Fast Eddie Gone

Today it was announced that Paul Newman passed away at age 83. What a great actor. Hard to believe he didn't garner more Oscars. Newman was a flaming liberal. He was so liberal that he ended up on Nixon's "enemies list", an honor of which he was most proud. But there's one thing about him that stood out to me. That was his generosity. Unlike some libs I know, Newman spent his own money on his charitable causes. His "Newman's Own" food products are common place. We use some of them on the Marshall Art estate. All the profits went to charity and reports are that this one venture resulted in donations of more than $175 million. He also established camps for kids with cancer in several states and Europe. That's a man who gave, and he gave directly. May he rest in God's Peace.

View This!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH--o

A Good One

I heard this today on the Sandy Rios radio show in my area. A caller was speaking of the debate and McCain's decision to suspend his campaign to focus on the financial mess. The caller, an elderly black woman, was commenting on Obama's desire to NOT postpone or cancel the debate tomorrow. She asked if Obama intended to show up by himself, to which Sandy had no answer. Then the woman says, "If he does, it'll be an empty suit debating an empty chair." I'm glad I was stopped for a train or I might have run off the road.

Just To Clear Things Up...

There have been, since news of Palin's daughter's pregnancy, comments regarding such an event happening at all, given the political and religious leanings of the hot governor. Alan Colmes mentioned it to Dick Morris just the other night. The crux of the biscuit is that because one speaks on social issues from a particular perspective, that one must never fall short of the ideals of that perspective and should that one falter, the faltering proves the worthlessness of that perspective. The problem is, of course, that one never spoke of one's own ability to inhabit perfection, but only that the perspective presented represents a higher ideal from which we would all benefit should everyone adhere. Indeed, another risk of faltering is to then be labelled a hypocrite for engaging in behavior said to be taboo.

Neither of these is accurate of course. We on the right are every bit as subject to temptation as anyone else. It's just that we don't pretend our shortcomings give us justification to redefine right and wrong as they have been traditionally understood. We don't pretend there is anything so drastically different about the human condition in this day and age that does so either.

And we don't claim perfection. At best, we only hope to emulate perfection as closely as humanly possible, knowing full well that perfection is unattainable and that as human beings we fall woefully short.

None of which has anything to do with proclaiming messages regarding family values and the like. Those messages are sound and the consequences of adherence or ignorance are obvious for all honest people to see. That won't change no matter how many people there are who believe that they can "change the rules".

And what of hypocrisy? That's the easy part. If one preaches "do good" without any intention of doing so himself, that's hypocrisy. If one preaches "do good" and intends himself to live the message but at some point succumbs to temptation, that is human failing. Far more than the former is the latter likely to feel shame as a result for the latter still believes in the message and knows of its truth, a truth rejected by the former.

Palin has been victimized in this typical manner. It's a minor thing when taking into account her entire experience since accepting McCain's invitation. It is a ploy and a very weak one, but one that annoys me with its transparency whenever it's played.

Like I Said, There's Football.

What's with this Desean Jackson idiot? If I were coaching the Eagles, I'd fine that jerk 10K for such a stupid, pathetic, self-promoting and egotistical jackass move. It's bad enough they feel the need to perform stupid end-zone celebrations, but shouldn't the children get into the end zone first? He cost the team 6. And no, it doesn't matter that Westbrook punched it in on the next play. The kid's still a jackass and he still deserves a fine.

So Blamin' gets braggin rights and I gets gaggin rights. Damn Bears. I gotta little advice for Lovie: how 'bout adjusting at half time? How about trying to figure how the opponent will adjust to you?! Damn Bears. I hope they don't waste that Matt Forte kid. He don't run like no rookie.

So who's this Brett guy they used to have in Green Bay? I think these guys are the youngest team in the NFL. A good nucleus of dudes up dare, ya hey.

Minnesota and Detroit. BWa ha ha ha ha. Same ole' same ole'. Damn Bears.

That's it for my division. How bout yours? Oh yeah. Cowboys suck!

Of Course, There's Football

Today I witnessed a wonderful thing. The Chicago Bears b-slapped the Indianapolis Colts. It was beautiful. After the torture of watching their pre-season comedy skits, they came out and played like the Bears we all hope to see every stinkin' year. Though their first series began horribly, they ended up controlling clock with the fine running of rookie running back Matt Forte. He's the first rookie to start the first game of a season since Sweetness, Walter Payton did it. But Walter carried 8 times for no yards. Forte ran about 20 times for around 120 yds. and a TD. Kyle Orton didn't dazzle, but he made no mistakes and ran the offense in a more than competent manner, which was made to look relatively easy through the fine work of a make-shift O-line. If Forte can run like this throughout the season, the defense won't be overworked, and they can beat the crap out of opponents like they did tonight. And as long as Devin Hester doesn't make any more bonehead plays by being overly cocky, our special teams will continue to be as special as they have been for quite a while. Next week, at Carolina. We'll see.

In the meantime, both Chicago baseball teams are in first place in their respective divisions. The Cubs have been losing a lot, but so have Milwaukee and St. Louis (thanks guys). And the Sox have been spinning their wheels and though they've gotten a bit of breathing room (2.5 games in front since this morning. Didn't see anything baseball related today), they've basically been matching the Twins loss for loss and win for win. That's OK as long as we're in 1st. Tough break losing Carlos Quentin's bat for a while. Prolly won't be back until deep in playoffs. (36 HR/100RBI) Both teams in the playoffs would be way cool. The deeper they go, the cooler it will be.

Sports are cool.

Books Galore

This is depressing. I go over to Geoffrey's place to answer his challenge. I read the freakin' Greenwald piece (gag) and compose a thoughtful and insightful response, only to inadvertently delete it. I hate when that happens. So now I have to do it all over again.

Later.

For now, just to have something to post, I've decided to talk about the books I'm reading.

To begin, I had four books going at one time; not a usual situation for me. When we vacationed in Charleston, I took Moby Dick and found it a bit of a slog. As if it would help, I also had The Federalist on hand. That takes a bit of work. We had gone to Patriot's Point to check out the USS Yorktown and arrange a Ft. Sumter visit and whilst checking out the large gift shop there, I was checking out the book aisle. A gentleman hands one to me saying, "This is the only book you need to buy." His name was Dr. Art Schmitt and the book was his. A War With No Name-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder-A Survivor's Story told his tale of his three tours of Viet Nam very early in the conflict and his subsequent dealings with his PTSD. Here's how this chopper pilot dealt with it: he became a doctor of psychology. He seemed a real nice guy, signed my book, asked how I wanted him to sign it. I felt awkward in his presence and let him know his signature was more than enough for me. I had done a quick scan of the book whilst waiting in checkout and was immediately humbled. He signed it when I went back to him to let him know I did indeed buy it.

So Schmitt's book put Moby and Hamilton (et al) on hold until I got home. Started reading Melville again and what came in the mail, but Newt's book, Real Change. I highly recommend this book. Newt lays out excellent ideas for turning our country around that I haven't heard from either party. His American Solutions web site discusses the ideas as well.

So I still have Moby and the Fed to finish, though the Fed might take awhile. But then I recall that on the shelf I have Ed Meese's book on Reagan, and a neighbor gave me a copy of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and just this past weekend, a friend left a copy of Skydog-The Duane Allman Story by Randy Poe. As if that wasn't enough, I take the daughter to Barnes & Noble and her book of choice was not available, but I find a buy two get one free selection of John Adams by David McCullough (which I had wanted), Benjamin Franklin-An American Life by Walter Isaacson, and The Language of God by Dr. Franci S. Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, who I believe I heard interviewed on Michael Medved's show. I'll be busy for a while. What are YOU reading?

Oops! Almost forgot. I never made it to The Last of The Mohicans, either.