MAUREEN DOWD- ALONE AND BORED IN LEFT FIELD

   I have always loved Maureen Dowd’s caustic, clever, sniping writing style, and had always wanted to date her :-). If I dated her we would be like James Carville and Mary Matalin. But Maureen is so far to the left she stands no chance of ever relating to someone outside of her minuscule world-view, unlike Carville who has moments of clarity and honesty. To call her extreme is an understatement. She is the left’s answer to the right’s Ann Coulter, who should have been committed long ago.

    But enough of the niceties, Maureen's NYT column of Aug 22, 2012, about the Missouri Moron, was a subject that Maureen could have dispatched in three or four sentences. Instead she chose to gush her usual GOP bash-speak, 'as everyone knows', they are “anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-gay...” which is nearly as stupid sounding as the Missouri moron’s statement about which she wrote. Maureen would have us believe that there are no women, immigrants, or gays in the GOP and none of them have mothers, sisters or wives. OY! And then she beat the Missouri Moron and the topic to death to the point of seemingly her and our boredom, all the while attempting, and failing, to draw a connection between the Missouri Moron and Paul Ryan, a conservative that she abhors, which is a redundancy. To her Paul Ryan is nothing more than “a fresh face on a Taliban creed,” oh, really? And the NYT expects anyone with an IQ over 75 to take Maureen seriously? As I wrote recently, to me scary are the voters who read Maureen’s stuff and growl “YEAH, YOU GO GIRL!”

   But expressing her virulent hate for conservatism is what Maureen does and has always done. I’m used to it and expect it from her, much as I expect a consistent flow of senseless economic analysis from Paul Krugman. It’s what the NYT pays them to do, in this case, run interference for the President by changing the subject from the seriousness of a failing economy, a nearly bankrupt health care system, a failed foreign policy, etc, to chasing an insignificant Missouri Moron who is running for the Senate (a less than august body based on its ‘performance’ these past eight years).

   Maureen, in the midst of her diatribe, tried to insert a shameless plug for Obama’s wise words (an oxymoron), his “refreshing assertion” that “a bunch of male politicians shouldn’t be making health care decisions for women.” Nope, the Prez thinks a better idea would be a panel of 15 bureaucrats without a medical degree among them determining the limits of health care an entire nation of 310million should receive. Yeah, that’s a much better idea. It's no wonder he’s President.

    Dowd is not “a” beacon for liberals/progressives, she is “the” beacon. No one is to the left of her, and much like Coulter in right field, Maureen stands alone in left field. But if I hadn’t met Connie, I’d still want to date Maureen. :-)


Albiwan..

RICK REILLY, EAT CROW…(IT TASTES LIKE CHICKEN)…

On July 30, 2011 I wrote a post that pretty much scalded Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly for his July 21st 2011 article tearing Tiger Woods limb from limb because of his personal failings. 
I referred to Reilly as a "shitty critic" and that bottom feeders like Reilly could never be able to understand the genius of someone such as Woods. So, it seems that less than a year later my evaluation of Reilly was spot on and my faith in Woods was not misplaced. Or perhaps I should say that my wish for Woods returning to golf prominence is on the verge of reality.  
FYI, if you wish to read some of Reilly's bilge, excerpts follow below. I took the liberty of commenting on some of his statements (in red ink):

So, Tiger Woods, if and when you return to golf, you need to adjust to a new normal.
New Normal #1: You're a JAG right now -- Just Another Guy. (Who happens to be one of two players that have won twice this year...)

You're not golf's young stud anymore. Not young. Not a stud. Dustin Johnson takes you four out of five in a cage match now. 

It's been three years since you've won a major. Almost two since you've won ... anything. (Tiger won his 73rd tourney two weeks ago at age 36. Jack Nicklaus won his 73rd and last tourney at age 46.) You're 35 years old with a knee that's had four surgeries, an Achilles that's a-killing you, and a golf ball that won't listen. (it's listening now, big mouth...ranked #1 in fairways and #7 greens in regulaion at the Memorial.)

You need to realize that when you come back, you'll no longer scare anybody. (Oh really?, might want to run that one past Rory Sabbatini and Rickey Fowler.) Unlike the old days, you can only win with your clubs now, not your scowl and not your jet and not your caddie, whoever that's going to be. (Joe La Cava is happily on the bag and making more $ this year than Steve Williams.)

Tell me, what do tour players Chris Couch, Marc Leishman and Chris Stroud have in common with you this year? They've all won about the same money and the exact same number of tournaments as you have. Which would be zero. (that's like asking a Peyton Manning how many touchdown passes he'd thrown while on the disabled list, which is ridiculous.)

Anybody scared of those guys?
You're sliding down the world rankings like they're greased. You're 20th now. You're as upside down as NewsCorp stock. (Hey Rick, Tiger's now #4 and rising and with ever step he moves up discredits you further.)PS-NewsCorp stock is trading around $19.50-$20.00/shr., hardly upside down.

So ...

New Normal #2: Get a win wherever you can.

Gone are the days when you're bigger than the Greenbriar or the John Deere or the Honda Classic. When you get back out there, you're going to need off the schneid, bad. If it comes at the Texas Open, take it. Because the truth is, Tiger, you're not above the Texas Open anymore. Pride went out the window two Thanksgivings ago.

New Normal #3: Try a little tenderness.

Take some time with people. Phil Mickelson signs for 20 minutes after every round, Tuesday or Sunday, first place or 100th. On a good month, you do 20 minutes. Try it once. You might like it. (I hope you don't do this to your children, comparing them to those with whom you have a man-crush...very undignified, small.)

Your every moment on a golf course doesn't have to be Elvis being rushed out of the Hilton. Take some time with people. Say hello. Stand on 18 once and watch a guy finish, then shake his hand. It's not going to kill you. Your dad used to do it all the time. (in boxing, this would get one disqualified for a low blow...referencing his dead father is reprehensible.)

New Normal #4: Enough with the emperor act.

Climb down from this ivory tower you live in. Introduce a little transparency into your life. Give an interview once in a while that isn't being timed by your agent standing in the corner. Tweet more than once a month.

Hire a good-guy caddie, like former Scott/Greg Norman bagman Tony Navarro. He's available. Navarro is 51 years old and has seen everything twice. He's not going to let you act like a jackass. You need him. (and you, Rick, need a good psychotherapist.)

New Normal #5: Spread it around a little.

Look, everybody knows you're the cheapest guy on tour. Some people are sure your wallet is sewn shut. I know a car valet in L.A. that you've stiffed so many times, he feels like he's full of embalming fluid. The last time he saw you, he stood in front of the car door, making small talk until you made with a fiver.

Don't be like that. Drop some coin. You'll be surprised how it improves your disposition. Karma does exist, you know.
And one old normal: Go back to the 2000 swing. (Reilly, you arrogant ass. You were telling arguably the greatest player to ever swing a club how to improve his game...and I thought Obama was a narcissistic arrogant ass.)

Enough screwing around. Get the film out and go back to how you swung the golf club when you were the single greatest player in history. Remember when you had all four major trophies on your coffee table at once? You did it with the 2000 swing. It works.

The truth is, Tiger, you're not golf's pope anymore. (appears that he still is. Even Brandel Chamblee, never a fan of Woods, said after Woods win at The Memorial, "Tiger Woods is everything to golf!" You're not divinely entitled to greatness. Wrong again, Rick, Wood's talent is a gift from the gods." Your talent used to forgive your lack of grace. Not anymore.

All you are right now is a guy with injury problems, swing problems and monstrous public-relations problems. You've lost your wife, your swing, your coach, your caddie, your health and your good name, all in 18 months. You may have roughly $500 million, but you're running very low on everything else right about now. (you negative, unhappy loser, you'd trade with Woods in a minute.")

There's a way to get it all back -- humility. (I'd suggest you take a dose of your own prescription."

As a wise man named Gerry McIlroy once said, it doesn't cost anything extra to be nice (Reilly, coming from you, this statement is laughable. Nice?? This diatribe you have written could be the most mean-spirited I have ever read. What you have written is an embarrassment to the good name of Sports Illustrated...you owe your employer, its readers, and Tiger Woods an apology. You should plead temporary insanity, considering what you have written, I think you have a case.      

Prostate Health and Allergy Meds

Please pass this message along to your friends.


Yours truly recently went for my annual physical, which included a blood work-up. All of my numbers, cholesterol, sugar, sodium, etc were in the normal range but I was shocked and frightened by my PSA of 2.3. Previously my PSA was .6. My doctors suggested that I be retested in a month with instructions to abstain from sex for five days prior to the test date. I was quite frightened by the prospect that I might have prostate cancer and then I'm told to give up the male American pastime.  Talk about adding insult to injury!


When I called for an appointment for the re-test the nurse asked about my medications. I mentioned that I had been taking Allegra-D, Claritan and Nasonex inhaler for several years whereupon she informed me that allergy medications can have a significant effect on PSA test results. I immediately stopped the medications, which meant that I would have been off the meds for almost three weeks prior to the PSA re-test.


The result...my PSA dropped from 2.3 down to .8!!! Although there were warnings that the meds could cause difficulty with urination to my knowledge there was nothing in the medications' literature that warned of the negative side effect on a PSA score. And thank goodness for that nurse because neither of my doctors connected elevated PSA with allergy meds. Makes me wonder how many re-tests and even biopsies were taken needlessly.

Be well,
Albiwan

Obama called out by Thomas Friedman- pass the smelling salts.

Thomas Friedman Op-Ed NYT 11/23/11. Go Big Mr. Obama.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/opinion/friedman-go-big-mr-obama.html?hp

I read Friedman’s article (link above) twice and came to the same conclusion twice. Prominent liberals, or at least Friedman speaking for them is very frustrated by Obama’s presidency and T.F. finally tells Obama he's not wearing any clothes. Pass the smelling salts! What I also concluded is that 80-90% what Friedman wrote is what I have been writing here for as long as Obama has been on the national scene as a candidate and president.

For me, and for Friedman and Buffett, Obama’s tragic flaw, his judgment, has been politically motivated, i.e., focused on re-election. O has had his opportunities to make a huge difference for the country but as Friedman wrote, O “didn’t want to take the political risk,” even when accepting the recommendations of Simpson/Bowles would have made Obama a hero to the electorate, he balked. Had he accepted the commission’s recommendations he’d have locked up his re-election then and there, and no one would be watching the GOP candidate’s circus.

Recall, I never agreed with any of Obama’s policies from the beginning but that does not mean I wanted his presidency to fail. I thought that once he began to see the negative effects of his policies he would revise them with movement to the middle. He did no such thing; instead he moved even more stubbornly to the left, which increased the chasm between Democrats and GOP. Obama did this of his own volition and no one else can be blamed. This was a judgment call on his part, and it becomes more evident every day that his judgment was, to be kind, unwise. Apparently, Friedman agrees with me.

It's hard to express how heartening it is for me to see a Thomas Friedman and a Warren Buffett finally speak out and state objectively that O has messed up. I hope Obama and his people read Friedman’s article and take it seriously enough to begin to change the course of the nation in which almost 80% think the country is on the wrong track. It’s Obama’s locomotive and he is the conductor and where he steers it is totally up to him. Friedman almost pleadingly lays out what is necessary for Obama to get the US back on the right track and I agree with his appraisal. No one needs a president to fail. In this case if Obama does fail the cause will once again be his own poor judgment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/opinion/friedman-go-big-mr-obama.html?hp

Occupy Wall Street and the "news" media..

It appears that FOX is portraying the Occupy Wall Street protestors as an ignorant/stupid, bigoted, unwashed, misguided rabble that is without a clear cut platform, a portrayal similar to that of the MSNBC/CNN portrayal of the TEA Party prior to the 2010 elections.
FOX anchors/personalities say the Democrats are attempting to position the OWS protestors as the liberal answer to the TEA Party. FOX has had Democrat pollsters on air who contend that it would be harmful to Obama’s reelection chances and will also damage the Democrat party to be aligned with the OWS protestors.

MSNBC is taking a page out of the FOX game plan for supporting the TEA Party by showing the best side of the OWS protestors. I have watched a lot of the coverage on MSNBC and CNN and am not clear on how the networks are attempting to portray the OWS protestors aside from aligning them with the President’s message that the top 1% is not paying its fair share but if they were legislated to do so the additional revenue (taxes) would go a long way toward solving the deficit problem.

Interesting poll today showed that the Occupy Wall Street target, the bankers, comprise only 14% of the top 1% of the wealthiest. Corporate execs comprise 35%. 8-9% was in medical field (I think). 39% was in a category called “other.” My logic would say the protestors should Occupy the US Congress. Also, median net worth of a member of the Congress is just under $1million. Your Congress serves itself. Congress is killing us.

By the way, another random poll of 200 of the OWS protestors calculated that 15% were unemployed. Stay tuned. And if you have absolutely nothing to do tonight and want to have fun, watch Matthews or Maddow on MSNBC and then watch Hannity on FOX. You will think you are watching events taking place in two different countries.

Albiwan..

H.L. Menken was Correctamundo!

One hundred and thirty years later, H.L. Menken continues to be prescient with his famous quote "no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." Presently we are learning a lot about the current mental stability and acuity of the people of the US. Herman Cain is actually beating O in the latest poll. Strange times.

I continue to believe the media is at the root of the general confusion surrounding politics. Chris Jansing "news" this morning did a report on the Occupy Wall Street protest. In a one minute video MSNBC's "news producers" managed to avoid showing ANY signs or posters carried by the protestors. So Jansing's viewers are unaware of the "Down with Capitalism" and "Down with Zionist Wall Street Bankers" signage carried by the protestors. The "news" video showed no pictures of tent cities nor were any protestors interviewed. The Wall Street protest, which has accounted for several hundred arrests, looked like a church picnic.

I guess "News" is in the political eye of the producer and ultimately the beholder. Yet many MSNBC viewers "will never watch FOX" and many who watch FOX "will not watch MSNBC or CNN." The mindset seems to be "I like what I choose to believe and don't confuse me with facts or another point of view. I'm not interested nor do I want to form my own opinion. I'm comfortable with what I like and I trust Chris Jansing or I trust Hannity" to inform me.

And so Herman Cain is beating Obama, and by the way, this isn't an endorsement for either. And, H.L. Menken is correctamundo!

Albiwan..

Sent from my iPhoney

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN BARACK?

Well, the best that can be said about the President's latest plan to save the United States' economy is that he finally showed up. Laissez faire has been Obama's governmental style as relates to the Congress, and that style has not produced good government. For the past two years it was as if Obama didn't want to work hard; he'd rather politic and campaign. O was on the verge of being Nero...the Congress and country were burning and he was out fiddling around.

But that was the past. All that matters now is that the President is back with a vengeance. He's been loud, almost over the top but his message has been lost in all the noise.Perhaps the noise was by design. It's just as well because since details of the grand plan have been undressed from the rhetoric, once again we realize the emperor is quite naked, a state we have already witnessed and with which we are indifferent if not terribly bored.

The good news is that the President showed up. The bad news is that the President showed up.

Albiwan..