Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I've said it before but if the Israelis were to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities - during or right before President Obama's speech at the DNC would be the perfect time... Good advice for poker players - how to play Ace/King if you miss the flop... I have to guess that the TV ratings on NESN for this West Coast swing by the Red Sox will be the worst since the new ownership bought the team. There is simply no reason to watch this lousy team full of malcontents... Some people poke fun of the US Coast Guard and others always seem to forget them when it comes to thinking of branches of the US military. I have to wonder though - if you took the Coast Guard on its own - I'm guessing it is bigger than the military's of half the nations of the world... Another example of why Johnny Carson was the King. It is sad that his memory seems to be fading... Protesters dressed as giant vaginas at the RNC. I'm guessing that if male protesters dressed as giant penises at the DNC - they'd get arrested. Seriously - Karl Rove get on this. Pay some frat guys a few hundred to dress up as giant penises (not much of a stretch for many of them) and then put out press releases about the war on men and a man's reproductive rights. So let it be written - so let it be done.

The Empty Chair

Lots of grief today about Clint Eastwood's speech last night where at some points he addressed an empty chair as if President Obama was sitting in it. Clint's speech last night made me feel uncomfortable for him. As I was watching it I wondered how old he is because his rambling speech did make him seem old (he's 82). But here's the thing - he's CLINT FREAKING EASTWOOD.

Most people will just see the clips of Eastwood making jokes about President Obama needing to go. The more people on the left bring up Eastwood and the empty chair - the more these clips of Eastwood jokes at the President's expense will be shown.

If I were Karl Rove - I'd have his Crossroads PAC create an add showing an empty chair. I would then scroll all the reasons why the chair has been left empty. All the rounds of golf, all the time spent at fund-raisers, all the time spent on vacation. Have a line about abdicating responsibility. Use the empty chair to keep reminding people - that Clint Eastwood thinks the President needs to be fired.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thoughts I'd share.

Game of Thrones casts Ciaran Hinds as Mance Rayder (the King Beyond the Wall). Ciaran Hinds is probably best known for playing Caesar in the HBO series Rome. I'm a little torn by this casting since I like Hinds but he's nothing like what I had pictured in my mind after reading the books.

Heh heh - Karl Rove endorses Joe Biden for Democratic VP

The economics of bank robberies. Bottom line - you'd probably make out better being a taxi cab driver.

Heh heh - sports books taking action on when Tim Tebow will replace Mark Sanchez as starting QB.

Fast and Furious - Executive Privilege

Yesterday I jotted down my thoughts on Fast and Furious just prior to it becoming the dominant story of the day as President Obama used Executive Privilege as a get out of jail free card for Attorney General Eric Holder. Since then there has been much said about the President's action and what it really means.

I have three thoughts I'd like to toss out there.

1. People seem to want to make this an either / or situation. Either this is a legitimate use of Executive Power or the President and Holder are trying to hide something nefarious. I suggest a possible third path or explanation - this exercising of Executive Privilege may simply be another example of simple incompetence. Holder and Obama may just not understand the principle of Executive Privilege and this article by John Hinderaker seems to support the frivolous nature of the claim. Of course I don't rule out the option that the Administration is both trying to hide something AND incompetent.

2. Karl Rove on Fox News floated the idea that the Obama Administration knows this isn't good news for them but that they need a shiny object to keep people distracted from focusing on the economy for a few weeks and Fast and Furious was the least evil of the options available to them. This was a WOW! statement for me. The Democrats have tried Bain Capital, high school bullying, Romney's record as Governor, Mormonism, even an Executive Fiat version of illegal immigrant amnesty and now they are out of shiny objects? Wow - Obama's own people must think things are not just bad but awful if this is the case and Fast and Furious would be the LEAST damaging distraction.

3. Small quibble but anyone who says this is just "election year politics" should be reminded that this started a year and a half ago and AG Holder could have ended it at any time by just providing the information requested. He's the one that delayed things so it is now coming to a head 5 months before the election. The simple question of "who authorized Fast and Furious?" has not been answered. Until that question is answered this will continue to be an issue.

Obamacare

Karl Rove on Obama Care. Very interesting read. I couldn't help but think of this Winston Churchill quote after finishing the article:

"There is no worse mistake in public leadership than to hold out false hopes soon to be swept away."

That quote seems to epitomize not just Obamacare but also the entire Obama Administration to this point.

Rove on Obama

There's no "I" in team but Karl Rove points out there's plenty on "I" in Barack.

After reading that article by Karl Rove - I was reminded of a quote from the show The West Wing. The fictional President Bartlett is talking about Bill O'Dwyer who is running for Congress and he says, "I don’t like guys who run for congress because they think it’s a great gig." I came away from the Rove piece thinking that Obama is running for President because he thinks its a great gig and would look great on his resume.

Presidential Geekiness

I was somewhat bothered by this post over at Good Morning Silicon Valley.

It seems like some people seek out reasons to take swipes at George Bush. Were people writing about Bill Clinton alienating the geek community? I mean the guy sent only 2 emails out the whole time he was President.

By the same token - will the folks over at the New York Times be praising Karl Rove as some sort of closet master geek?

Sheffield: Last time I saw you, you'd just gotten an iPhone. How's that working out for you?
Rove: I love it. My life has changed. I have a shred of coolness. I've got my 3,500 people in my addressbook on the phone, I can sync my calendar. I keep track of my modest little stock investments. I can check the weather of my house in Washington, my house in Florida, my boy at school, my hunt-lease in south Texas. I can surf the web, I'm just--I get part of my email there. I mean it is just shocking how much better, how much more productive I am. I no longer carry around a giant address book, if I don't have my calendar close at hand, I can quickly check it out of my-- I don't have to carry, I used to carry several notecards, now it's just as easy to scribble on my little notepad, I can take photographs and forward them on immediately, it's just remarkable.

Sheffield: All right. Well it sounds like Steve Jobs should call you up as a spokesman.
Rove: There we go, there we go. And not only that, I also have the Mac Book Air which is really cool. Even my wife is jealous of my MacBook Air.

Why People Don't Trust the MSM

I couldn't help but think "this is why people don't trust the MSM" over and over again as I read this letter from Karl Rove. I also couldn't help but think of the criticism aimed at bloggers that they have no editorial layers to keep them from just publishing whatever they want to portray as truth:

It boils down to this: as a journalist, do you feel you have a responsibility to dig into the claims made by your guests, seek out evidence and come to a professional judgment as to the real facts? Or do you feel if a charge is breathtaking enough, thoroughly checking it out isn’t a necessity?

I know you might be concerned that asking these questions could restrict your ability to make sensational charges on the air, but don’t you think you have a responsibility to provide even a shred of supporting evidence before sullying the journalistic reputations of MSNBC and NBC?

This was the real dig that rings the truest:

The difficulty with your approach is you reduced yourself to the guy in the bar who repeats what the fellow next to him says – “The glove fits! The glove fits!” - only louder, because it suits your pre-selected story line ("Bush Justice") and you don’t want the facts to get in the way of a good fable.

HT Instapundit

The Democratic Convention

Karl Rove has an excellent look at what may happen at the Democratic convention and what steps the eventual winner should be taking.

One point I found interesting is the fact that John Edwards still has 26 delegates committed to him and those delegates could just prove decisive. It is possible that the price of those delegates may be Edwards inclusion on the ticket as VP. This could win the battle for the Democratic nominee but lose the war. Edwards is not looked on favorably by too many people. He is viewed as a phony ambulance chasing lawyer.

If Edwards is the VP choice then John McCain is a lock to win.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I know that sometimes people make predictions purely to get the shock factor. I think this prediction of a Jaguars victory over the Patriots fits that bill. You would think that a guy with credentials like Jeremy Green wouldn't be so cavalier. The again - maybe there's a reason Green is writing about scouting instead of actually doing it... Interesting break down by Karl Rove on why Hillary won in New Hampshire. I'd take issue with this sentence though:

Despite Sen. Harry Reid's son serving as her Nevada chairman, she's likely to lose that state's caucuses on Jan. 19.

I'd argue that she may lose Nevada because Harry Reid son is her state chairman. Harry Reid isn't the most popular guy in his home state right now and if Reid was up for re-election this year he'd be a big underdog despite his years in office... I don't agree with Dan Shaughnessy often but I do agree with him that Jim Rice was a better hitter than Wade Boggs. Kudos for pointing out that 3 straight years with 35 HR and 200 hits tops 7 straight years with 200 hits. Wade Boggs was never even the best player on any team he ever played on yet he gets to be in the Hall of Fame while Jim Rice is still on the outside looking in... One stat to think about - Wade Boggs is considered a hitting machine but he only made the top 10 in the league in total bases 4 times in his career. Jim Rice meanwhile led the ENTIRE league in total bases 4 times (and was top 10 in 9 seasons)...

The Karl Rove Interview

A Large Regular was lucky enough to get an exclusive interview with the now departing Deputy Chief of Staff and political lightning rod Karl Rove.

ARL: First off - thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. I know this must be a particularly hectic time for you.

KR: No problem Chris. I always have time for my friends and except for the barrage of phone calls about me leaving I'm not particularly busy. I've planned this departure for some time now and all my stuff is already out of my office.

ALR: You've said in interviews that you are leaving to spend more time with your family. I hate to be blunt but oftentimes that excuse is just cover-up for some other reason.

KR: You're right Chris. Often the phrase "to spend more time with my family" is code for something else. In my case it's half true. I do want to spend more time with my family but there is something else.

ALR: And that is?

KR: Well - I need to make some money. I've been a target at the White House and all the legal fees have really hit me in the pocketbook. It has literally cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to work at the White House. By leaving now I'll have time to write a book and do some speaking engagements. That should put me back flush with cash. People forget that I was just a consultant. I've wasn't some rich business heavyweight like Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld.

ALR: Aren't you going to miss the day to day goings on at the White House and being in the middle of the big issues of the day?

KR: Those are two different things. I won't miss the day to day stuff at all. After a few years it almost becomes the same ol' same ol' with a bunch of daily meetings and memos. I won't miss that stuff at all and being the Deputy Chief of Staff - that was a big part of my day. As far as still being involved - I'll still have my long Sunday morning calls with the President just like I always have.

ALR: Again - sorry to be blunt but you've been with the President so long it just seems strange that you couldn't wait the last 15 months before going back to private life.

KR: No problem Chris. I agree that this is a point worth emphasizing because the Left will seize upon it as some sort of hope of some big scandal about to break that is forcing me out or make some crack about rats leaving a sinking ship. That's just not true. The truth is very pedestrian. I don't need the hassles of doing the day to day stuff and I need the money that a well-time political memoir will bring. People don't realize that there is a small window for political first hand history. I need to get my book done prior to the next President taking office.

ALR: Thank you for your time.

KR: Always a pleasure Chris. By the way - do you think people will realize this was satire?