The Week lists five reasons why Chris Christie cannot win the GOP nomination. They are:
1. Christie is no hardliner on immigration
2. He has a soft spot for gun control
3. Hardliners won't like his stand on the "ground zero mosque"
4. He's got an uncomfortable Madoff connection
5. A possible clincher: He believes people are causing climate change
So aside from #4 (which, if you read the article, is a dubious connection at best), Gov. Christie would be unacceptable to the Republican base because he prefers to take his posiitons based on common sense rather than party orthodoxy? I'm no Chris Christie fan but this essentially validates Bill Maher's claim in 2009 that Democrats Have Moved To The Right and The Right Has Moved Into The Mental Hospital.
Friday, September 30, 2011
First Lady goes on incognito Target run!
This is why Michelle Obama is just plain awesome! Apparently the Target store didn't know until the cashier recognized her. The store manager was quoted in the CNN article:""We did not have advance notice; it was as big a surprise to us as it was to everyone else," she said.
She continued, "In hindsight, there was a sweep, but it was not obvious to us beforehand. When she left we thought 'Oh, that's what that was!'""
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Drama of Rays, Red Sox and Braves made for unforgettable final day - Tom Verducci - SI.com
Great column by Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. Probably one of the finest sports columns I've read in a long time.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Replace "Derek Jeter" with "Brandon Nimmo" and replace "good Yankee" with "good Met"
I recently heard a story during a Yankee telecast (one of the few I watched this season) that when the Yankees drafted Derek Jeter with the 6th overall pick in the 1992 draft, he was brought to meet the team and management at Yankee Stadium. Upon meeting Jeter and his parents, then-manager Buck Showalter remarked, "I don't know if he's going to be a good ballplayer but he's going to be a good Yankee." Now the die hard Met fan will question the existence of "a good Yankee" but I think Showalter's point was that he would represent the organization well and not embarrass himself or the team, which I begrudgingly admit is generally the norm for Jeter.
Watching this video of the Mets first-round pick in this year's draft brings that statement to mind. Keep in mind that this kid is only 18 years old.
Aside from the maturity in the press conference, I noticed he has a sweet swing, which is really smooth. He is often compared to Andy Van Slyke, which is a pretty good comparison if he has that kind of glove to go along with that kind of bat.
Of course I'm no expert on evaluating talent but out of the big three outfield prospects the Mets had in the mid-2000's, I thought the order of talent was Carlos Gomez, then Lastings Milledge, and then Fernando Martinez (I may be proven right here). On the pitching side, I felt that Mike Pelfrey should have gone in the Johan Santana trade and the Mets should have held on to Philip Humber (which I was nearly wrong about but may be proven right in the end too.) Perhaps it was the years prior to then hearing about the over hyped Alex's (Ochoa and Escobar) that conditioned me to look for signs of talent rather than take everyone else's word for it.
Then again, if I'm what I've read about Bryce Harper blowing a kiss to the opposing pitcher after hitting a home run is an indication of his psychological state, I may be proven right in the end with what I said about him two years ago.
Watching this video of the Mets first-round pick in this year's draft brings that statement to mind. Keep in mind that this kid is only 18 years old.
Aside from the maturity in the press conference, I noticed he has a sweet swing, which is really smooth. He is often compared to Andy Van Slyke, which is a pretty good comparison if he has that kind of glove to go along with that kind of bat.
Of course I'm no expert on evaluating talent but out of the big three outfield prospects the Mets had in the mid-2000's, I thought the order of talent was Carlos Gomez, then Lastings Milledge, and then Fernando Martinez (I may be proven right here). On the pitching side, I felt that Mike Pelfrey should have gone in the Johan Santana trade and the Mets should have held on to Philip Humber (which I was nearly wrong about but may be proven right in the end too.) Perhaps it was the years prior to then hearing about the over hyped Alex's (Ochoa and Escobar) that conditioned me to look for signs of talent rather than take everyone else's word for it.
Then again, if I'm what I've read about Bryce Harper blowing a kiss to the opposing pitcher after hitting a home run is an indication of his psychological state, I may be proven right in the end with what I said about him two years ago.
Better Government Doesn’t Mean Smaller or Bigger: Edward Glaeser - Bloomberg View
Great column on Bloomberg View by Harvard Economics Professor Edward Glaeser, who says the big government vs. small government debate in Washington is a red herring. As Prof. Glaeser says, the goal should be for a smart government. He even takes a quick jab against the Right:
"Republicans, who often pledge to reduce federal spending, don’t have a great track record shrinking the share of government to GDP. Federal outlays as a share of GDP rose under three of the last four Republican presidents, and it’s easy to understand why. Cutting taxes, which Republican administrations did regularly, is fun and popular, but doing so without lowering spending is just passing the buck to our children."
and later on against the Left:
"Cutting even 15 percent of [Government's GDP share] will be tough, given that advocates of liberal spending will argue that our government is already quite small relative to the size of the public sector in other developed countries, and cutting 15 percent would mean reducing government’s share of the economy by 1 percentage point."
"Republicans, who often pledge to reduce federal spending, don’t have a great track record shrinking the share of government to GDP. Federal outlays as a share of GDP rose under three of the last four Republican presidents, and it’s easy to understand why. Cutting taxes, which Republican administrations did regularly, is fun and popular, but doing so without lowering spending is just passing the buck to our children."
and later on against the Left:
"Cutting even 15 percent of [Government's GDP share] will be tough, given that advocates of liberal spending will argue that our government is already quite small relative to the size of the public sector in other developed countries, and cutting 15 percent would mean reducing government’s share of the economy by 1 percentage point."
Monday, September 26, 2011
Today's Flavor of the Day: NJ Gov. Chris Christie
It seems like there is such disappointment with the Republican field right now that everyone is trying to entice New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to join the already convoluted race. "Should he or shouldn't he?" aside, Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post and Politicker NJ both weigh in -- no Christie-related pun intended (although Politicker NJ does bring it up) -- with three and five reasons, respectively, on whether or not he should run.
Additionally, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight tries to figure out how Christie differentiates from Republican frontrunners Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.
And these are just the article about this topic today. If this Republican field gets any less appealing, who knows how many calls there will be for Christie to enter the race. Stay tuned.
Additionally, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight tries to figure out how Christie differentiates from Republican frontrunners Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.
And these are just the article about this topic today. If this Republican field gets any less appealing, who knows how many calls there will be for Christie to enter the race. Stay tuned.
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