Betrayed.

There's no other word for it. Civilized Americans have been betrayed by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Earlier today, the House, by a 386 -17 vote, will 11 voting "present", passed H. Res. 893, congratulating....God, it hurts so much to put this in writing...the Evil Empire New York Yankees on their winning the 2009 World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies.

And the worst part of it all? The entire Arizona delegation voted for the resolution, with Democrats Ed Pastor (CD4) and Raul Grijalva (CD7) going so far as to sign on as cosponsors of the resolution.

It was no shock that Flake, Franks, and Shadegg supported the bill - they're Republicans. "Supporting Evil Empires" is a standard GOP campaign plank. Witness their "no" votes on H.R. 3639, the Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act of 2009. That one sets an earlier effective date for some consumer protections regarding credit cards.

However, the fact that Kirkpatrick, Pastor, Mitchell, Grijalva, and Gifford, people who are supposed to be "good guys" (even those who aren't, ya know, *guys*) supported this abomination of a resolution is a complete betrayal of all that is good and right in Arizona, and America.

[Hangs head in shame.]

:)

One note: Pitchers and catchers report in a little over three months. Hope, and hope for redemption, springs eternal.

*Now* spring has finally sprung...

The Red Sox and Yankees have finally played, signifying the real start of the baseball season.

It was all that anyone could ask from three baseball games -

- A Friday night extra inning thriller with one homer to send the game into extra innings and a walk-off HR to end it;

- A Saturday afternoon Fenway slugfest where the starting pitcher's were the teams' aces (sorry Yankees fans - despite his paycheck, CC Sabathia isn't the ace. Yet.)

- And a nationally televised Sunday night series capper that was all manufactured runs (including a straight steal of home!! By a Red Sox player!!!) and gutty pitching by a bunch of rookies (or near-rookies) and an old pro well past his "ace" days. In other words, the complete opposite of the first two games.

About the only thing this series didn't have was a bench-clearing brawl, but it's still early in the season and Alex "Lightning A-Rod" Rodriguez should be back, if not by the time the next time the two teams meet next week then possibly by the time the teams meet in June.

People can talk about ASU/U of A, Cubs/Cardinals, UNC/Duke or any of a dozen of the more storied college FB rivalries, but none of those rivalries holds a candle to the history, passion, or sheer magic when the Red Sox and Yankees play.

Three down, 15 to go. :)

Back to politics tomorrow...

Jim Rice finally reaches the Hall of Fame

In a long-overdue development, one of the Boston Red Sox' all time great players, Jim Rice, finally received enough votes to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

He will be joined by all-time steals leader Rickey Henderson at the July 26 induction ceremony.

While at 15 years his career wasn't quite long enough to produce the eye-popping totals that some HOF voters prefer, during his prime seasons he was as dominanting as any player in history.

His MVP-winning season in 1978 stands as one of the greatest ever. He hit .315, with 46 home runs and 139 RBIs. He also led the league with 15 triples that year, making him the only player to lead baseball in triples, HRs, and RBIs in the same season. Defensively that year, he even had 13 outfield assists while playing left field for the Sox.

This year's balloting was his 15th and last year of eligibility for the Hall's ballot.

The HOF worthiness of his career has long been debated, partly due to the relative brevity of his career and partly due to the contentious relationship that he had with sportswriters (who, not coincidently, vote for HOF candidates). However, when baseball's steroids scandals came to light a few years back, his accomplisments gained stature, culminating in this year's selection.

Congratulations to Jim Rice.

It's about time.

Rice's career stats are available here from ESPN.

Hilllary Clinton: Expected to fail as Secretary of State...

...not because she is unqualified or even simply a bad person, but because of something totally out of her control.

Rush Limbaugh likes her selection as USSOS.

From Newsweek -

Rush Limbaugh has seldom been a fan of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. But the conservative radio pundit has given his blessing to her selection as the next secretary of state.

He calls it "a brilliant stroke" by President-elect Barack Obama, who opposed Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

Rush Limbaugh applauding an appointment/nomination by a Democratic president is like me applauding a free agent signing by the New York Yankees.

As a lifelong Red Sox fan, I only applaud moves by the Yankees that I thnk make them weaker. Something tells me that Limbaugh has a similar (or harsher!) attitude toward Democrats.

Later!

Short Attention Span Musing

...Has the entire MCSO gone rogue? Just a couple of weeks ago, they arrested two journalists from the New Times for publishing less-than-flattering stories about Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas. Now they're arresting civil rights/liberties lawyers.

From AZCentral.com -

The legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona on Sunday said his arrest by Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies at a weekend protest was unwarranted and occurred only after he identified himself as a high-ranking officer with the organization.

Daniel Pochoda showed up at a Saturday demonstration in front of Pruitt's furniture store in east Phoenix to observe interaction between protesters and law enforcement officers, he said. He was there at the request of organizer and activist Salvador Reza, who said Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio uses the deputies to intimidate demonstrators.

Wonder if there is any overlap between the list of deputies involved in the New Times arrests and those involved in the arrest of Mr. Pochuda?


...Continuing on the same issue (the arrest at the immigrant protest),Arpaio had a couple of lines in the last week that very effectively sum up the real priorities of our not-so-esteemed sheriff (emphasis mine) -

From the AZRep -

...but Pochoda refused, said Arpaio, who wasn't at the furniture store during the arrest, but appeared there later to respond to media questions.

From the the Rep's Plugged In piece about some Arpaio protesters at a meeting of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors -

Arpaio sat in the front row, fidgeting and screwing up his face.

"They're calling me a racist, they're calling me a Nazi," he later said, holding court for the media. "I don't understand what's happening with the activists out there, they're getting nasty. I'm not going to be intimidated."

Cameras and microphones - apparently, those are more important to him than the Constitution and our civil rights.

BTW - The guy who arrests journalists and civil rights attorneys and who regularly demonizes immigrants, is calling someone else "nasty"???

Pot, meet kettle...


...This weekend, the AZRep ran an article on AZ's political blogosphere. It wasn't a great article, but it wasn't too bad, either.

The biggest weakness of the article was its focus on the 'insider' nature of some blogs while minimizing the 'outsider' heart of most real blogs (lefty or righty).

From the article -

They're snarky, biased, bulldoggish, funny, harsh and sometimes, hard to ignore.

Arizona's political blogs are growing in number and significance, helping to transform the way insiders relate to the news and to each other.

One thing that I can't argue with is its selection of Espresso Pundit, Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion, and Sonoran Alliance as the three of the preeminent political blogs in the state. (OK, I think Sonoran Alliance is a little *too* insider, frequently simply parroting AZGOP talking points. Still, it is pretty well written.)

I would have included Eli Blake's Deep Thought in the list of notable liberal blogs; he's the best pure writer in the AZ blogosphere. Michael Bryan of Blog for Arizona is really good, too. However, he's a lawyer, and a lawyer never says in a sentence that which can he can say in a page. :)))


...Jon Kyl's latest column/press release/diatribe against Democrats includes a great line -

The 2008 fiscal year began October 1, and yet, Congress has not sent a single appropriations bill to the President. Congress hasn’t been this late in two decades.

I guess that he thinks that "late" counts as worse than "not doing the job at all," since he says nothing at all about how the Republican-controlled Congress failed to even pass a budget, leaving it to the incoming Democratic majority to cobble together some continuing resolutions to fund the federal government this year.


...Tomorrow, the House is expected to vote on the most important piece of legislation of the entire session, HRes782.

Call your Congressman or woman and urge them, in the strongest possible terms, to support it.

Oh, what does HRes782 do?

It expresses "the sense of the House with respect to the Boston Red Sox victory in the 2007 Major League Baseball World Series."

:)))


...Anyway, tonight I picked up a copy of Molly Ivins' last book, "Bill of Wrongs - The Executive Branch's Assault on America's Fundamental Rights" and have some reading to do.

Later!

Red Sox/Indians and Rockies/Diamondbacks in the LCSs

Totally non-political post ahead...

A few quick observations on both of baseball's League Championship Series -


...The two opponents in the NLCS, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies, have played for a combined 24 seasons.

The teams in the ALCS, the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians?

Well over 220 seasons.

I'm not sure what it means (probably nothing), but it's still eye-opening...


...An NLCS matchup between the DBacks and the Rocks? Who would have predicted that in early April?

Hell, who would have predicted that in late August??

I like the DBacks and hope they win (I would *love* to see a Red Sox/DBacks World Series), but I have more than a little admiration for the Rockies.

They were even bigger underdogs than the DBacks; I thought the DBacks were a year and a pitcher away from serious contention, but the Rocks weren't even on the long-range radar.


...Both series should be good ones - in the National League, the Rockies won the regular season series against the DBacks, winning 10 games and losing 8, and they have gotten hot at the right time of the season, but the DBacks have Brandon Webb, Micah Owings and a team that just never gives up.

In the AL, the Indians and the Red Sox entered the playoffs with identical regular season records and both made short work of their first round opponents. They both have strong offenses and solid defenses, and with their short first-round series, rested pitching staffs.

Predictions: DBacks in 6 (Webb is just too much for the Rocks to overcome) and Red Sox in 7 (that's as much wishful thinking as anything else - this pair is *really* evenly matched).


...George Steinbrenner, managing general partner of the New York Yankees, has threatened to fire manager Joe Torre if the Yankees lost their playoff series against the Cleveland Indians.

Tonight, though they made it interesting in the 9th inning with a third deck home run by Bobby Abreu and a monster foul homer by Jorge Posada, the Yankees lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third year in a row.

Now, baseball fans everywhere, not just in New York, are waiting to see if the Boss will carry out his threat.

Steinbrennerwants to fire the man who has led the Yankees to 10 division titles in 12 seasons and 4 World Series titles, the man who has held together a team that in 1998 was considered one of the best teams ever to one that is now better known for its aging pitching staff (Joba-mania notwithstanding) and thin bench, the man who never wilts under the harsh glare of the attention of the New York media and fans?

Whoooo hoooo!!

There is a God in heaven!!

Uncle George and the Bronx Zoo are back and they're loonier than ever!!

Every team in the AL, even the Red Sox, is breathing a little easier tonight.

Later!

Whoooo hoooo!

Totally non-political post ahead...

After the ticked-off rant of my last post, I thought it would be nice to close out the week with something positive -

Congrats to the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs for winning their respective division titles, and to the Arizona Diamondbacks for securing a playoff spot.

...The Red Sox had built up a significant lead through the spring and early summer over their scuffling rivals, the New York Yankees, only to see the Yankees get hot and close the gap in recent weeks.

However, a Friday night win over the Minnesota Twins and a Yankee 10-inning loss to the Baltimore Orioles gave them the division title, knocking the Yankees of that particular perch for the first time in 12 years.

...With a 6 - 0 victory over the Cincinatti Reds, the Cubs, a woeful team at the All-Star break (8 1/2 games out and fading fast), came back from the brink of being a $300 million laughingstock and won the NL's Central division.

...And in a development that no one outside of certain offices at Chase Field could or would have predicted this past spring, the Diamondbacks' 4 - 2 victory over the Colorado Rockies combined with the New York Mets' loss to the Florida Marlins guaranteed that the DBacks will earn at least a wildcard berth in the playoffs.

Congrats to all, and even though I'm a die-hard Red Sox fan, special kudos to the Diamondbacks. Before the season started, the Red Sox, Yankees, and Cubs were all expected to be playoff contenders, if not actually pennant-winners.

The Diamondbacks? ...Nah.

Somehow, though, with 2 games to go in the season, they have the best record in the NL.

I don't want to get ahead of myself, if only because the AL playoff bracket has four teams with at least 92 wins (no pushovers there, certainly), but I would love to see a Red Sox v. Diamondbacks World Series.

Purists might want the Cubs there, but I'm not a Cubs fan. Or a purist. :)

GO RED SOX!! GO DIAMONDBACKS!!

Whoooooo hoooooo!

Red Sox rookie Buchholz no-hits Orioles!

In only his 2nd major league start, rookie Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz threw the 17th no-hitter in franchise history, the 8th at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox scored 10 runs behind Buchholz as he hit one batter, walked three, and struck out nine in a masterful 115-pitch performance.

It doesn't quite make up for the sweep at the hands of the hated, contemptible, vile, despicable, wretched, abominable, craven, [insert your favorite adjective here] Yankees earlier in the week, but it definitely helps. :)

Later!

500th post - Short Attention Span Musing

I had planned to do a significant post in commemoration of my 500th post here, full of wry observations and profound witticisms.

However, it's been a long week, so a normal post will have to do. :))


...Now that Rick Renzi has made his departure official, the race for the Republican nomination can officially start.

Sydney Hay, president of the Arizona Mining Association, threw her hat in the ring this week.

According to her AZGOP press release, she will be campaigning on a platform of lower taxes, privatized education and other public services, Republican ethics, and, of course, 'change.'

I have a suggestion for a campaign plank - "CD1 needs a representative who isn't a wholly-owned subsidiary of an out-of-state corporation! In-state corporations need sweetheart no-bid contracts too!"

Among the recipients of her personal campaign contributions, according to the FEC - Sen. Lindsay Graham, Rep. Mike Pence, Rep. Jeff Flake, and herself (she ran in CD1 in 2002.)

...In a development that only reinforced the point made in the first Random Musings post - perhaps the ethnicity of the targeted groups has changed, as well as general language usage, but otherwise, nothing substantial has changed regarding anti-immigrant fervor in the United States.

In Texas, a native-born citizen of Hispanic ancestry was arrested, jailed, and nearly deported because she has the same name as someone who has been deported in the past.

From the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram -

Texan is jailed as illegal immigrant

A native Texan spent the night in the Arlington Jail, missed her children's first day of school and feared being deported after authorities mistook her for an illegal immigrant.

Alicia Rodriguez, an accountant and mother of three, has the same name and date of birth as a woman deported to Mexico three times.

{snip}

Gilfour said police overlooked fingerprints that would have shown Rodriguez was not the illegal immigrant.

Rodriguez said she does not plan to sue, but apologies do not make up for what she was put through.

"I think it's ridiculous. I think it was obvious that I wasn't an illegal immigrant," she said.

Thanks to jobsanger in Texas for the heads-up on this. He summed it up pretty well in his post when he wrote -

This could have easily been avoided if they had just checked her fingerprints against the known prints of the woman they had her confused with. But they didn't -- they already had their minds made up and didn't want to be confused with facts. After all, she was Hispanic.

...Not that I was ever a fan, but Vince Gill's career fade is painful to watch for anybody who likes any kind of music.

Now he's reduced to doing ads where his backing band is the Fruit of the Loom guys! YouTube video here.

What's next? An off-the-Strip gig in a Vegas dive bar? Hell, working as a judge on a reality show has more dignity than jamming with the Fruit of the Loom guys.

...On the other hand, at least *he's* the one destroying his own legacy; Elvis Presley is probably auditioning for the next "Night of the Living Dead" remake, just for the chance to get his hands on whoever from his estate licensed "Viva Las Vegas" to the makers of Viagra.

The spot, with a bunch of guys in an old barn (or something similar) singing "Viva Viagra" is possibly the creepiest use of a catchy tune. Ever.

That's not the worst of it, either - I can't think about the lyrics to Viva Las Vegas without changing "Las Vegas" to "Viagra."

That may make some marketing exec jump for joy, but the song is just ruined.

YouTube video of the spot here.

...While the story of Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) attempt to pick up an undercover police officer in a public restroom is tabloid tawdry, and watching the strident gay-basher try to spin his hypocrisy is seriously entertaining (in a 'watching an impending train wreck' sort of way), the real fun has been watching the Republicans turn on one of their own.

However, does anybody think that if he was caught with trying to pick up a woman, that this story would have lasted more than 5 minutes in the media, or generated more than a wink and a nudge from his Republican colleagues?

Anybody?

One bright spot in all this? Soon-to-be-ex-Senator Craig's press conference to deny that he is gay (YouTube video here) has totally trounced the infamous meltdown by Miss Teen USA-South Carolina as the "worst recorded public appearance of the week." (YouTube vid of that here.)

...And in the "I suppose I should be flattered at the attention" Department -

Somebody at the ultra-conservative Goldwater Institute spent two hours at this blog on Friday.

Host Name mx.goldwaterinstitute.org
IP Address 68.110.172.111 [Label IP Address]
Country United States
Region Arizona
City Phoenix
ISP Cox Communications
Returning Visits 0
Visit Length 2 hours 8 mins 48 secs

There's no guarantee that whoever it was spent two entire hours reading this blog, but the visit was definitely more than a drive-by.

...It's time for me to burn my "Yankees Suck" t-shirt.

I wore it at the beginning of a 5 game series between the Sox and Yanks in NYC last August, and the Red Sox were swept.

Then I wore it at the beginning of this week's three game set, also in NYC. The Sox were swept again.

IT'S THE SHIRT'S FAULT!! IT MUST MAKE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE!!

:))

...Time for bed...later!

Short attention span musing...

...Is there anyone who truly believes that Paris Hilton's fame and wealth *didn't* impact the LA County Sheriff's decision to let her out of jail early?

Of course, her stay at home may not last long - the judge that originally sentenced her to jail specifically ordered that she NOT be allowed to serve her sentence at home under electronic surveillance. Since that is what the sheriff's department is letting her do, he's called a hearing on the issue for Friday morning.

...She may end up spending only five days in jail for her crime, but if some folks get their way, that 5 more days than Scooter Libby will spend in jail for his crimes.

From News Hounds:

Yesterday (6-6-07) on Special Report, anchor Brit Hume reported on the groundswell of support among Republicans for a Presidential pardon for Scooter Libby. "Scooter Libby had barely left the courthouse yesterday when speculation began about whether President Bush might pardon him," Hume said. "...The subject even came up in last night's Presidential debate."

{snip}

During Tuesday night's debate GOP Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said he thought the sentence was "grossly excessive" and felt that what the judge did "argues more in favor of a pardon." Mitt Romney accused Patrick Fitzgerald of abusing "prosecutorial discretion." Sam Brownback indicated he would pardon Libby.

Leave it to the Republican presidential candidates to make Paris Hilton look responsible, remorseful and reasonable.

...In a macabre milestone, the official U.S. death toll in Iraq passed 3500 today.

Wonder if the congresscritters who voted to continue funding the war without a timeline for withdrawal are hanging their heads in shame yet...

...From the "OK, so maybe things at the lege could be worse" department...

From AP, via Yahoo! News -

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Simmering tensions in the Alabama Senate boiled over Thursday when a Republican lawmaker punched a Democratic colleague in the head before they were pulled apart.

Republican Sen. Charles Bishop claimed that Democratic Sen. Lowell Barron called him a "son of a (expletive)."

"I responded to his comment with my right hand," Bishop said. Alabama Public Television tape captured the punch.

{snip}

Members of the Alabama House said the incident makes the entire Legislature look bad.

"It's certainly a black eye on the Legislature and the Senate in particular," Republican Rep. Jay Love said.

Well, it's a black eye on one legislator, anyway. :)

...From the "Well, even if they aren't slugging each other, things are still pretty bad at our lege" department" -

(Courtesy an emailed Farley-gram - sign up at the link) Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance) had a strike-everything amendment to SB1265 that, among other things, would make the fact that someone speaks Spanish as probable cause to believe that they are in the U.S. illegally. It passed on a voice vote in the House Committee of the Whole (COW) and should come up for third read next week. Rep. Farley (and I expect, many other legislators) hopes that the session runs out before this bill can pass the House, go back to the Senate, and then get through a conference committee to iron out the differences.

...In sports news, former D-Back and current Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling took a no-hitter to two out in the ninth inning before it was broken up by Oakland A's OF Shannon Stewart.

I caught part of this game on ESPN this afternoon (they cut into regular programming for the 9th inning), and while I was hoping that he would get the no hitter, one thought kept sneaking into my mind -

He's already an insufferably arrogant jerk; what will he be like if he ever gets a no-no on his resume?

...In other sports news, congrats to the U of A Wildcats softball team on winning the Women's College World Series yesterday in Oklahoma City.

Here's hoping the ASU baseball team can bookend that with a win in the men's College World Series...

Have a great weekend!

All is right with the world...

Non-political post ahead...

You read that title, and you ask "What is he talking about?"

Isn't BushCheneyCo still in the White House?

Yup.

Aren't U.S. troops still dying by the dozen, and Iraqi civilians still dying by the hundreds, in Iraq?

Yup again.

Isn't Rick Renzi still a free man?

Yup, but there is some progress on that front. He may yet end up where he belongs.

Isn't JD Hayworth returning to public life at KFYI?

Yup, but I don't listen to talk radio, and neither do most of the people I know, so let him spout off on the radio. Talk show hosts don't have franking privileges.


So, with those things and so many other things that are wrong in the world, how can you even think of writing that title?


The Red Sox swept the Yankees.

Yes, it's still only April and there's still over 140 games left in the season, but

The Red Sox swept the Yankees.

Yes, the Sox beat up on the Yankees AA pitching staff, but

The Red Sox swept the Yankees.

Yes, the Red Sox' top three pitchers couldn't stifle the Yankees' offense, even once, but

The Red Sox swept the Yankees.

And yes, the Red Sox visit New York this weekend where the Yankees will be waiting in anticipation of getting a little payback, but...

THE RED SOX SWEPT THE YANKEES.

Later!!

Spring has sprung

Here in central AZ it's sometimes hard to tell, since we never have winter (a couple of days where the high temp only reaches the mid-50s is most definitely NOT winter), but the surest sign of spring unfolded acrossed the valley and all over Florida this week:

Pitchers and catchers reported.

Yes!

Right now, Matsuzaka is worth every penny the Red Sox paid;

Right now, Schilling is poised for a huge comeback year;

Right now, the bullpen-by-committee approach will work for the first time in MLB history;

Right now, JD Drew will stay healthy, or at least start playing through aches and pains;

Right now, the phrase "that's just Manny being Manny" means get ready for 40-120-.310;

and right now Ortiz is adding another yet another entry in his "Best Waiver Wire Pickup Ever" Hall of Fame resume.

Right now, the Yankees aren't in first.

:))

Important dates:

April 20 - 1st regular season game against the Yankees; Fenway Park, 7:05 p.m. Eastern.

September 16 - last regular season game against the Yankees; Fenway Park, time TBD.

Later!