114174323843584263
By Jeff Fecke | March 7, 2006
Caucusus!
Yes, it’s caucus day. First off, if you’re at all sane, please, go to your caucuses. DFLers, Republicans, Greens, and IPers all could stand the addition of smart, sane, non-crazy people, and if that describes you, go–especially if you’re one of those people who thinks the parties are all out of touch.
If this is your first caucus, don’t fret–these things are easy. You’re a lock to move on as a delegate, and at this point, it’s likely you won’t even have to support a candidate. In the unlikely event you have to, setting yourself up as “Uncommitted/Uncommitted” for Governor and Senator should do the trick.
One word of advice–the die-hards tend to take caucuses far more seriously than, say, brain surgery or thermonuclear war. Don’t let it faze you. It isn’t.
As For Me…
At this point, I plan to go as a delegate for Steve Kelley, Amy Klobuchar, and Sharon Marko. Mike Hatch is probably more electable, and Kelly Doran is probably more my ideological counterpart. But Doran seems like an opportunist to me–the switch from senate to governor seems, well, odd to me. And Hatch–I just don’t like Mike Hatch, and I swore after Kerry ‘04 that I’d never back a candidate based solely on electablility. I like Becky Lourey, but as a legislator; that leaves Kelley, who’s solid. Bad news, Steve–in 1990, I would’ve backed Hatch over Perpich, in 1994, I backed Anyone But Marty, and in 1998 I cast my primary vote for Mike Freeman. Fecke jinx in full effect.
Amy Klobuchar gets the nod over Ford Bell in my book for a variety of reasons. She’s a politician, first of all–she’s run for and won races. That matters. She’s a she, which isn’t a major factor for me (see: Lourey, Becky), but as a good liberal is a tiebreaker. And she’s more moderate than Bell, and at the end of the day, I am a moderate.
As for Marko, I know, it’s heresy for me to support her over Colleen Rowley. Rowley’s swell, she has great name recognition, but she hasn’t really done a whole lot to convince me that she means to put up a strong fight. Look, the second is undoubtedly hostile territory for Democrats. If you’re going to win, you have to work hard. Marko shows signs of understanding that.
Topics: Uncategorized/Old Blog Stuff | No Comments »
114173979037593175
By Jeff Fecke | March 7, 2006
Batting Third, the Right Fielder, Number 34….
Kirby Puckett was not a perfect man. He was flawed in the way so many professional athletes–and for that matter, men in general–are. His reputation, which had been flawless in this town, was tarnished somewhat by these revelations; we wanted Kirby to be as flawless off the field as he was on it, as good a person in private as he seemed to be in public.
No, Kirby was flawed like everyone else, perhaps a bit more, perhaps a bit less. But much as we may wish our sports heroes to be the people we want them to be, in the end, what they owe us is to perform on the field of play–to hustle, to try their best, to work as hard as they can, to win.
By that measure, there can be no doubt–Kirby Puckett gave everything he had to the game of baseball and the fans in Minnesota, and his too-short twelve-year career gave Minnesota its greatest moments in sport in its history, and the greatest athlete ever to grace a Minnesota sports franchise–Bronko Nagurski and George Mikan notwithstanding.
As we look back on Kirby Puckett’s career, fans can’t help but remember the first-pitch, bottom-of-the-eleventh home run in game six of the ‘91 world series–a dramatic punctuation mark in a game Puckett willed his team to win. Perhaps others will remember more the catch Puck made against the wall to rob Ron Gant of extra bases to send the game into extra innings.
But for me, the memory I’ll always have of Puckett was of the thousands of times he grounded out. He never lollygagged, never jogged to first on a routine grounder. He ran it out, hard, every time. Maybe the shortstop bobbles the ball, or throws wide. You never know.
He played the game hard, like it was meant to be played, like he actually cared about more than what his contract guaranteed or who was offering him what endorsement deal. He gave everything he could for his team and his town, and that’s all we as fans can ask.
Kirby Puckett died last night at the age of 45. Thanks, Kirby. Touch ‘em all.
Topics: Uncategorized/Old Blog Stuff | No Comments »
114167770655683178
By Jeff Fecke | March 6, 2006
Pictures of Pandas Painting Pictures
The Editors have noticed the ineffable stupidity of the wingnutty professor:
The press had better hope we win this war, because if we don�t, a lot of people will blame the media. [�]
Others write that if we lose the war it won�t be the press�s fault, but the fault of Chimpy McHitlerburton. Well, maybe. But even so, that won�t change the fact that a press that looks in many ways as if it�s rooting for defeat won�t make an appealing scapegoat for a lot of people. Given the press�s concern for how it�s perceived in various communities, you�d think it would care enough to avoid being perceived as unpatriotic by the patriotic-American community. Yet the exquisite sensitivity that we see in other settings is not so apparent here.
Dang liberals! Blaming the President for a war he started and prosecuted in conjunction with a Congress controlled by his own party. How could they, when clearly it’s all the media’s fault?
My God, it’s full of stars stupidity!
Or as The Editors say:
The idea the President of the United States may bear the actual responsibility for the failure of this war, while possibly true, is dismissed with a wave. The real problem is that (with the active encouragement of people like Glenn Reynolds some people may perceive that the press is to blame � because the press made others perceive the wrong perception of the war! We�ve moved from images now to images of images of images. Very meta. It�s hard to imagine how the wingnuts can place still less value on reality, but they always seem to manage.
Reality, schmeality. We have always been at war with East Asia Eurasia. We love Big Brother.
Topics: Uncategorized/Old Blog Stuff | No Comments »
114166633949495963
By Jeff Fecke | March 6, 2006
Step by Step, Heart to Heart, Left Right Left, We All Fall Down….
Like toy soldiers.
Topics: Uncategorized/Old Blog Stuff | 1 Comment »
114165556674878836
By Jeff Fecke | March 6, 2006
What He Said
My friend Don’s heterosexual man-crush on George Clooney will only deepen thanks to this.
Topics: Uncategorized/Old Blog Stuff | No Comments »
114165336183678677
By Jeff Fecke | March 6, 2006
Don’t Want Kids? Don’t Have Sex.
That may be a good line to use on fifteen-year-olds. Though I was fifteen, and I don’t think I would’ve thought things through that well.
But it’s the dumbest thing ever to suggest to married adults. Amanda sums up better than I can:
That last sentence there made me nearly spit out my drink in astonishment. Nothing is going to happen? Nothing? I�m trying to imagine the average woman telling her husband or boyfriend that she�s done with sex now that she�s had as many children as she wants, and whether or not that would result in nothing happening.
Well, no! Duh, he’d go get a mistress. ‘Cause that’s good for marriage. And she’d be sexually unfulfilled forever. But she’s a woman, so who cares?
Once more, with feeling: sex is generally a good thing. Like any good thing, from fire to single-malt scotch to the internet to chocolate malts to interior decorating, it can be overdone and it can have unfortunate consequences.
But the fact that sex has consequences sometimes doesn’t mean it is something that must be avoided unless one wants a child. Especially since I don’t often hear that argument being made to men.
Topics: Uncategorized/Old Blog Stuff | 1 Comment »
114165206312815585
By Jeff Fecke | March 6, 2006
Is Hindrocket Nuts?
I think that’s an affirmative. (Incidentally, given the chance to correct the record–he didn’t. Yay, self-correcting blogosphere!)
Topics: Uncategorized/Old Blog Stuff | No Comments »
114140647838077959
By Jeff Fecke | March 3, 2006
TMV: Heckuva Job, Brownie
Well, in fairness to Brownie, he certainly seemed to be a tad more engaged than Dear Leader. That doesn’t mean he was the right guy for the job–he wasn’t. But it does mean that we should remember that in this administration, the person least competent in his job is the one who we “re”elected in 2004.
Topics: Uncategorized/Old Blog Stuff | No Comments »
114140591819760998
By Jeff Fecke | March 3, 2006
The New Timmy Slogan!
From Mr. Sponge: “He’s a nice guy; we’ll let it slide.” Well, it worked for Bush in 2004.
Topics: Uncategorized/Old Blog Stuff | No Comments »
114140377717508701
By Jeff Fecke | March 3, 2006
In Which Mitch Berg Departs from Reality
Damn, but it’s hard when everything you’ve said in the last three years turns out to be wrong. Mitch Berg is at that point, and it never shows more than in this comment:
I caught the Fox reference. Fox *news* is not a whole lot farther to the right than ABC.
As Jonathan Swift once noted, “you can’t reason someone out of something they didn’t reason themselves into.” At this point, about all that’s left for Mitch by way of news coverage is to watch Steven Colbert unironically and listen to the Hugh Hewitt show. That’s what happens when reality gets so bad that even FOX can’t rescue it.
Topics: Uncategorized/Old Blog Stuff | 1 Comment »
114140124309377262
By Jeff Fecke | March 3, 2006
Whatcha Gonna Do When Roger L. Simon Comes for You?
Ooh, that wascally MSM! They cover Robert Byrd and don’t talk about his membership in a certain organization:
Robert Byrd, the longest-serving member of the Senate, counts only a few regrets in his 47-year career: filibustering the 1964 Civil Rights Act, voting to expand the Vietnam War and backing airline deregulation….Only a “few” regrets indeed. Missing from this article is the biggest one all of all – membership in the Ku Klux Klan. That’s like leaving out membership in the Nazi Party. How do we take these people seriously?
Yeah! Pwned! Never once in an article on Byrd’s regrets about his 47 years in political office did they mention that he belonged to the KKK. Bias!
Oh, I suppose it could also be because Byrd left the KKK at least 55 years ago, and certainly before he ran for office for the first time. That would make it not exactly part of his career. But that would be crazy talk!
(Incidentally, I’m far from a Robert Byrd fan, and his experience with the KKK was shameful and despicable. But come on.)
Topics: Uncategorized/Old Blog Stuff | 1 Comment »
Nothing to See Here
By Jeff Fecke | March 3, 2006
Just the Antarctic ice sheet melting:
The Antarctic ice sheet is losing mass, according to scientists using data from a pair of satellites orbiting the globe. This is the first time scientists have been able to survey the entire ice blanket. The study confirms prior studies that the sheet is melting.
The Antarctic ice sheet is responsible for 90 percent of the world’s ice. Studies over the past several years have showed that the sheet is losing mass, causing a rise in global sea surface levels.
But the conclusions have been reached based on snapshots of parts of the ice blanket, such as its thinning edges.
I know, by writing this I contribute to the belief that global warming may be real, thus handing our enemies (the liberals) a victory. I apologize.
Topics: Global Warming | No Comments »
Friday Random Ten
By Jeff Fecke | March 3, 2006
I Was Once Misinformed About Your Intentions
1. “Misinformed,” Soul Coughing
2. “No Holdin’ Back,” Tina and the B-Sides
3. “Wish You Were Here,” Ryan Adams
4. “Violent Mood Swings (Thread Mix),” Stabbing Westward
5. “Boys,” Ryan Adams
6. “To the Teeth (Live),” Ani DiFranco
7. “Kill the Sexplayer,” Girls Against Boys
8. “Fast As I Can,” Erin McKeown
9. “Army,” Ben Folds Five
10. “Straightaways,” Son Volt
Topics: Friday Random Tens | No Comments »
114135909163849545
By Jeff Fecke | March 2, 2006
Et tu, George?
George Will makes Jeff Goldstein cry. George, get with the program! It’s not about whether we win or lose, it’s whether people think we win or lose! If you say we’re losing, Baby Jesus and/or the President cries! And either way, that’s bad!
Topics: Uncategorized/Old Blog Stuff | No Comments »
John Derbyshire Contributes to Our Defeat
By Jeff Fecke | March 2, 2006
Jeff Goldstein has another enemy:
Well, I’m with Bill Buckley and George Will. This pig’s ear is never going to be made into a silk purse, not by any methods or expenditures the American people are willing to countenance. The only questions worth asking about Iraq at this point are: How does GWB get out of this with the least damage to US interests, and to his party’s future prospects? I wish I had some answers.
Derbs–for God’s sake, if you say things like that, a fairy loses its wings! Clap harder! Think of thirteen-year-old-girls!
Topics: Clap Harder!, Iraq | 2 Comments »