Hackneyed Battle-Lines

Sean Hannity, Charles Krauthammer, etc./the Republicans in Washington - they're all seething in response to president Obama's Iraq speech. They're mad that he 1) never admitted that the surge worked, 2) didn't give President Bush credit for the surge, and 3) refrained from declaring U.S. victory. Well, guess what, folks, apart from possibly #2, President Obama was correct in these omissions. The surge flat-out DIDN'T work. This, folks, in that there still ISN'T a unified government in Iraq. And as far as that victory goes, we haven't exactly achieved that, either (no unified government, violence back on the rise, millions and millions of displaced civilians, a still largely destroyed infrastructure, Christians basically having to worship in secret, etc., etc.). I mean, just ask the American public here. They'll tell ya' (I cite a recent CNN poll which states that 65% of the American people say that we HAVEN'T achieved our objectives in Iraq...................................................................................................P.S. And let us not forget, either, folks, the stated reasons for our going into Iraq IN THE FIRST PLACE were weapons of mass destruction and a supposed link between Iraq and Al Qaeda. If in fact we're supposed to give President Bush all this credit for the surge, should we not also hold the fellow responsible for getting us involved in the first place? I'm just asking here....................................................................................................P.S. 2 I also want it known that these sentiments are coming from someone who HASN'T engaged in a plethora of Bush bashing. I've actually defended Mr. Bush on occasions (against Nazi comparisons, etc.). I'm just trying to stand up to revisionism (Charles Krauthammer, especially - he should clearly know better), that's all.

ENOUGH!

I've been hearing rumors that Sarah Palin's ex future son-in-law, Levi Johnston, may ultimately end up getting a reality-show of his own. So, folks, what do you think? Me, I'm thinking that maybe we should all (all of us - regardless of what out political affiliation may be) stand as one and oppose this stupidity. I mean, I ask you here, have you actually gotten a load of this guy? My God! This dude is so stupid that he actually makes those Kardashian bimbos sound like Fulbright scholars. And, besides, aren't we going to have to take a stand SOMEWHERE? If it isn't with this knuckle-dragger, then when? Come on. What do you say, folks?

Havana Hit-Man

One of the most underrated players in major-league history is a guy by the name of Tony Oliva. For those of you who are too young to remember, Oliva was a star outfielder for the Minnesota Twins, former rookie of the year (1964), and clearly one of the best hitters (and not exactly a bad fielder, either) of the late 60s and early 70s (to this day, in fact, he's still the only player in baseball history to have won the batting title in each of his first two seasons). Unfortunately, Mr. Oliva ended up blewing out his knee in 1971 and, yes, for all intents and purposes his career was over (yes, he did DH for a few seasons after that but he clearly wasn't the same)..................................................................................................But, I'm telling you, if you really want to know how great he was, just get a load of these numbers from his first eight seasons. Mr. Oliva was first in total hits from that era (1455 - Brooks Robinson was second with 1313), tied for first with Yaz in doubles (278), second only to Yaz in runs scored (711 to Yaz's 734), first in total bases (2356 - Yaz was second with 2244), and easily first in batting average (.313 - Frank Robinson was a distant second at .300). The dude went on to make the all-star team all eight years and ended up with a total of three batting titles. Hell, people, he even won a gold-glove (1966)/had one of the best throwing arms of any big-league outfielder............................................................................................................And you have to remember, folks, the 1960s was largely an era in which pitchers dominated (Denny McLain's 31-win season in '68, for example). For Oliva to have batted .313 in that era is phenomenal. Is all of this good enough to get him into the Hall of Fame - as a lot of his contemporaries (Tony Perez, for example) are suggesting? I don't know. There may be some players who played longer who might deserve it first (Gil Hodges, Maury Wills, Ron Santo, to name a few). But, if you're going to give the honor to a player who dominated for X amount of time (a la Sandy Koufax), Oliva could in fact be your man. I'm not going to make a stink if he gets elected.

When Mr. Fuji and Professor Toru Tanaka Would Throw That Ceremonial Salt Into the Eyes of Their Unexpected Opponents

What would be my answer to the question, "So, what was your favorite professional wrestling shtick from the latter 70s?"

The E Network's Ranking of Geraldo's Broken Nose (Via a Chair) Episode at 24 of Their Top 50 List of Most Outrageous TV Moments

What would be my answer to the question, "What, in your opinion, is the biggest miscarriage of justice in the past several weeks or so?"

Lee Remick

What would be my answer to the question, "Who, in your opinion, is the most underrated female star (in terms of both looks and talent) of the late 50s and early 60s?"......The evidence? Hm. Try "A Face in the Crowd", "The Long Hot Summer", "Anatomy of a Murder", "Wild River", "Days of Wine and Roses", "Baby the Rain Must Fall".....And, yes, even moving on into the 70s; "The Omen", "Sometimes a Great Notion", "The Competition", "Tribute".....Add to that her tour de force work on Broadway ("Anyone Can Whistle", "Follies", "Wait Until Dark") and television ("Ike", "Damn Yankees") and, yes, folks, you just might have yourself a keeper here.....Green eyes, too, dudes.

And it Doesn't Matter What He Says, Either

I saw an interesting story on CNN last week (maybe it was 2 weeks ago, I don't quite remember). According to one of their investigative journalists, there are literally warehouses filled with food and supplies down in Haiti. And it's damned just sitting there. I mean, I'm not entirely sure who's supposed to be in charge down there BUT, whoever it is (yeah, I know, it's probably not just one person), there clearly needs to be a change. Hows about this one, folks? Two words - General McChrystal. Yeah, I know that I've already kind of put him in charge of the Gulf and all, but just for a while, I'm saying. Just long enough to stop those poor people from starving, etc.. What do you think?