truth is, the recipe for Mizzou is the same for KU - win out and if somebody in front stumbles, they get in the title game. But frankly, I like Mizzou's chances against Kansas as much as I like them against most everybody else, it'll be tough, but I think they win it.

And that means the Big 12 North Division title. Missouri has been trying to get there for so long - it has been so long since they were relevant. And now they are. It is sweet.

It's Hard To Root Against . . .

Clint Hurdle.


I saw this article at espn.com and thought it was worth sharing.

Of course, more folks will see it at espn.com than will see it here (sigh), but I know that most of my reader doesn't usually look at the other site.


I remember the year Hurdle came up with the Royals, in fact, I had a copy of the Sports Illustrated that's pictured in the article. Hurdle was supposed to be baseball's next star, a phenom, but it never worked out for him and the article will tell you why.


In any case, whether you are rooting for the Rockies or not (and I have to admit some part of me is pulling for them), the story is nice and it's good to hear that the man has left his demons behind.

Some World Series hardware would be nice, too.


But whether in baseball or real life, I hope he does well.

The Winner Will Win 4 Games

From the Baseball Crank:

The stage is set...it would be a fool's errand to try to predict this series; Boston is clearly the stronger team, but the Rockies' hot streak is just impossible to project one way or another, plus we have no idea what late-October baseball in Colorado will look like.

I like comments like this because I agree with them. Predicting the outcome of a baseball series is like predicting what the Dow Jones average will be tomorrow. No one has the foggiest idea what it will be and neither is there any way of knowing how the series will come out. Remember last year? I do – all Cardinals fans do. St. Louis wasn’t supposed to beat San Diego, but they did. They sure weren’t supposed to beat the Mets, but they did. And the World Series? This is from the USA Today from Oct. 20 of last year : Prediction The Detroit Tigers' biggest obstacle to a championship will be keeping a straight face. The Tigers in three. (OK, make it four.)

And we all remember how that turned out. Last year was another example, another example in a long list, of the inability of “baseball analysts” to “guess” with much accuracy what the outcome of 4-7 ballgames will yield.

I don’t know how many hundred times I’ve said it, and I’ve now quoted Baseball Crank saying it, so there’s one other sane person in the room, and IT simply is this: nobody has the foggiest idea what will happen between the Red Sox and the Rockies. That’s all.

And you know what? It’s fun that way. But that’s another subject. Having said all that, though, there are some things that you can know generally and look for.

1. You will be surprised by something. Roger Craig said that he saw something he’d never seen before in every ball game. Craig played major league ball for 11 years and managed for 10, not to mention many years on coaching staffs. Saw something new every game. Amazing.

2. Somebody you think will do well, won’t.

3. Someone you are overlooking will come up big.

4. The games tighten in October, generally. So little things (the walk, the error, the extra base, the stolen base, the HBP) are often things you should pay attention to.

That said, how about a list of expectations just to see how many I get wrong. I'll list 10 and we'll see if any of this is correct. I’ll probably miss most of it, which would make my point.

First, (1) I expect that the Rockies winning streak will end. This one’s a little easy, but it also is a case in point. Namely, nobody would have predicted what they’ve done up until now. I think we'll see lots of contributions from (2) Josh Beckett, (3) David Ortiz, (4) Manny Ramirez, (5) Matt Halliday, and (6) and Todd Helton. I think the (7) Red Sox will win in less than 7 games, the (8) Rockies pitching won’t be able to contain the Red Sox lineup, (9) Paplebon will be lights out, and (10) Dice K will continue his unimpressive playoffs.

There, that should do it. Let’s see.

#11 Missouri

Well, it's just the biggest game Missouri has played in a long time.

The radio is on while I write and Oklahoma has just scored again. The Tigers had just taken the lead, but the Sooners have responded. The two-point conversion has failed and the Sooner lead is 29-24 with plenty of time left in the fourth.

Missouri has promised us so many times - so many years. Maybe this would be the year we finally turn the corner, maybe this is the year Mizzou football matters again.

And then, we would get squashed by Kansas or Iowa St. or Bowling Green, for crying out loud.

(Incidentally, Oklahoma just recovered a fumble and ran it in to lead 35-24 with a bit over 11 minutes to go. What's next? Well, either one of the greatest victories in Mizzou history or ANOTHER MISSED OPPORTUNITY. )

Anyway, we are so used to seeing a promising Tigers' season wind up on the ash heap. They haven't been ranked as high as 11 in many, many years. Going to fifth ranked Oklahoma promised to be a great challenge. But if you win this game, it's huge.

Here's hoping they pull it out - I've got my doubts. The good news is that even with this loss, if they lose, the Northern Division of the Big 12 is still winnable.