Lingerie Football League ... good grief

The popularity of the WNBA tells us two things: 1) Women want to play team sports ... and are good at it! And, 2) Fans will pay to watch women playing team sports. WNBA players have become role models for little girls who want to be athletes. So the question I have is how does the LFL fit in?

The quick answer is, it doesn't!


What message is this sending to young women and girls?

During a report on the NBC station in DC tonight, one of the players said she didn't have a problem with the uniform. In her words, it's no different than beach volleyball or track and field. And she's right!

Men who play volleyball aren't asked to expose most of their bodies, and the shorts worn my male track and field athletes cover more than do the uniforms worn by women. So again, what message is this sending?

Is it too much to ask that women be judged on they ability to play the sport, and not on how they look in their underwear? What do you think?

Great (or Unrealistic) Expectations

My goodness ... Barack Obama has been president for nearly 100 days and he has not managed to solve all the problems left behind by the Bush administration. There must be something wrong with him, or with "liberal" policies -- at least that's what Jackson Diehl at the Washington Post seems to think.

New American presidents typically begin by behaving as if most of the world's problems are the fault of their predecessors -- and Barack Obama has been no exception. In his first three months he has quickly taken steps to correct the errors in George W. Bush's foreign policy, as seen by Democrats. He has collected easy dividends from his base, U.S. allies in Europe and a global following for not being "unilateralist" or war-mongering or scornful of dialogue with enemies.

Now comes the interesting part: when it starts to become evident that Bush did not create rogue states, terrorist movements, Middle Eastern blood feuds or Russian belligerence -- and that shake-ups in U.S. diplomacy, however enlightened, might not have much impact on them. [...]

Obama is not the first president to discover that facile changes in U.S. policy don't crack long-standing problems. Some of his new strategies may produce results with time. Yet the real test of an administration is what it does once it realizes that the quick fixes aren't working -- that, say, North Korea and Iran have no intention of giving up their nuclear programs, with or without dialogue, while Russia remains determined to restore its dominion over Georgia. In other words, what happens when it's no longer George W. Bush's fault? That's what the next 100 days will tell.

Come on Diehl, we didn't get into this mess overnight. And until the economy is fixed, and our troops are out of Iraq, it IS the fault of George W. Bush. He took a great economy, and a world pretty much at peace, and turned it all upside down.

Is it reasonable to expect President Obama to "fix" the Bush mess in less than 100 days? No.

'Pro-Choice' Palin Would Deny Choice to Others

Gov. Sarah Palin, speaking to an antiabortion group in Evansville, IN, revealed that for a moment she considered having an abortion.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told an antiabortion audience in Indiana on Thursday night that, "for a fleeting moment," she considered having an abortion after learning that her son Trig would have Down syndrome.

The experience, she added, "now lets me understand a woman's, a girl's temptation to maybe try to make it all go away."

Ultimately, Palin said, she decided she had to "walk the walk" concerning her long-standing antiabortion views. She avoided using the word "abortion" in her speech, preferring the phrase "change the circumstances." [...]

Palin revealed more Thursday night, saying she was traveling when she got the result of the amniocentesis that revealed the chromosomal abnormality.

"There, just for a fleeting moment, I thought, I knew, 'Nobody knows me here. Nobody would ever know.' "

Palin has long been a staunch supporter of abortion restrictions, and she pointed to her own "moment of doubt" to illustrate her support for carrying pregnancies to term, regardless of the circumstances.

In other words, Sarah Palin wants the right to decide whether or not to continue a pregnancy, but she doesn't think other women should be allowed that same consideration.

And the PUMA's wonder why NOW and other women's rights groups didn't support Sarah Palin. Good grief.

Rove Epitomizes Republican Hypocrisy

Republicans who are NOT running in 2012 ...

At least that's what they are saying as they head for Iowa. The truly scary part about all the non-candidates is that they are, well, scary!

Last weekend, 18 days after Barack Obama decisively defeated their candidate for president, a mostly Republican crowd of self-described conservatives received their first introduction to someone many prominent members of the GOP think could be the party's own version of Obama.

Like the president-elect, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is young (37), accomplished (a Rhodes scholar) and, as the son of Indian immigrants, someone familiar with breaking racial and cultural barriers. He came to Iowa to deliver a pair of speeches, and his mere presence ignited talk that the 2012 presidential campaign has begun here, if coyly. Already, a fierce fight is looming between him and other Republicans -- former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who arrived in Iowa a couple of days before him, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is said to be coming at some point -- for the hearts of social conservatives. [...]

"The Republicans really have no choice except to look at some people more youthful if they want to have a better chance of winning," said Betty E. Johnson, an independent and the wife of a Cedar Rapids pastor, who voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 but who went for Obama over 72-year-old John McCain. "I liked Obama's energy and hope. I don't know, but maybe a younger person would give Republicans a feeling of more energy, openness."

Jindal insists he is ignoring all the speculation. In Cedar Rapids, at a breakfast event devoted to addressing this beleaguered city's efforts to rebound from its disastrous flood last summer, he avoided any reference to 2012, staying focused on explaining Louisiana's methods for coping with hurricane floods in emergencies on his watch.

Meanwhile, others around the country were talking him up. No less an aspiring kingmaker than Steve Schmidt, the chief strategist of McCain's failed presidential bid, sees Jindal as the Republican Party's destiny. "The question is not whether he'll be president, but when he'll be president, because he will be elected someday." The anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist believes, too, that Jindal is a certainty to occupy the White House, and conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh has described him as "the next Ronald Reagan."

Is Jindal the Republican Obama?

Jindal is, above all else, a political meteor, sharing Obama's precocious skills for reaching the firmament in a hurry. It was just four years ago, after losing a gubernatorial election, that he won election to Congress, and only this year that he became Louisiana's governor, the first nonwhite to hold the office since Reconstruction. And now, 10 months into his first term, the talk of a presidential bid is getting louder among his boosters.

Youth, Norquist notes, has never been at a greater premium for Republicans in search of a new path. And the generally positive reaction to Jindal's handling of Louisiana's mass evacuation in August before Hurricane Gustav, and his response in the storm's aftermath, bolstered the image of the new governor's vigor.

"If anything, McCain's candidacy suggests that age is not always a positive -- and sometimes is a negative," Norquist says. "As Republicans, you have a real problem now with younger voters and immigrants. If you were going to central casting for a candidate to deal with all that, who do you have? Jindal. He is young, and he looks young. . . . He's a great communicator. And his record is that he's sharp and quick with policy."

Religious Right Republicans like Jindal because of his steadfast opposition to abortion without exceptions; his disapproval of embryonic stem cell research; and his support for teaching intelligent design (creationism) in public school science classes.

Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin share these views.

If these candidates represent the next-wave Republican generation, the country could be in big trouble. Let's hope the corporate wing of the party breaks away to form an alternative party.

No Comment ... almost

Do I really want this in a plus size?
I wouldn't want it in a minus size.
Good grief ...

The Apology Tour

Henry Alford has a facinating piece on today's New York Times op-ed page titled "Regrets Only." Click on the footnotes link to see who made each of the statements.

I WANT to make it clear that everything you've heard and read is true.(1) I can also no longer deny to myself that there are issues I obviously need to examine within my own soul, and I've asked for help.(2) So if you're so thin-skinned that you took offense to a slip of the tongue that I had, then I offer my apology. I am, am sorry that you were offended.(3)

We admit that several members of our organization allowed an internal power struggle to cloud good judgment.(4) We should have done better.(5) I sincerely apologize and hope people realize that conversations can be easily manipulated in print.(6) And I don't care that he's black or green or purple or whatever.(7)

I failed.(8) I acknowledge that mistakes were made here.(9) I'm not a bad person. I'm a good person, but I said a bad thing.(10) I am not a bigot.(11) I never want to be portrayed as a guy who loses his cool.(12) That was a very intemperate remark made in the heat of the day yesterday in a very misguided attempt to defend my boss.(13) When I called him "Pruneface," it was campaign rhetoric.(14) I certainly would never intend to use the offensive word in its technical sense, and I would not and could not under any circumstances question the parentage of your son, our current governor.(15) Our trust has been broken, and only love can rebuild it.(16)

I probably should have waited a while before I scratch myself and spit.(17) I apologize, but I don't think I had the gay vote, anyway.(18) I certainly hope that no one was harmed or died.(19)

It is a shame that the metaphor I used was taken so radically out of context and slung about irresponsibly by the media.(20) I regret if my comment was misconstrued.(21) He didn't deserve to be whacked around like that, and I'll be the first to apologize to him for that. But he doesn't deserve to be a folk hero either.(22) If there were occasions when my grape turned into a raisin and my joy bell lost its resonance, please forgive me.(23) Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling.(24) It is with a heavy heart that I apologize this morning to Aunt Jemima.(25)

I did not view it as racial.(26) It's not an ethnic slur. You don't make an ethnic slur before several hundred people.(27) I grew up side by side with black people. Many are my dear friends.(28) As a Latino, I myself am offended.(29)

I can flap my lips all I want. Talk is cheap.(30) If we are deemed responsible for the accidents, that is another matter. However, there are maybe outside causes that had caused the accidents.(31)

There were a lot of human factors.(32) I grew up in a different era, and people said things then that are not acceptable today.(33) I suffered from an illness and I was sick.(34) I wanted to win so bad for my kids and my family, and I apologize to anyone who was inconvenienced.(35) I've lived in a state of constant fear and anxiety.(36) Dealing with being gay, while continuing to meet my public obligations, created tremendous internal pressures.(37) My days are incredible, you know: work, politics, troubles, moving around, public exams that never end, a life under constant pressure.(38) I have become so numb to the horrific things that happen in this world that I sometimes forget that there are still people who feel.(39) I shouldn't have labeled Mike as a "gay prostitute" or "male prostitute."(40)

We're sorry if this joke, which got a lot of laughs, offended anyone.(41) We have listened.(42) As you all know, I'm a satirical person.(43) In the course of the show, split-second judgment is made over ad libs.(44) Unfortunately, the need to babble as often as I do sometimes leads to unintended and unfortunate results.(45) It's three in the morning and the caffeine gets to us.(46) We've never had any type of complaint.(47)

I apologize to whoever I need to apologize to.(48) I apologize that some people don't have a sense of humor like I do.(49) I was trying to be the bigger man, but he was acting childish.(50) I said I'm sorry. What else can I say? I've lied and I admitted it. Life goes on.(51) I'm sure that I'm supposed to act all sorry or sad or guilty now that I've accepted that I've done something wrong. But you see, I'm just not built that way.(52) What do you want me to do? Go over and kiss the camera? What do you want me to do?(53)

Do you have any idea ...

how I ended up on Sen John Cornyn's email list?

Update from U.S. Senator John Cornyn

September 2007

Dear BAC,

This month, Gen. David Petraeus provided Congress an objective, no-nonsense assessment on Iraq. His report made it clear that the surge is working, and we’re making significant progress. Total attacks and civilian casualties have decreased and Sunni tribal leaders in al Anbar have revolted against al Qaeda. As a result, some American troops are now expected to begin returning home later this year. Our ground mission in Iraq is not open-ended, but our commitment to our national security must be.

The Senate later approved an amendment I introduced reaffirming our “support for all the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, including General David H. Petraeus,” and repudiating “the unwarranted personal attack on General Petraeus by the liberal activist group MoveOn.org.” This underscores an important precedent adhered to by previous generations of leaders in both political parties: efforts to impugn the integrity of our commanders and troops in the field during war time—in pursuit of partisan political purposes—should be rejected.

Good grief!