Some Thoughts on Reagan

1) Reagan's record/legacy, just like any other President's, is a mixed one. He deserves at least partial credit for decidedly bringing down inflation, unemployment, and interest rates, presiding over the fall of the Soviet Union/empire, hammering out a rock-solid arms control deal with Gorbachev, and bringing about a renewed sense of optimism about America. He also, though, deserves at least partial blame for those humongous deficits, the Iran-Contra fiasco, the savings and loan debacle, and the Lebanon disaster. Overall (and like I've stated before), I would probably have to give him about a B-.............2) Reagan is frequently blamed for the homeless crisis of the 1980s. On this one, I'd probably have to say that he's been unfairly tarnished. For one thing, the three million number that's been frequently thrown around is exceedingly suspect. It comes from a report by Mitch Snyder (a homeless advocate) entitled, "A Report to the Secretary on the Homeless and Emergency Shelters"". It states that there were 2.2 million homeless people in America and that the total could ULTIMATELY reach three million. The problem with this study is that it was never accepted by the General Accounting Office and the actual number (this, from a credible HUD study) was probably closer to 350,000 (still a tragedy but obviously not nearly on the same level). But by then it was too late. The three million figure had already permeated through society.............3) The second reason that this whole "Reagan caused the homelessness" problem isn't fair is that it wasn't Reagan who emptied the God-damned mental hospitals (one of the major causes for there being more people on the streets). That, folks, occurred a) because of a Supreme Court decision and b) due to a philosophical change in the human services arena (i.e., deinstitutionalization) . Now, if there wasn't enough funding to execute these changes, then, yeah, maybe Mr. Reagan does deserve some scrutiny there.............4) As for social funding in general, it's really hard to say that the Reagan era was entirely Machiavellian. According to the 1991 Almanac, for instance, yes, federal funding for social programs did dip somewhat; from 11.5% of GNP in 1980 to 10.9% in 1988. But, when you also factor in state and local spending on these programs, the decrease was negligible (18.7% of GNP in 1980, 18.5% in 1988). Add to that, the fact that HUD outlays actually increased, and increased significantly, under Reagan (from 12 billion in 1980 to 19 billion in 1988) and, yeah, it kinda does seem like the fellow has gotten a bit of a bad rap here.

The Best Second Baseman of the Modern Era?

Wow, that's a tough one, folks. I think, though, that it would probably have to come down to one of these three guys; Joe Morgan, Ryne Sandberg, or Roberto Alomar (Hall of Famers, each of them). What do you say that we flush it out a little bit? Here, folks, are the total stats. A) Runs scored; 1) Morgan-1,650, 2) Alomar-1,508, 3) Sandberg-1,318......B) Hits; 1) Alomar-2,724, 2) Morgan-2,517, 3) Sandberg-2,386......C) Doubles; 1) Alomar-504, 2) Morgan-449, 3) Sandberg-403......D) Triples; 1) Morgan-96, 2) Alomar-80, 3) Sandberg-76......E) Home-runs; 1) Sandberg-282, 2) Morgan-268, 3) Alomar-210......F) Runs-batted-in; 1) Alomar-1,134, 2) Morgan-1,133, 3) Sandberg-1,061......G) Stolen-bases; 1) Morgan-689, 2) Alomar-474, 3) Sandberg-344......H) Walks; 1) Morgan-1,865, 2) Alomar-1,032, 3) Sandberg-761......I) Batting-average; 1) Alomar-.300, 2) Sandberg-.285, 3) Morgan-.271......J) On-base-percentage; 1) Morgan-.392, 2) Alomar-.371, 3) Sandberg-.344......K) Slugging-percentage; 1) Sandberg-.452, 2) Alomar-.443, 3) Morgan-.427......L) Total number of gold-gloves; 1) Alomar-10, 2) Sandberg-9, 3) Morgan-5....................................................................................................Alright, so what do we frigging have here? With these 12 categories, we have Alomar winning five of them, Morgan five, and Sandberg only two. We also have Sandberg coming in third (i.e., last) in eight of the categories. This leads me to think that it would probably have to come down to Morgan or Alomar (yeah, yeah, I know, statistics aren't everything)....Alright, how 'bout this for a compromise? Based upon those dominant back to back MVP seasons (1975-76), we go with Mr. Morgan in the short run. But, based upon an entire 15-16 year career, we go instead with Mr. Alomar. A deal?.......................................................................................................P.S. No. No spitting. No spitting will be allowed.

The Obama-Mubarak-Not Mubarak-Mubarak-Not Mubarak Axis of Evil

Not that Sean Hannity isn't always incoherent, mind you, BUT, during this entire Egyptian crisis/unrest, MAN, has he ever amped it up of late. He started the week off criticizing (justifiably, actually) Mr. Biden for his saying that President Mubarak wasn't a dictator. But, instead of staying on this track that America should in fact be fostering democracy, he's started to morph off into this paranoiac Muslim extremist shtick (this, despite the fact that the uprising appears to be basically secular/totally devoid - so far - of anti-Americanism) - even going as far as to hint that maybe we should indeed be sticking with this "dictator". And, get this, it got so frigging bad the other day that Mr. Hannity's conservative guest, The National Revue's Rich Lowery, actually had to walk him back a tad - Lowery even going as far as to say that Mr. Obama was basically doing what any President would be doing (hell, folks, even Bill O'Reilly has said similar). That, me-buckos, had to have been WAY embarrassing............................................................................................................P.S. It's obvious what's going on here, right? Hannity, a flat-out mindless partisan, is psychologically incapable of giving Mr. Obama credit.....FOR ANYTHING!! And, yes, when you couple that with Mr. Beck (an even bigger frigging lunatic) whispering paranoid nothings into that mindless vessel of Sean's, this is probably the best that somebody like....

G. Gordan Liddy (Rosalind Capital)

What would be my answer to the question, "So, who, in your estimation, is the least honorable pitchman in the entire history of television advertising?"

YOU'VE GOT CANCER OF THE DICK, STERN!!!

What would be my answer to the question, "So, what's your all-time favorite one-liner from Elegant Elliot Offen?"

Trust Me?

I sure as hell hope that Al Golden (the new football coach at the University of Miami) knows what he's doing. Based upon his most recent recruiting decisions, I'm beginning to have some doubts. Yes, I'm referring to the fact that, as of now/National Signing Day, the University of Miami STILL doesn't have a quarterback for the 2011 class - this, folks, despite the fact that Golden himself has said on several occasions that this (a lack of depth at quarterback) is clearly one of the team's most pressing issues..................................................................................................And it's not like he didn't have some decent options. Both Land'O Lakes Florida's Stephen Weatherford and the Hargrave Military Academy's (Chatham Virginia) Marcus McDade were literally drooling to sign with the Canes. Now, granted, neither one of these fellows is a McDonald's All American and all. But, still, they're pretty damn good. And at this late stage in the recruiting process, I don't know, I think that Mr. Golden probably should have taken one of them anyway....Why didn't he? Well, he was holding out - that's why. And while, yes, it still may ultimately work out for him (we're still waiting to see what West Palm Beach Florida's Jacoby Brissett decides to do - Miami and Wisconsin are reportedly his final two), right now, folks, it really does look dicey.

Haven't Seen It - No Desire to

What would be my answer to the question, "So, what do you think of that new hit show, Glee?"