Lunacy
September 2, 2010 – 8:42 amFrom the enviro-wack-job left springs this classic Nut Job. Well he did his part for population reduction by dying. Bet you can’t read it all.
‘Take Time For Paradise’
August 22, 2010 – 12:10 pmThe late A. Bartlett Giamatti’s book reminds us that there are things in life that are timeless, and that can, and should, be enjoyed regardless of how the world around us turns. The Yale professor of Renaissance Literature and university president who became Baseball Commissioner wrote of the sublime nature of the joys the game brings to those who love and follow it, play it, and who let its’ rythems weave themselves into the fabric of their lives.
This came to mind the other day as the New York Yankees hosted the Detroit Tigers in the last of their four games there, in the park that replaced the field of Ruth, Gehric Dimaggio and Mantle last year. Although not “noble and murmurous with history,” as one writer described it, it is “a fitting arena” in which to do what Richard II could not do, and bid time return. Return, as the game begins anew every day it is played, and return, especially in Yankee Stadium, as the bronze faces in Monument Park watch over the game that evokes, in the action of their pinstriped successors and their opponents in their road greys, their own battles in an age grown ageless in the retelling and remembering of those who witnessed it, whether in person or in their minds, as an announcer’s voice painted a picture of the action, works becoming brushstrokes creating a mosaic in the listener’s memory. Perhaps some Michiganders will not recall, in later years, the BP Gulf spill or the health care bill battles as much as they will Miguel Cabrerra’s pursuit of a Triple Crown, something only 14 players have accomplished since the 1880s. As the Tigers’ season has turned to ashes after a spring of unexpected promise that found them in first place, briefly, in early June, Cabrerra continued in the company of the league’s leaders, even as the other RBI lords of the Tigers, Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen, went on the disabled list, leaving him almost alone in a lineup that too often went quietly before the slants of opposing pitchers. Perhaps they’ll remember the strange dominance of Armando Gallaraga over the Cleveland Indians, against whom he pitched what would’ve been, except for what the umpire admitted afterward was a bad call, the first perfect game in Tigers history. (He got the next batter for the final out, as it happened.) On his next start against the Tribe, 14 batters went down in order before the spell broke, making 42 consecutive Indians to fall before his right arm on the way to a much-needed victory.
The golden time is timeless, too, in that, unlike other major sports, there is no clock in baseball. Every game moves at its’ own rhythem, without hurry, although the action may be quick indeed. Baseball does not demand continuous attention; there is time to get a hot dog and a Coke without having to feel guilty about missing an at-bat or two. the story picks up when one’s attention returns to it. Baseball is uniquely suited to radio, as the pace of the action is measured, not statacco, and a listener can attend to other task without losing the flow of the action of the game.
In New York, the mosaic included the four teammates who had led the Yankees to a half-dozen pennants since they came up together in 1995: Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettit. Now in the twilight of their careers, they have one more date with destiny, as New York is cruising to a postseason berth, in spite of their rivals of a century, Boston, and the extraordinarily talented upstarts from Tampa Bay. Their exploits, like those of their opponents wearing the Olde English ‘D,’ will become the stuff of personal legend, something to be talked about decades later, something fathers will tell sons about when they take them to the shrine of their youth, just as their fathers did. Older generations will compare the stars of today with their memories, interweaving a tapestry of events that becomes the stuff of a common, shared experience. Words will add to images and narration to vivify those memories into iconic moments of frozen time, part of ‘the good old days’ that everyone recalls and compares to the times we inhabit in the present. A sportswriter’s words may sum it up, as one did years ago, in describing memories of Mickey Mantle at bat in Yankee Stadium: ”…filled with clear, still sunlight, pumping an endless succession of baseballs out of sight.” Such are the memories that knit the years together and give strangers a bond to share in casual conversation when they chance to meet and talk. (“Remember when Norm Cash grabbed that table leg and tried to use it as a bat when Nolan ryan was throwing that no-hitter in ’73…”)
The names stick with you, too, even those of the bit players who make little impact on the game at large. Whoever caught Ike Brown’s September homer, the only one he hit after his call-up to Detroit in 1973, probably still has it, and they can probably tell you what inning he hit it in, and off of whom. Other names, of both the great and mere passers-by in the game, link to yet other memories, whether they be of Skeeter Barnes, Sixto Lezcano, Paul Thormisgaard, Art James, Jamie Quirk or Nook Logan, just as they will in the future for the ones watching Chance Ruffin after he reaches the big leagues.
What makes this important? the shared happiness that a common experience brings can help those bonded by it look back on troubled times (as ours certainly are) as ‘the good old days.’ They help provide a public square of common experience, a shared set of triumphs and tragedies that bring a sense of unity to people of a particular time and place. All the upheaval of Chicago’s 1968 may matter less to old-timers on the North Side than the Cubs’ collapse in the late summer of 1969. (For that matter, it may well be a cherished memory on the South Side, too, where the arch-rival White Sox hold sway.) The Detroit riots of 1967 left behind a city scarred by racial hostility and mistrust; yet the Tigers’ run to the pennant in 1968 had fans of all races cheering as loudly for Willie Horton’s homers as they did for Mickey Lolich’s strikeouts.
For those of us who share a conservative frame of mind, it is important to remind ourselves that all is not politics, and that all is not political (both defining characteristics of the Left). The ability to escape to another words, away across the chalk lines that separate the field of play from the the rest of the world, is a gift, and the stuff of memories that will continue to give pleasure and continuity to troubled times. As the song says, “These are the good old days.”
Real Responsibility
August 18, 2010 – 1:25 pmThe Media and much of the blogosphere focus on blaming the President for the state of affairs of the nation.
The President bears much responsibility in the context of his leadership and “bully pulpit” to promote a political policy agenda. The real responsibility lies with the Congress, as it was designed. It proves out to be true.
Look at the last 20 years of Presidency and rather than focus on the POTUS, think about who controlled Congress.
Bush Sr. left a recession, he had a Democrat Congress. Bill Clinton had a Democrat Congress for his first 2 years. The economy stagnated and policies failed in practice or to be implemented. Lefties love to point out the “Clinton economy”. None of that economic growth occurred until the Elephants took control of Congress in ’94. When the Junior Shrub was POTUS and the Republicans controlled Congress, the economy boomed (noting the temporary dip post-9-11). The Democrats won Congress in 2006 and the economy began contracting, followed by the housing bubble crash.
As you see, when collectivists control Congress the economy takes a hit. Republicans bring it back and have power until the social-democrats fool enough voters to get back in and wreck the economy all over again.
What a difference the years make
August 17, 2010 – 10:49 amIn a fascinating guide for college instructors, Beloit College makes a list of what incoming freshman consider “normal”.
I’ve always been on the bleeding edge of technology but was still taken aback by a couple of these entries.
An entertaining and enlightening read for all parents and grandparents.
Cap and Trade has never been about science
August 5, 2010 – 12:45 pmOur dear friend Mut has an excellent post on the political fraud of man made “global warming”.
We encourage everyone to read it and share it with their friends.
Can & Trade = Eco-Robbery
August 5, 2010 – 11:37 amThe Left has a new plan for making money – rob you and say it’s for the environment. Even though ‘Cap & Trade,’ their Enron-like risky enviro-tax scheme, is dying in D.C., The Land of Hollywood is bringing you the sequel. Our friend Mut outs them in her usual direct style today, and not a moment too soon. (Note, too, that the GOP’s candidate for Governor, Meg whitman, who, as eBay CEO is no fool, is squishy on this. If you still believe that the GOP will be, a la Goldwater, a choice, not an echo, this should help disabuse you of that notion.)
Those who are not for us are against us. the lesser of two evils is still evil. Remember that, and make sure the faux ‘conservatives’ know that you know it, and will act accordingly.
Porno Scanners – I Told You So!
August 4, 2010 – 7:52 pmMatt Drudge reports (August 4, 2010) that TSA does store your imagies – like this one below. (So, do you still think ‘Homeland Secirity is keeping you safe? Who keeps you safe from them? And where does your daughter’s inage end up next? care to guess?)
Baskerville Hounds Amnesty International
August 3, 2010 – 12:48 pmDr. Stephen Baskerville, a leading voice in the father’s rights movement, is out with his latest article, posted on lewrockwell.com, regarding human rights abuse in Sweden. There, as here, men in custody or divorce battles hold few, if any, cards, and are subject to spurious claims of domestic violence as a known and proven method of smearing them so effectively as to ruin their reputations or cost them their freedom. (This should not be taken as referring to those who commit actual violence, who deserve to be treated like anyone else committing an assault, etc.)There, as here, men rarely gain custody of their children when a relationship ends. three, as here, even the organizations that are supposed to stand up for human rights often fail to do so when confronted by angry feminist demands for political correctness. In this case, the culprit is Amnesty International. Dr. Baskerville lays out the sad details here.
For this writer’s part, having assailed the same judicial thugocracy in the past, it is always heartening to have Dr. Baskerville continuing his life’s work of standing up for fatherhood against the extremists bent on undermining the foundations of our civil order. This is all the more necessary as our natural allies in this fight, conservatives, are all too often AWOL, active supporters of the feminist agenda, or unaware of the dangers it poses because of their attention being focused elsewhere. It would be tragic win every other battle if the critical one – for the survival of the family, the basis of civil society – should be lost. The more who educate themselves about this, the better our odds of continuing to have a society worth fighting for.
EPA to Regulate ‘Farm Dust’?
August 2, 2010 – 12:09 pmNo, this is not from ‘the Onion,’ as one com enter at this link opined. it’s for real, apparantly. The EPA must have nothing better to do than to continue it’s storied career as an Executive Branch legislature – a tyranny within the scope of its’ jursidiction, by the most basic definition of tyranny – the combination of legislative and executive powers, by regulating the amount of dust farmers raise in the course of growing what feeds us.
That this could even be considered shows that the radicals have completed their long march through our institutions and are now ready to create their socialist/fascist/secular Utopia, no matter what the cost. Like Pol Pot, the number of eggs that must be broken to make the omlet is unimportant – it is the end which justifies all. Multi-generation farms may go bankrupt trying to comply with such foolishness, but the regulators will not care. Like some of the able in the later chapters of ‘Artlas Shruged,’ farmers may well throw in the towel rather than try to live with ludicrous regulations. If they do, i don’t blame them.
That United States Senators have to ask a Federal agency why it is legislating such rules, not on the basis of their authority, but on the basis of the proposed rules’ practicality, shown what a shadow the Senate is of what it was intended to be. It has surrendered its’ perrogative to be one house of the branch of government in which ‘all legislative powers’ are vested by the ‘Supreme Law of the Land’ to an appopintee without even Cabinet status. ’The Greatest Deliberative Body in the Wordl,’ indeed!
When will enough Americans refuse to submit to such foolishness to put a stop to it?
Making Sun-Tea in Michigan
July 24, 2010 – 6:21 pmToday was a Tea Party convention of sorts at the Eaton County Fairgrounds. (Eaton County is adjacent to the Lansing metro area, and is just north of Battle Creek.) The weather was dog-day hot and sticky, but the Tea Party faithhful were undeterred. In addition to most of the state’s tea party groups, Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty was there, as were other conservative/libertarian organizations. (This writer attended at the invitation of C4L, of which he is a member.) Several hundred people came to the event to see conservative icon Phyllis Schafley, GOP candidates for Governor, state legislative and judicial offices, and local candidates from across the Lower Peninsula. Libertarian Secretary of State candidate Scotty Boman attended on behalf of Campaign For Liberty (like this writer, he’s been a Ron Paul supporter since the 1980s.)
Constitution Party candidate for Governor Stacey Mathia had a booth at the event, but was originally not offered a chance to address the crowd. the intervention of this writer and another activist persuaded the event organizers to let the lady speak at the end of the program, which she did to a receptive audience.
The GOP candidates for governor who spoke were Rep. Pete Hoekstra, a Grand Rapids Congressman who is giving up the seat he’s held since 1992, when he ousted GOP Minority Leader Guy Vander Jagt in the primary. He supported TARP, however, and gave a boilerplate speech that did not advance anything besides platitudes about getting the government off our backs and so forth. Sheriff Mike Bouchard spoke to better effect, but his conversion to Arizona-style immigration control and support for a part-time legislature strike this writer as a battlefield conversion, as he served in the Legislature, but never introduced a bill to address either. Sen. Tom George spoke to the issues, but he’s at 1% in the polls. He correctly pointed out that the other candidates want to cut taxes, but they also promise more spending. He warned that such a strategy would lead to Michigan not paying its’ bills, like insolvent Illinois. Attorney General Mike Cox, who has no fan in this writer, did not show for his scheduled turn to speak; the self-described ‘tough nerd,’ businessman Rick Snyder, did not attend.
Overall, the event served to bring many Tea Party and like-minded groups together, and it was a forum for a number of candidates for office to get a hearing from the movement just prior to Michigan’s August 3rd primary. What effect having this new-found respect from GOP establishment politicians (and the grass roots ones, too) will have should be evident in a fortnight. As for the groups themselves, they ranged from the well-organized to the less so, and the cast of characters who member them are as varied as any cross-section of the working and middle classes in this state might be expected to produce.
In a cautionary note for those hoping for tea parties to go away, the enthusiasm appears to be unabated, and suspicion of co-opting establishment types remains strong. Both items are good news for those of us who would recover our liberty in these troubled times. Given the recent NAACP-inspired ‘tempest in a teapot’ over charges of racism, it is worth noting that an African-American Tea Party group attended, as did the African-American radio show host of ‘Joshua’s Trail,’ a Ypsilanti, Michigan-based talk show devoted to preserving and protecting liberty.
In terms of critique, two things stand out: The absence of railery directed against President Obama or Governor Granholm. (The anti-Obama rhetoric primarily came from the GOP candidates at the podium, and while their applause lines had the desired effect, the hostility to persons, as opposed to that directed at actions, legislation, and programs, was not present among the Tea Party rank-and-file.) The other thing that this observer noted was that, while most participants dressed in a manner that could loosely be described as apporpriate, given the 90/90 heat and humidity, some did not, and had the MSM attended (they did not), those are the ones who would’ve been on the 6 O’Clock news. The Tea Party movement would have a hard time living down images of the 60-ish man in the booth oposite C4L who wore a ‘beater’ shirt, what appeared to be striped boxer shorts, and one knee-length tube sock with his shoes, or the woman who wore shorts and knee-length rubber galoshes. (Granted, in the latter case, that rain threatened, and that the event was scheduled to be outdoors, but that fashion statement would be an easy MSM target for unflattering imagery, and it would belie her intelligence, which was evident in conversing with her.) A word to the wise: You are the face of any group you represent, as such, in public, and how you look sends a message that can be longer-lasting than what you say. Therefore, when you go out in public, imagine how you’d appear if your opponents posted images of you on YouTube, et cetera, and dress accordingly.
