Just Shut Up!

Disclaimer: I am not insulting Scoop. I am just maintaining the sports theme of this blog and stealing a line from Mike & Mike and referring to my propensity to reply to just about every single person who comments here.

Disclaimer for disclaimer: If you commented here and I did not reply, I apologize. I get behind on work, chores, etc. and by the time I get back here it’s too late to reply to some of the more topical items. Or sometimes I just plum don’t have anything intelligent to say. But I do appreciate those who stop by here and drop a note. Especially if you are articulate, determined, gritty, and hardworking. Athleticism a plus.

Scoop on Scoop-a-Thon:

Oh wow, a whole blog entry devoted to my comments alone? I’m blushing.

Well, I just can’t shut myself up sometimes.

If you haven’t heard or read of anyone comparing Bush to Lincoln, you must not be paying attention to much right-wing foolishness, which you’re probably better off not doing. Or to Bush himself; he’d love everyone to think his decision that the war must go on is downright Lincolnian (is that a word?).

My bad. I do need to make a better effort to see what’s going on in the right-of-center sphere of media. I haven’t been good at keeping up with the news lately. My usual sources are left-of-center, but it’s better to cast a wider net for information. I have a fairly good selection of conservative sources bookmarked and I need to get to them more often.

People often complain about bias in media. That’s not something that bothers me: I assume that the media is biased. The bias could be blatant or it could be subtle. Whatever. It compels me to be broader in my selection of what I watch, listen to, and read, and to be more analytical about digesting the information and deciding what I’m going to believe. I’ve actually been impressed with what I’ve heard from the conservative pundits on the PBS NewsHour and items I’ve read in the National Review, the Wall Street Journal, and The Weekly Standard. DP once suggested to KO that pundits and reporters should make their votes public so that the public knows where they stand on the issues. I think it’s the public’s responsibility to be informed and intelligent enough to figure things out for themselves. A phrase I remember from junior high and high school social studies classes is “an educated electorate.” A democracy requires one. There are a lot more news sources now, which makes it easier to find information, but this also means there is a lot more information to process. It seems that America has a small segment of the population that is very passionate about the news and about politics, but the majority doesn’t pay much attention. They’re not keeping themselves informed and educated on the issues. But what can be done about it? You can’t force people to care.

And yes, I agree there were few presidents less like FDR policy-wise than Reagan. FDR actually looked at the people suffering during the Great Depression and felt something needed to be done. Reagan, had he been president then, would have looked and said “You know, if these people had only squirreled their money away in the mattress or been wiser about their stock investments, this would not have happened. Besides, selling apples and earning his own living is good for a man’s character. Better that than that we should create a WPA so he will have a job handed to him by the government, from which he will take his first paycheck and buy a Cadillac and become a welfare king.”

Do you remember when President Reagan held up the help wanted section of a Sunday New York Times and declared that thousands of jobs are available and that the unemployed of America just weren’t looking hard enough? I can’t find the Times story on it, but here is a reference to the incident: “If we are to believe Ronald Reagan, there are plenty of jobs but people are just lazy. In a January 1982 press conference, he said he found pages of help-wanted ads in the Sunday newspapers. A more systematic survey of unemployment ads throughout New York State found that 85 percent of the positions required college training or special skills. For the remaining 1,305 “entry level” openings, 29,316 people applied”

Yes, it would be nice for Lincoln to be mentioned more these days. The real Lincoln, anyway.

I saw a great exhibit on Lincoln called The Last Best Hope of Earth. I don’t think even President Bush’s most ardent admirers would dare call him that.

Of course history is the “ultimate” judge — but Bush is (to my mind) crazy enough to think history will judge him kindly and it’s only people today that have such a bad view of him. I can’t know either way, but my bet is in the other direction. And “revisionist history”? It’s true, the lessons one gleans from history are all revisionist and all personal. And the one thing that you’d think should remain the same is the facts — the record of what actually happened. It’s the past, right? The past can’t change. But it does; we constantly learn new facts about the past and they shape our revision of the conclusions we draw from the history. But that, I suppose, is what makes it all interesting, eh?

Something has to provide fodder for future history Ph.D.’s! Look at what came to light after President Ford died: his remarks on the war in Iraq, on the changes in the GOP, on Nixon, etc. There are probably boxes and boxes of great stuff in the National Archives, in presidential museums, in people’s basements. There is no finish line.

Thanks for the tip on Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President. I’d be willing to bet Keith has read that one, because he seems to believe in that kind of religion himself, whenever he lays claim to any kind of belief.

It’s a great book and I am peeved that I cannot find my copy. I must have loaned it to someone.

And yes, one of the most entertaining aspects of the Boritt book to me was seeing how the Democrat newspapers of the day trashed Lincoln and whatever he said and did, just because, well, he was a Republican. Does party politics ever really change?

Not that long ago it was possible for politicians to disagree on policy but remain civil with each other. Now the game seems to be black-and-white, Us versus Them. Each side demonizes the other, which leaves absolutely no room for intelligent discussion and compromise. Politics, and perhaps life as a whole, is so much more emotional now. Not that emotion is bad, but we’ve lost the talent for being reflective.

As for “Carmen on Ice,” no, Orser does not sing, he just skates. But he did win an Emmy for it, as did Brian Boitano and Katarina Witt in this particular production (which aired on HBO), so that ain’t hay.

You’re a better skating fan than I. I watch the Olympics every time they come around and I still don’t know the difference between a lutz and an axel.

As for Cowabunga Cleveland, did you know there was actually a song titled “There’s No Surf in Cleveland”? Written by Eric (”All By Myself,” “Hungry Eyes” etc.) Carmen many years ago. Recorded by a group calling themselves the Euclid Beach Band. Very hard to find 45 of the late 1970s, right up there with the Cleveland Cuyahoga and Burning River Band’s takeoff on Steve Martin’s “King Tut” called “King Dennis.” (I think you can guess who that one was about. And it was not flattering.)

There’s No Surf in Cleveland. I like the footnotes to explain the phrases that only locals would understand.

Got to hand it to Dennis, though. Jumps right into the 2008 race with both feet. And his surfboard. I don’t think he even bothered with an exploratory committee.

Bad news: there is no flagpole at the A Christmas Story House. The school scenes were shot near Toronto. Aww.

Oh ………… fudge.

And, um, Bill Belichick. I try not to hate him, really I do, because Keith testifies about how nice a guy he is. But of course this goes against every fiber of my fair-weather Browns fan being. At moments like that, I have to remember to trust Keith, and remember that he was on the fans’ side in the whole move-the-team-to-Baltimore thing. And he realized that as much as Baltimore fans might want to believe two wrongs make a right, they don’t. (Ask them how many of them will be rooting for the Colts in the Super Bowl.)

I hadn’t realized that KO said nice things about Coach Hoodie; it does give further indication that there is a person behind the gruff public persona. I don’t think it mattered what Belichick did in Cleveland; Art Modell was going to move the team because the city would not give him what he wanted. Pretty cheesy to announce the move in the middle of the season; way to inspire the players and get the fans really peeved. Disturbing news this past week that Belichick allegedly impelled a player into full-contact practice after the fellow had suffered a concussion. This will certainly not burnish his reputation as a sensitive coach. He’s not old, but is real old school in the mold of George Halas and Vince Lombardi.

Here’s something you might like:

Not a good likeness of the coach. I think he looks rather like Richard Nixon.