My premature proclamation about Graham was just that- premature. He is now officially out of the race.
John Cole started Balloon Juice early in 2002. Those who have followed along know that this has been quite the journey.
Wow.
I was pretty damned depressed by the disgusting showing from the Steelers vs. the Browns on Sunday night, but if I were a Bucs fan I would be suicidal after that Colts comeback. They seem to be handling it well, though.
Just to clear something up- I hear a lot of people grousing about the Simeon Rice call at the end of the game that gave the Colts a second shot. First, the Bucs did not deserve to lose the game after that hideous letdown (21 pts in five minutes- c’mon). Second, by rule, the call on the field was correct:
16. A defender who takes a running start from beyond the line of scrimmage in an attempt to block a field goal or point after touchdown and lands on players at the line of scrimmage.
As my brother stated, you can argue that the rule is stupid (ala the ‘no-fumble’ rule that cost the Raiders vs. the Patriots two years ago), but the call on the field was correct. He ran several yards, jumped, and landed on people- precisely the definition of leaping.
Now There is An Answer!
Tom Friedman has been savaged the last couple of months by theleft, generally because he hadwandered off the plantation and made sense in a few of his essays. Today, feet placed firmly in the liberal cottonfield, he comes up with a doozy: a gas tax increase, despite the fact that this would be horribly regressive and could quite possibly kill the economic recovery in the crib:
Let’s have a $1 a gallon gasoline tax and call it the “Patriot Tax.” We could use the revenue it would raise
Interesting
Did you know that you could get to the NY Times with just the url http://times.com ? I have always used nytimes.com. Cool.
Bush Doesn’t Care
Some context for the “Bush Doesn’t Care” crew:
Novak is the perfect receptacle for such a leak. An old-time Washington insider known for his gruff manner, black suits, conservative leanings and love of Washington intrigue, Novak has been jokingly called
(R)nold
According to the Calpundit:
We’re now up to 15 women who say Arnold “fondled, spanked or touched them” between 1979 and 2000. I guess before long it’s going to be easier just to list the women who aren’t on Arnold’s list.
According to my caclulations from the lessons learned during the Clinton years, Arnold is approximately one rape charge away from a NOW endorsement.
*** Update ***
In fact, even during their breathless condemnations of Arnold, they invoke the memory of Clinton, yet fail to see the irony:
For the charges to sway the recall at this late date, it will take more than the ad campaign being mounted by women’s groups. Politicians and the press would have to treat the story as a major scandal with potentially devastating consequences for California, the nation, morality and Western civilization. One wonders what would happen if even a fraction of the energy expended on Bill Clinton’s sex scandals was applied to Mr. Schwarzenegger.
I wonder what would happen, too. Would the author of this piece endorse him as she did Clinton? How about the author’s editor, Katrina van den Heuvel? What about Patty Ireland, former NOW President, who shilled for Clinton for 8 years?
BTW- there is one difference between Arnold and Clinton- people actually brought charges against Clinton, providing him all sorts of opportunities to perjure himself.
Chicago
I just saw Chicago, and, well- it was great. Well worth the two hours, and I was shocked by the performances of Renee Zellweger and John Reilly. And, of course, it has Queen Latifah, who I think is the female Snoop Dogg- anything she does is cool.
Also- the Press Conference/marionette (‘We Both Reached For the Gun’) scene is about the best ten minutes of movie ever made. I just loved that.