Peggy Noonan: Government ... will handle nothing well.

Peggy Noonan slams President Obama's handling of the Gulf (of Mexico) crisis in today's Wall Street Journal. She describes him as aloof and out of touch, which is not the first time he has been labeled as such.

Noonan says that there have been three major catastrophes in Obama's first 18 months in office: the process of passing health care reform; the indifference to the massive problem of illegal immigration and unsecured borders (see the video linked on this site), and; the Gulf spill. He has, she says, fumbled all three crises.

In the end, without making a direct link, she points out what the Tea Party has been saying all along:

But Republicans should beware, and even mute their mischief. We're in the middle of an actual disaster. When they win back the presidency, they'll probably get the big California earthquake. And they'll probably blow it. Because, ironically enough, of a hard core of truth within their own philosophy: when you ask a government far away in Washington to handle everything, it will handle nothing well.

Read Noonan's entire article.

Joe West: Changing Baseball One Game at a Time

Joe West doesn't like the way the Red Sox and Yankees play baseball. He doesn't like the way Mark Buehrle makes his move to first. He had no problem tossing Buehrle's manager Ozzie Gillen from a recent game. West soon afterwards gave Buehrle the heave-ho. Headlines all around.

The winner in all this? Apparently, Joe West. How did someone like Joe West generate so many headlines? Or better question, why?

It turns out that West has his own publicist. In the spirit of "love me hate but don't ignore me" any publicity is good publicity.  Especially when you have a CD or two to promote.

So then there's today's big announcement that the ubiquitous Joe West will be umpiring this weekend's series in Boston (not with the Yankees).  Writes ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes:

The announcement that West and his crew will be working the Red Sox-Royals series did not come from Major League Baseball, but from a Tennessee-based publicist who lists West as one of his clients and said that West is "available for media interviews and guest appearances." West is believed to be the only big-league umpire with his own publicist.

There you go. Brand West.

UMass Boston: Throw Backs

UMass Boston is a commuter school sitting right on Dorchester Bay. It shares a small peninsula with the Kennedy Library and the perimeter of its campus is part of the bikeway south of the city.

Many of its students are older and are looking for a second start in life. Which is why this story in the Boston Globe of their baseball team's journey to the NCAA DIII tournament is so compelling. The Beacons have won eight straight post-season games and are now off to Wisconsin for the national finals. I love the part where they have to cut through a row of bushes to practice at BC High next door.

Makes you feel good just reading about them.

Red Sox Nation Invades Philly

Red Sox Nation invaded Philly last weekend. It's not like it was just a couple of years ago when half the park (or more) was Red Sox fans.

Recent Phillies' success, a newer stadium and the prospect of a fan being tasered brought out a big crowd, most of whom were rooting for the home team.

But some things don't change. The Red Sox have dominated the Phillies in interleague play, and it continued this past weekend. Dice-K pitched a no-no until 2 outs in the eighth (check the scoreboard, left).  He was assisted along the way by great defense, including his own stab of a Jason Werth laser.  By the way, with that quick glove, where was Dice-K when when the Bruins needed him?

Jacoby Ellsbury returned to the Sox lineup, so the Nation could breathe a sigh of relief (picture left). And David Ortiz had a couple of hits and a couple of solid plays in the field. On Sunday, Tim Wakefield dazzled the Phillies again. So it may be that this is the stretch that re-ignites the fanatics in Beantown.

It was my first visit to Citizen's Bank Park, which opened in 2004 although it seems much more recent. It's a very good place to see a game. The seats were much roomier than what I remembered from Yankee Stadium, although the slope of the seating area was not as sharp, meaning that you felt a little further away from the action than you really were. Lots of balcony seats.  The scoreboard was placed in a somewhat awkward position in left field, making fans on the third base side turn to see it. Great way to meet your rowmates, though.

Afterwards, a visit to Gino's (or Pat's, I can't remember and don't know the difference). All in all a great trip to Philly.

Lost

It's over. After six years and 120+ hours of episodes, Lost finally reached the end of its storyline.

Everyone is dead - with the big reveal being that they may have been dead all along. They probably died in the initial crash or shortly thereafter. They needed each other to reach closure about the meaning of their lives that were ended so abruptly.

It was an incredibly good great ending that provided answers to all the big questions. And like many works of art - granted it's contemporary / contextual art that may or may not stand up over time - it allowed viewers to form our personal interpretations. The writers created a masterpiece.


Despite ABC's best efforts to kill the golden goose with incessant ads and poorly timed graphic promos for other shows ("V" anyone?) Lost was one of the most satisfying shows on television in a long, long time. Some of the characters were outstanding (Ben, Locke, even Jack), some killed off too soon (Charlie, Boone) and some we wanted to see more of (Sayid, Desmond, Hurley, Juliet). Jack was always going to be the chosen one. And Hurley was always going to be the glue that held the group together. And Kate - well, let's just say she needed a better writer.  I sometimes wondered which character I most closely identified with, but I never did settle on just one.

Jacob and the smoke monster were probably not good and evil, although it would be easy conceive of them that way. Each had defensible and at times, indefensible positions, although the Man in Black was a lot nastier after he took over Locke's body.

There are, of course, lots of unanswered questions. But those are details. The step-back view is a single reaction: breathtaking.

Blumenthal Mis-Speak, Lie or Truthiness?

Connecticut has spawed another self-serving public official.  Current CT Attorney General Blumenthal speaks deliberately and chooses his words carefully. He has filed lawsuits on behalf of the state to clarify the meaning of an organization's choice of particular words in their marketing materials or agreements. So it seems like a stretch to think that someone this anal truly mis-spoke when he described his time in the military as in Vietnam, as opposed to during the Vietnam era.

Connecticut has a growing list of politicians who have put their own selfish interests first. There are mayors and a former governor who have served time in jail for corruption, and they are joined by at least one state senator. A host of local politicians have been caught with their hand in the till. Right now, the mayor of Hartford is standing trial for corruption. Add to that Senators Dodd and Lieberman who have made it clear that they would be willing to do or say just about anything to remain part of the clubby atmosphere in Washington. So the political climate in Connecticut is rift with: grab what you can, if you can.

The exposure of Blumenthal's lies at a time when the public has become completely disgusted with self-serving public officials makes his lies even more glaring and his apology - such as it was - feeble.

Blumenthal has compiled an commendable public record. He did serve in the Marine Reserves and he has been a visible and by all accounts effective Attorney General. His recently disclosed mis-statements about military service, however, may provide a rare inside glimpse at the heart of his otherwise carefully crafted public persona.  He may have just revealed his true motivation and if so, it's not public service. It's personal aggrandizement. His moment of "Truthiness", to use Steven Colbert's word, is what we should pay attention to.

This is a challenging time, and I don't envy the decisions that will have to be made by politicians in the next few years. What we don't need in Washington is another Senator whose personal ambitions may influence his decision-making.

If we're always wondering in the back of our minds what a Senator's true motivations might be, it's going to increase public skepticism and risk further gridlock.

Another President Who Doesn't Get It?

We just endured a full term of "Heckuva job, Brownie" and "Mission Accomplished". Do we have another tone-deaf, inside-the-beltway president?



This is what triggered the Tea Party movement: the sense that Washington - the President of Hope and Change, no less - just doesn't have a feel for what's going on across the country.

Crowd Control

Let's see. The fan is in a confined space with no place to go. The are scores of cops. Thousands of fans would be more than willing to detain this guy if he re-entered the stands. And there are at least five other people within three yards of the runner.

But there's a catch: the cop is a Tough Guy. So there's only one solution. That's right, pull out the Taser and stop the chase.

Welcome to Phan-Phriendly Phun times in Philly. Bring on Santa Claus.