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February 2004
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March 3, 2004 [LINK]

No more artificial additives?

Less than a month remains until the "Opening Day" game between the Yankees and Devil Rays in the Tokyo Dome... Will Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi have as bulky biceps this year as they did last year??? What about Barry and Sammy? The fact that the MLB Players' Association is dragging their collective heels on the new drug testing policy speaks volumes about the state of the sport these days. In today's Washington Post (registration now required), Tony Kornheiser writes that the players are basically running the show, using Commissioner Bud Selig as a meek figurehead while they set the basic terms in policy. To this I merely repeat my contention that this case of severely imbalanced market forces is the direct consequence of the huge public subsidies to baseball franchises, through stadium deals and other under-the-table concessions.

This spring training season takes some getting used to, with so many familiar faces in unfamiliar uniforms: A-Rod, Sheffield, and Lofton for the Yanks, Schilling for the Red Sox, Maddux for the Cubs, and Pudge Rodriguez for the Tigers. "Who's on first," again??


February 3, 2004 [LINK]

Edwards wins in South Carolina

John Edwards just won the South Carolina primary, so the race goes on, at least for the moment. Wesley Clark is in a dead heat with Edwards in Oklahoma, so he will stay in the race against Kerry as well. Meanwhile, Howard Dean is running a poor fourth in most races, and appears dead as a doornail. I remember the bitter disillusion of college kids who "went clean for Gene" McCarthy back in 1968, and I hope today's Generation Dean kids don't do likewise. Good old Joe Lieberman has bowed out of the race, which is a shame since he really represents the conscience of the Democratic Party these days. So, we've still got three viable candidates. The press has a deep vested interest in prolonging the Democratic primary season for as long as possible, which is fine with me. I don't mean to get nasty or anything, but I was reading in yesterday's Washington Post about Edwards' meteoric career rise as an aggressive overconfident trial lawyer in the Tarheel State,* and the image of the fresh-faced, hyper-ambitious character played by Keanu Reeves in Devil's Advocate came to mind. Nah, it couldn't be...

* Condolences to Carolina Panthers fans. Their team made a great showing against the Patriots on Sunday, beating the spread and almost winning outright. It occurred to me that the last two versions of Mac OS X (10.2 Jaguar and 10.3 Panther) have been named after feline predators who are also mascots of NFL expansion teams in the southeast. What is the meaning of this?

NOTE: This is a "post facto" blog post, taken from the pre-November 2004 archives.


February 6, 2004 [LINK]

Stadium on D.C. waterfront?

At a meeting in Washington this week, D.C. government officials showed MLB honchos a much better baseball stadium site: near the southwest waterfront. It's a pleasant area, with several fine restaurants, and, more importantly, is closer to us fans on the south side of the Potomac than any of the other proposed sites in D.C.! Arlington withdrew from the stadium picture last summer, but I wonder if officials in Alexandria have contemplated having a stadium built on the West End of their fine city? That area has convenient access to Metro, the Beltway, and is close to the Landmark shopping mall and a dense urban high-rise apartment district. Not a perfect site, but at least it wouldn't be in a suburban wasteland.

Many thanks to Mr. Roy Sorice, who explained to me the reason that the Chicago Bears played in the cramped quarters of Wrigley Field all those years was because Soldier Field was such an inhospitable white elephant, until it was finally renovated in 1971, that is. Before that, its main uses were hosting "midget auto races and the college all star game..." (That was before my time, I'm afraid.) Keep those historical tips comin' in, sports fans!


February 8, 2004 [LINK]

Russert grills Bush on Iraq

President Bush made a special appearance on Meet the Press today, and did a fairly good job of explaining the decision to go to war against Iraq. His tone was friendly and open, though he often strained to make his points. Tim Russert asked pointed questions but respectfully refrained from the tough grilling to which he usually subjects his guests. Those critics of Bush who are obsessed with wanting to know the "real" reason for going to war are likely to remain frustrated, however. Ironically, the main problem with trying to convince the skeptics is that there were just so many compelling reasons to get rid of Saddam once and for all that it's hard to focus on any single reason. I think emphasizing weapons of mass destruction was a big mistake, but that's in retrospect. In any case, there was no remaining peaceful alternative to accomplishing the goal of removing Saddam, to which leaders of both parties were already committed. I just wish the President would take the deficit more seriously; it might help to regain public trust.

Among the "wacko" wing of the war critics, I saw Noam Chomsky on CSPAN boldly predicting that Osama bin Laden would be captured right before the Democratic convention in August. He thinks the CIA already knows where bin Laden is, and we could capture him any time we wanted. Sheesh!

NOTE: This is a "post facto" blog post, taken from the pre-November 2004 archives.


February 16, 2004 [LINK]

A-Rod to the Bronx!

Nearly two months after the Red Sox failed to close a deal that would have brought Alex Rodriguez to Boston, the Yankees have pulled off the trade of the century, getting A-Rod for Alfonso Soriano, who was one of the Yankees' youngest rising stars. (Too bad he's leaving.) Apparently, Rodriguez will be playing at third base, which must make incumbent shortstop Derek Jeter feel appreciated. (His performance suffered due to a wrist injury early last year.) Today Commissioner Selig approved the A-Rod deal, which most experts believe dooms any hope for Boston to mount a serious pennant race or post-season challenge to the Yankees this year. Don't forget, sports fans, raw payroll size is NOT sufficient to win world championships. (It does smooth the path to the postseason, however.)


February 21, 2004 [LINK]

Orioles (+), Braves (-)

Peter Angelos is feeling pretty upbeat about his team, apparently convinced that the "threat" of the Expos moving to Washington has greatly diminished. He says that is what has given him the confidence to beef up his payroll... The Washington Post had one of their online chat forums last Wednesday, and I got the following response to my query:

Staunton, Va.: What is going on with the Atlanta Braves letting their best players go elsewhere? After all the post season disappointments of recent years, is their ownership just giving up?

David Sheinin: The Braves definitely are slicing payroll. Looks like they've lopped off about $15 million this winter, by letting Maddux, Sheffield and Javy Lopez go. When I talked to their GM, John Schuerholz, a few weeks ago, he said ownership simply came to the conclusion it could not keep operating in the manner they had been accustomed to.

February 21, 2004 [LINK]

Gay marriage rampage!

Thanks to judicial activism, the Left has got its foot in the door on yet another crucial and divisive issue, bypassing the legislative branch and creating a fait accompli. Hundreds of same-sex couples have already gotten "married" in San Francisco, while legal challenges go on. To me, the "right to marry" is just another one of those vacuous absurdities that gets taken seriously in modern America. "Why not? What harm could it do?" Well, I guess we'll see... For a thoughtful and very fair-minded take on the whole issue, read what Donald Sensing has to say.

So, is it any wonder that President Bush got fed up with months of stalling by Senate Democrats and made another bench appointment of a conservative judge? For the time being, William Pryor will serve on the Federal appeals court for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta. He is on record as being strongly opposed to abortion. Cultural warriors to the ramparts!

In yesterday's Washington Post (access to the Web pages of which now requires registration), Charles Krauthammer notes the irony that one of the leading Bush-bashers, presumptive Democratic nominee, John Kerry, is warning of a coming Republican "smear campaign." Krauthammer lists some of Kerry's biggest policy flip-flops:

As Krauthammer says, talk about chutzpah! As of now, Kerry looks very strong, and there is no doubt he will milk the "chicken hawk" argument for all it's worth, but he obviously has a lot to be defensive about.

JOKE (I forget the source): Captive ex-tyrant Saddam Hussein is reported to have declared that Howard Dean's withdrawal from the presidential race has not made America any more secure. Smile

NOTE: This is a "post facto" blog post, taken from the pre-November 2004 archives.


February 22, 2004 [LINK]

Nader to run for president

Ralph Nader just announced on Meet the Press that he is going to run for president this year, as an independent. Frankly, I was a bit surprised by this, since I figured he was among those for whom defeating Bush is the Top Priority. I always used to give Nader credit for being an honest, if often misguided, policy activist (for example, see his League of Fans Web site), but I'm starting to wonder. After hearing his stale rants to Tim Russert today, I'm inclined to agree with those who think that Ralph is mostly on an ego trip, looking forward to playing the role of electoral spoiler once again. Even the Green Party has disowned him, apparently. True, as he says, John Kerry is more closely tied to entrenched financial interests than any other candidate today, but Nader's contention that American voters haven't been given an adequate range of choices in terms of presidential candidates this year is just absurd. Dennis Kucinich? Al Sharpton?? What more do you want? Vive la différence!

NOTE: This is a "post facto" blog post, taken from the pre-November 2004 archives.


February 25, 2004 [LINK]

Cheaper D.C. Stadium?

According to the Washington Post, Washington, D.C. officials have come up with a revised, less expensive stadium proposal so that the prospective baseball franchise owner -- Fred Malek, to be precise -- would have more funds available to pay the franchise fee, which will probably include a hefty premium to Mr. Angelos, who considers that a team in Washington would be "an affront" to Baltimore. Talk about chutzpah!


February 25, 2004 [LINK]

Bush urges marriage amendment

President Bush has called for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, which would thereby forbid any marriages of homosexual couples. In my opinion, tampering with the Constitution for such a purpose is almost as absurd as the notion of homosexual marriage itself. Established social institutions are not any more subject to legislation than they are to judicial or executive fiat, and the proposed amendment would probably backfire. To his credit, Governor Schwarzenegger, who followed Ralph Nader on Meet the Press last Sunday, made clear his opposition to the illegal "marriages" taking place up in Frisco, but he didn't seem to know what he was going to do to stop them. It turns out that Vice President Cheney's daughter Mary is openly lesbian, and gay rights groups are trying to persuade her to stand up for their cause. It reminds me that it no longer seems to be enough for gays to be merely tolerated; many are apparently so insecure about their lifestyle that they crave an explicit affirmative endorsement by society. In my view, "Live and let live" does not mean that we are obliged to approve of how other folks live.

NOTE: This is a "post facto" blog post, taken from the pre-November 2004 archives.


February 29, 2004 [LINK]

Rosie O'Donnell's gay marriage

Now that abrasive comedienne Rosie O'Donnell has tied the knot with her "significant same" (!), any further resistance to gay marriage is apparently futile. What would die-hard traditionalists have the courts do, hold a mass annulment hearing? This is just too weird... The Constitution requires each state to give "full faith and credit" to the legal instruments of other states, so you folks out in South Dakota better shape up and get with the 21st Century program! By the way, the argument that only through marriage can same-sex couples qualify for Social Security survivor benefits, etc. reinforces the point that the long-term trend toward ever-increasing government benefits (which President Bush recently endorsed) exercerbates political frictions by centralizing the locus of moral judgment. Ironically for the "progressives," this makes a truly pluralistic society almost impossible, and hastens the March Toward Collectivism. Conform or be cast out!

NOTE: This is a "post facto" blog post, taken from the pre-November 2004 archives.


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