It's NBA TIME!!!!!

And there are two players in particular I can't wait to see make their mark:

First is Derrick Rose of the Bulls. An electrifyingly talented 6 foot 1 inch point guard who will be playing in front of his hometown fans. The Bulls, with Luol Deng, Ben Gorden, and Kirk Hinrich, have some decent talent, but it will be Rose who may be the best rookie in the league. Anyone who saw his stellar play last year at Memphis knows he will be an even better pro.

If Rose doesn't win Rookie of the Year, then the winner will be Greg Oden of the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers have several very talented young players and would appear ready to win 50+ games in the ultra-competitive Western Conference of the NBA. And their prime mover and shaker will be the 6 foot 10 inch center from Ohio State, Oden. It is unlikely Oden will put up huge numbers, but the savvy and sweet natured big man from Indianapolis should easily move into the upper echelon of centers in the game and make Portland a real threat to make it to the Conference finals against the hated Lakers.

Can't wait for the season to start!

Sweet story on SI.com about Coach John Wooden

Arash Markazi writes a nice little story about the legendary coach's 98th birthday party at a local diner in Encino, CA.

When I was younger, I held feelings of resentment against the great coach because I thought he was too good to be true. That Sam Gilbert had bought players for him. And that Coach Wooden had turned a blind eye to recruiting violations during his tenure at UCLA while holding himself and his program out as beyond reproach.

But in the last several years, I have come around. Hearing Bill Walton emotionally describe his deep and rewarding relationship with his college coach always moves me. Hearing other coaches and former players testify about how Wooden make their lives better and richer never ceases to amaze me.

This man is loved by just about everyone who has ever come in contact with him for any extended period of time. God bless him.

The bloom is off the Palin rose.

The New York Times Maureen Dowd takes Governor Palin and her GOP handlers to task for destroying any hopes of seeming like a Walmart mom.

An unreported but very important story nationwide

Staph infections kill many thousands of people each year in this country. In terms of just athletics, they are a growing problem. When they don't kill people these infections, caused largely by the overuse of antibiotics, can curtail an athlete's career.

The Indianapolis Star column here gives examples of several very prominent athletes who, just in the past few months, have suffered from debilitating staph infections. In one case cited, an athlete lost part of his foot to infection.

The medical community is paying close attention to this

Saw High School Musical 3 today...

....and really enjoyed myself. Even if you're in you're early 40s and childless (as I am) you may have fun while seeing this flick.

Entertainment Weekly gives HSM3 a terrific review, and I couldn't agree more!

Fine job by The Boston Globe's Mass in analyzing the Red Sox coming offseason moves

Catcher is the big need. Pitching is all set, with the Big Three all being under 30 and signed, Wake at number five, and Masterson, Bowden, or maybe even Buchholz at number four. Some starting pitching depth would be nice, but not totally necessary.

Getting rid of Lowell's and Lugo's contracts will be tough. They are both on the decline and do not want to sit on the bench. Can Lowell recover from hip surgery to contribute next season? I guess no one knows for sure. But Lowrie is a given next year to start at ss.

Texeira would be an incredible addition as a free agent, but I think Mazz under forecasts the dollars needed to sign him. The guy is only 28, is one of the great hitters in the game, and is stellar defensively while never getting injured. He should get more than $18-20 million a year. Can the Sox outbid the other suiters? I hope so.

But Matt Holliday or Garrett Atkins are attractive as well. Both can rake. Hopefully the Sox have a good feel for Lowell's availability for next year. Personally, I would feel comfortable going into next season with largely the same team as this year, while knowing that full years out of Masterson and Bowden should help the pitching and with the likelihood that injuries will not be the bugaboo that curtailed the offense and Beckett in 2008.

Good luck to Theo and the front office in sorting out the possibilities in the coming months!

New York Times endorses Senator Obama

Here.

No surpise. But to this observer, the sad campaign of divisiveness that Senator McCain and Governor Palin have run has been hugely disappointing. I felt so much sympathy for McCain back in 2000 when then Governor Bush places those calls asking if South Carolinians would be more or less likely to vote for someone with an illegitimate black child (McCain and his wife had adopted a black child a few years prior). That incident had a lot to do with Bush winning the primary and, of course, the Presidency.

But sympathy is gone, replaced by contempt for an old man desperate to become POTUS. McCain has adopted many of the same tactics Bush used, trying to paint Obama as a terrorist and allowing Palin to question the patriotism of many states likely to vote Democratic.

The one thing I am worried about with Obama is the same thing that sunk the Presidency of Jimmy Carter back in the 1970's: an overly professorial style of leadership and a certain arrogance.

How will President Obama lead? One hopes that he can include both parties in addressing the many serious and legitimate questions our great country faces in the coming four years.

Good luck to him; he will certainly need it.

The Dream Team: 894 out of 899 and "We've never been staunch anything."

The anti-intellectualism of America continues unabated.

Do people know that Senator McCain graduated 5th from last in his class at the Naval Acadamy? And that there is speculation that the only reason he got in was family connections? At best, he was a poor student in his younger days. Maybe he had "other priorities", as Vice President Cheney once famously said about his decision to avoid serving during the Vietnam War.

And do people know that Governor Palin attended five different colleges before receiving a degree in journalism from the University of Idaho? Today, the New York Times is running a story about her younger days, and quotes Palin's mother as saying, "We've never been staunch anything." And her classmates seem to have no memories of Palin doing or saying anything of consequence.

Wow. A guy who was a terrible student in one of the nation's elite schools before becoming a pilot and eventually a prisoner of war and war hero, and a woman who drifted from school to school without making much of an impression on anyone could be the next President and Vice President. I guess when someone says to their child, "You know, you could grow up to be POTUS someday", they might be right. Especially if that child and that family hold no real political or societal views of consequence, are indifferent students, and drift from one school to the next.

Contrast this with Senator Obama, who did admittedly attend two different colleges before receiving his Bachelor's from the Ivy League's Columbia University, then becoming the very first African-American to be elected President of Harvard Law Review.

Who would you rather have leading this nation in one of the worst economic crisis' in our history? I know I want the smart, committed guy.

Another Chicken Hawk for the GOP!

Some nutball up in New Gloucester, Maine has put up an illegal sign in his yard. You can click on the picture to see that the painted image of Senator Obama comes from his visit to a refugee camp in Kenya. The caption over the image reads, "No U.S. military service."

Senator McCain's image is of his pilot days.

The hilarious part, to this reader anyway, is that the guy who put up the sign, a Mr. Robert Horr, has, by his own admission, no military record. None. Nada.

These type of weirdos are called "Chicken Hawks", because they like to point out how wimpy the Democrats are on defense even though they themselves have served no time in the military. What a joke. The government is filled with them.

One of the best examples is David Addington, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff. His wikipedia page makes no mention of the fact that Addington dropped out of the U.S. Naval Academy after a few weeks, presumedly because it was too hard for poor little Davey. Addington is one of the chief architects of the war in Iraq, but has zero military experience.

Ya can't win em all ya know.

The Boston Globe's recent hire, Tony Massarotti, does an excellent job of assessing the needs and strengths of the Olde Towne Team in today's paper. Glad to have him aboard the best sports section in New England.

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The Red Sox have many, many questions entering what should be the usual helter skelter offseason. With Theo Epstein and crew at the helm, I have complete confidence that baseball's premier franchise will address the concerns at first and third base, shortstop, center field, and middle relief.

Can Mike Lowell make a complete recovery from major hip surgury? Will David Ortiz, approaching his mid thirties, ever be the same hitter he was in his prime? Can Jed Lowrie hit enough to be the regular ss?

And the biggest question of the offseason is who will be the new catcher? I would be shocked if Jason Varitek returns. He was a shell of the man who used to be a pretty decent bat all year long. The team simply cannot have a sinkhole in the ninth spot.

Other questions to be addressed are: Jacoby Ellsbury and Coco Crisp; are either one good enough to be an everyday centerfielder? Can JD Drew stay healthy? Will Jason Bay hit in 09 like he hit in 08? One position with no questions is second base. Dustin Pedroia may be one of baseball's most valuable players because he is young, cheap, and oh so good.

The pitching staff is loaded with abiity. Boston has some extremely talented young pitchers whose futures appear very bright: Jon Lester is, similar to Pedroia, one of baseball's most valuable assets. Justin Masterson, Dice-K, Micheal Bowden, Manny Delcarmen, Josh Beckett, Daniel Bard, and Okajima are all young and talented. Outside of Tampa Bay, there may not be a team in all of baseball that has so much youthful ability. The major question on the pitching staff concerns this year's fourth and fifth starters: Paul Byrd and Tim Wakefield. Does the team keep them or look elsewhere? I actually think Wakefield should be kept as the fifth starter for next year, unless a cheap fireballer is available. There are many teams who would love to get 150-175 innings at a decent ERA out of their 5th spot, which is what the ageless Wake should provide.

Again, there are many questions to be answered by Theo and the gang. I look forward to spring training already.

Thanks to the Red Sox ownership for making Boston the true center of the baseball universe. Who woulda thunk it?

"The Dark Side" -- by Jane Mayer: An Account of how our nation lost its way after 9/11.

"The Dark Side", a book published over the summer by Doubleday and written by The New Yorker investigative reporter Jane Mayer, is without a doubt one of the most important books of my lifetime. Though the writing is at times stilted and drama may be lacking, the book should be read by all Americans interested in how the United States has lost all moral authority in the world during the fight against terrorism since the attacks on 9/11.

Mayer quotes Senator McCain as saying, concerning the use of torture by the Bush White House, "It's not about them, it's about us." And he is right. What war are we fighting? Why are we using techniques that constitute torture to interrogate prisoners? Who is responsible for this mind-blowing debacle of both leadership and execution? How did this all happen?

Mayer's book has no happy ending. The government, partially out of blind stubbornness by the powers that be such as Vice President Cheney, David Addington, and even the President himself, still uses torture techniques to interrogate prisoners.

But there are some heroes, both within the administration and on the outside looking in. Jack Goldsmith and Alberto Mora are two formerly high ranking lawyers in the government who attempted to take a stand against these illegal and otherwise unthinkable techniques of interrogation.

One point that author Mayer makes is that many in the administration are now fearful of being prosecuted for war crimes. I expect nothing to come of that, as the analogy to the interment of Japanese-Americans during World War II holds: we know we did wrong, but do not expect the people responsible for these atrocities to do jail time.

Please read the book, or at least watch this video of an interview with Jane Mayer.

Chicago Trib Endorses Obama

Thus making the Senator from Illinois the very first Democrat that the paper has endorsed for the Presidency. Take that, bigots.

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Here's a site that keeps score of newspaper endorsements. Good stuff.

One Hundred Thousand Americans join Senator Obama in St. Louis!

CNN Video shows a massive crowd meeting the Senator in the usually staunchly Republican state of Missouri this afternoon. The video does not show how large the crowd was, but according to the NY Times, it was absolutely breathtaking to even Obama.

Meanwhile, the McCain/Palin ticket continues their losing pattern of attacking Senator Obama and not mentioning a whole lot about what they would do if elected. The GOP is increasingly desperate and unsure of their strategy, and have been forced by the Democratic surge in usually reliably Republican states to spend dollars and days on states they would have thought to be safe just a few months ago.

Just 16 days until Election Day.

Comedy Central on "Joe The (Fake) Plumber"

Indecision2008 writes a funny blog post on the messy personal life of Joe the (Fake) Plumber.

And they write something that bothered me as a former accountant: there is a kinda big difference between GROSSING $250,000 a year and making $250,000 a year in before tax PROFIT. When "J T (F) P" asked Senator Obama the question that led to this major media event, Obama may have mistakenly thought that the man was claiming to net $250K. But plumbers have expenses such as salaries for assistants, cost of materials, gas, truck payments, shopfront rent, payroll taxes, etc etc.

You don't pay taxes on gross income, only on income after expenses.

The Bradley Effect: How Big? How Strong?

An Al-Jazeera reporter and crew talk to supporters of the McCain/Palin ticket in small town Ohio.

These people represent the anti-intellectual part of the country that is so strong. I have seen and heard many folks say that Senator McCain, a scion of one of the US's most storied military families and married to one of the country's wealthiest women, and Governor Palin, former beauty queen, are just regular people. A lot Americans want stupid people running the nation, because they feel they can better relate to them.

Not me. I want brilliant men and women like the Clintons, Obama, Gore and even Kerry in positions of influence and power. I believe that the most qualified and capable people should be President, not Joe the Plumber or the average dumb-ass.

But that's just me.

Did anything happen last night??

I didn't know the Red Sox won last night until I woke up just a few minutes ago. I didn't know because I GAVE UP ON THEM.

The Sox beat the Rays last night in the second largest come from behind win in playoff history.

And I was asleep for it. Wow. Never has one person felt so bad about getting some much needed sleep.

As Rudy T. once said, "Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion!"

Thank you Red Sox players and coaches. And the incredible crowd at Fenway Park, as well. They all simply refused to lose.

Wow.

"Almost as good as Sammy Davis, Jr."

Joe the Plumber is, according to the NYTimes, not licensed in Toledo, Ohio, owes back taxes, and is a Republican.

Made famous by an increasingly desperate Senator McCain in last night's Presidential debate, Joe the Plumber is, apparently, full of crap.

Last night's debate: Same ol, same ol

According to today's New York Times, Senator McCain lost the debate last night by rehashing the same tired ideas that have led him campaign into a kind of failure of imagination.

I didn't get to see the debate, but it would have taken a major gaffe by Senator Obama to move the polls in any direction other than the way they've been heading. The popular site Fivethirtyeight.com projects Obama winning easily next month, though there is still time for an "October Surprise."

Gov. Palin's 18 year old future son in law...

....is not a real deep thinker, apparently.

Take a gander at the quotes coming from the now high school dropout in this Yahoo! News article.

"Whatever."

Good thing the country will be rid of the Palin distraction and embarrassment as soon as Obama/Biden are elected in three weeks.

NY Times link of the day...

...We here at Apt404 love the paper of record. And Frank Rich's Sunday column is a keeper. He rails at the McCain campaign for its use of race as a rallying point at many recent rallies. There are some disturbing events noted, such as the sheriff from Florida using Senator Obama's middle name to suggest that he is a Muslim, and the black reporter who was thrown out of a McCain rally in August, despite giving the security detail his credentials.

The campaign is getting heated here in the final three weeks. But does the McCain/Palin team really have to go there?

An awesome political site

Fivethirtyeight.com is a new site for electoral college junkies, like me. According to the site's author, Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus, Senator Obama has about a 93% chance of winning enough electoral votes to become the next President. The site also looks at Senate races and various other things guaranteed to keep you occupied for many minutes. Enjoy!

Tina Fey we love you!

Yes, the staff here at Apartment404 is as much in love with the ubiquitous NBC comedienne as the rest of America is. And we are wondering why the network has held out the much anticipated season premiere of "30 Rock" for so long. According to the NYT, NBC regrets delaying the premiere until 10/30 at 9:30pm, but claims ignorance over how absolutely huge Fey's star would shine this fall.

Can anyone believe that Tina Fey started out as just a writer on Saturday Night Live, and not a performer? She was reportedly conscious of her weight and glasses, and didn't feel comfortable in front of the camera. And today she may be the biggest star on television, though the ratings for "30 Rock" were not exactly off the charts last year. Fey's spot-on impression of Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin may help those ratings, and the success of last spring's film "Baby Mama" also will help get some eyeballs to the show.

Bob Cousy fired by Boston Celtics!!!!

According to published reports, the Celtics and their broadcasting partners Comcast, have decided Bob Cousy, the second best point guard in NBA history and a true American sports legend, is no longer attractive enough and young enough to broadcast his usual ten games for the team.

I think this is an outrage! Cousy may be 80 years young, but his class, intelligence, vitality, charisma, and basketball savvy made for fascinating broadcasting. I've been a fan of his announcing since my earliest years as a C's fan, back in the late 70's, then with the early Bird teams in the early 80's.

Cousy would always tell it like it was, which is part of what made last season's title run so much fun. The man simply cannot tell a lie, and as a viewer it was obvious that he loved the way the Big Three and their cohorts played the game. He will be missed.

Here's where you can contact CSN about your anger at the firing of The Cooz.

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Edit: Here are the comments posted at ESPN.com concerning the firing of The Cooz. As you can tell by just giving them a cursory glance, there are a lot of moronic sports fans across the country. Am I too old to be posting a plea for support there? Probably. But it's worth a shot.

Republican party in freefall...

NY Times reports tonight that Alaskan government finds that Gov. Palin abused her office by having subordinate fired, but did not recommend any further action.


and.....

Angry GOP crowds boo Sen. McCain at rally today when he has kind words to say about his opponent.

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It is crystal clear: President of the United States Barack Obama.

Count on it.

The Celtics open preseason play last night...

.....in Amherst at the Mullins Center. They lost to the 76ers, as if that matters. I didn't see the game, but The Boston Globe reports that newcomer Darius Miles played decently, and rookie Bill Walker had a nice athletic dunk. Good for them. It will be tough to replace the wonderful role player and fifth best player on the team James Posey, who is off to New Orleans to pursue his third title with a different club. But Boston has at least as good a shot as any team in the NBA to win the 2009 championship. It should be fascinating to watch!

Red Sox beat Angels in 9th, to meet Rays on Saturday night.

The biggest play in last night's 3-2 win for Boston, or maybe non-play, was the missed suicide squeeze in the ninth by Aybar. He has been a good bunter all season long, but wiffed on the attempt, which let catcher Varitek make the out of pinch runner Willits. So instead of being ahead, 3-2, Anaheim had two outs and no one on.

Of course, in the bottom of the inning rookie Jed Lowrie singled home Jason Bay with the winning and series clinching run. Good thing the Sox are not on their way to a deciding Game 5 back on the West coast.

It's time to think about Tampa Bay, but the decision to not only squeeze, but suicide squeeze is discussed in detail on the fantastic site Sons of Sam Horn. I believe that if it had worked, that Scioscia would be hailed as a genius. The fact that it didn't work does not make it bad strategy. The beauty of baseball lies partly in the fact that absolutely no one knows what is going to happen next.

Washington Post link of the day.....

Dana Milbank's column today details how ugly the crowds are getting at some of Governor Palin's events.

New York Times link of the day...

From Frank Rich's Sunday column. Rich points out how "ice cold" Governor Palin was in the VP debate last week. She didn't even acknowledge Senator Biden's personal pain after his discussion of his wife and child's death in a car accident in the 70's, and claims she "wouldn't even blink" if she was forced to become POTUS. Wow.

I think Rich hit the nail on the head: Palin is incredibly ambitious and empty. She wants very badly to be president, and the GOP sees her as their last, best hope to win in 2008. Though it appears that Senator McCain's bizarre selection of the then unknown governor of a marginal state has paid off in many ways, it is doubtful that the ticket will win the presidency in the upcoming election.

The biggest signal yet is the decision by the Republicans to give up in Michigan, a voter rich state going through more than their share of unemployment and distress. How can the McCain/Palin ticket hope to win ANY of the big Rust Belt states if they aren't even contesting one of the most important.

It's looking more and more as though Senator Obama will be our next president.

It's going to be another bad day for Wall Street.

Markets worldwide are down this morning. Does the bad news ever end?

Message to moronic thieves: Don't sell stolen Final Four rings on EBay!!

A member of George Mason's administration finds his Final Four rings being offered on EBay, and it winds up as a story at Sports Illustrated's website. Turns out, the rings were lifted from the man, and the thief is only accepting checks and money orders, or at least was. It's now apparently a police matter.

No need to panic: Pats win, Sox lose.

The Red Sox dropped Game 3 to the resiliant Angels late last night. But Boston's best pitcher, Jon Lester, goes tonight and will likely end the series with a quality start.

The Sox had won a record 12 postseason games in a row over "California", so one loss is no big deal. The Angels had plenty of singles, but also got a huge three hit, two homer game from unsung catcher Mike Napoli. An injured Josh Beckett struggled in his worst career postseason start: five innings, four runs, proving that a strained oblique muscle will even affect Boston's Superman of the playoffs.

It appears that Anaheim's lineup has no major threats outside of the scary Mark Teixeira, as Vlad Guerrero is but a shadow of his old, dominating self, and Garret Anderson and Torii Hunter are also getting up in age. Scoiscia's team may have hit a ton of singles last night and gotten a power showing from their catcher, but I am still confident that Boston's pitching can hold them down in the remainder of the series.

If the Sox can get Dustin Pedroia out of his mini-slump and David Ortiz can regain his stroke, I think Boston should be fine tonight. And even with an Angels win, don't think that our club can't go back to California and win Game Five if it comes to that. I remain very confident.

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The Patriots played by far their best all around game of the young season in dominating the San Francisco 49ers yesterday afternoon, 30-21. The game wasn't really as close as the score indicated. New England ran the ball well, and Matt Cassel, despite throwing two early interceptions, had one long impressive touchdown throw to Randy Moss and played effectively and efficiently in the final three quarters. The 49ers were simply beat up, much as Miami put a physical hurt on the Pats two weeks ago.

Though without Tom Brady under center it is hard to envision a Super Bowl victory, the Patriots can still win, in my opinion, ten or more games this year and have a year to be proud of. Matt Cassel played well yesterday despite the early picks and the defense and running game were impressive. One problem that needs to be addressed is kick return coverage, as the Pats seem to give up decent field position far too often.

New England stays out West for the week, and meets struggling and injured 2-3 San Diego next Sunday night at 8:30 Eastern. I expect a win and a 4-1 record and a share of first place in the AFC East.

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All in all, not a bad way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon and evening in New England.

McCain/Palin pulling out all the stops in latest attack on Obama

Yahoo! News analysis of Governor Palin's assertion that Senator Obama sees America differently than Republicans. Please read the story and see for yourself....

Later, Gov. Palin defended her comments by stating Obama's past associations ("palling around with terrorists" was actually what she said, though that appears to be inaccurate) as "fair game."

What a sad end...

...as OJ is facing decades in jail, having been found guilty on all counts by a Las Vegas jury in his stolen memorabilia trial.

Here's the New York Times article, just posted.

_____________________________

Lawrence Phillips, ex-NFL 1st rounder, bust, and big time college star at Nebraska, has been sentenced to 10 years for hitting several teenagers with his car following a street football game. A big waste of talent. He was an exciting player while in college, but apparently has had anger issues his entire life.

Listening to @#$%& Buck Martinez is driving me crazy!

Why? Well, let's see.....

A) Bucky says that Dice-K has "great control." -- Not true. Matsusaka has had issues with walks all year long, and last year as well. He has been very, very lucky in terms of not letting the walks hurt him, due to an outstanding batting average against when runners are in scoring position. But he is still the same pitcher as last year, when his lack of aggressiveness drove the Boston management nuts. Eighteen and three he may have been, but Lester and Beckett are still Boston's Big Two of the Big Three.

B) Bucky says that major league teams should go to a four man rotation -- What? Is he out of his mind? Bucky said that clubs should have their minor leaguers go to four man rotations and just let the young fellas pitch. Dumb idea. Many a talented young arm has been destroyed in the history of the game by this misguided advice. Not a chance anyone does it. Ever.

C) Bucky claims that closers need more than talent -- They need that indefinable something special. I think he's referring to guts or balls or something. What crap. You don't make it to the bigs without some grit. If you have great stuff, you can close. The Angels may not resign K-Rod (mistake), but have talented young arms in the pen. I am so sick of ex-managers claiming that they want gamers. I want pitchers, fielders, and hitters. Again I say: you don't get to the bigs without being a hard worker and mentally tough. Case closed.

D) Not one word was said by Martinez about the dumb, dumb injury suffered by Torii Hunter -- Hunter, in the early going, protested a close out call at first by jumping up and down just past the bag. He appeared to hyper-extend his left knee, and writhed in pain for several minutes. Hunter did stay in the game, but this injury may have an effect on the centerfielder's range in Game Three.

Red Sox are "best team" in baseball, according to BP

The outstanding Baseball Prospectus predicts, prior to the Sox game 1 win, that Boston will take the series in four.

Anaheim may have had the best record in baseball, but their run differential (runs scored versus given up) is only a +68, meaning that their 100 wins may be the result of quite a bit of luck. They are clearly a very good team, but only the middle of the lineup truly scares me. They have a lot of mediocre bats in the top and bottom of the lineup. And their speed is overrated. The strength of the team is in their starters and the end of their bullpen, with Shields and K-Rod.

But the Sox have a great chance to win this series and move on to meet the Rays, presumably. Lester gets another start, in game 4. Dice-K goes tonight, and showed in the playoffs last year and in his time in Japan that he loves the spotlight. The news reports for Beckett's side session are positive, and the Sox may be up 2-0 anyway when he goes on Sunday in game 3.

So the news is all good for Sox fans. Even Lowell and Drew looked relatively healthy on Wednesday night. I am optimistic that the Red Sox can win not only this series, but the 11 games necessary to bring home the World Series.

Last night's VP debate

Gov. Palin actually did well, I thought. She had few moments when I wondered just what in the heck she was talking about. Seemed assured and confident. Man, her debate camp must have been rigorous, because she did so much better than the awkward and disappointing interviews she's given in the last few weeks. Good for her, she seems a quick study and aggressive. It would have, in my opinion, been a tragedy for this nation to have Gov. Palin fall flat on her face in front of the world. It would have embarrassed our country and made Senator McCain look awful. I was not rooting against her, because I am a patriotic American and believe the USA to be the best place to live on the planet, and the Governor has a good shot at being both VP and eventually President. We don't need blathering idiots running the world. And she is not moron. Once again, good for her.


But I felt that Senator Biden clearly won the debate, in the sense that he seemed reasoned and assured. Making a clear case for Senator Obama as the best candidate for POTUS, Sen. Biden made sure the audience and the viewers understood that the Democrats and Republicans have clear cut differences of opinion over: 1) the economy - The Democrats want to reign in the excesses of the last eight years. The Republicans do not. 2) the war in Iraq - The Democrats want to end the war responsibly. The Republicans want to stay in Iraq until we achieve "victory", feeling that it would be an embarrassment to the nation to leave. In my opinion, the lives spent and the money wasted there are too great a price to pay for nation honor, and that we should leave Iraq asap. 3) The Dems feel that we should engage in responsible dialogue with all nations throughout the globe, both allies and enemies. The Republicans want to continue the Bush course of trying to isolate rogue nations through economic sanctions. I believe history will judge the Democrats plan as being the better course. 4) The GOP wants to avoid what the Gov. called "redistribution" of wealth. The Democrats want to tax the wealthy more fairly. A clear cut difference.

Hopefully, the debate last night drew an enormous audience both in the US and worldwide. It is such an important election, and I would hope that all voting eligible Americans cast a ballot in November.

.....

Columnist Tom Shales of The Washington Post gives his thought, post-debate, which are similar to my impressions.

Nice running analysis of the debate by the NY Times. Lengthy, but worth reading.

The Anchorage Daily News scores it a win for Senator Biden.

Governor Palin is quite scary...

Sarah Palin, as mayor of the small town of Wasilla, Alaska began a policy that required rape victims to pay for rape kits at the town's hospital.

Incredible. Gov. Palin has been quoted as saying that her current policy is not to charge rape victims in America's hospital for such services. But it seems that this incident reveals her mindset about the evilness of abortion and birth control.

And that view is, in my opinion, outside the mainstream of the American voting public.

Here is footage of a joint interview of Senator McCain and the Governor by CBS News Katie Kouric in which both candidates blame "gotcha journalism" for a major mistake by Palin. She claimed the US military should and would cross Pakistan's border with Afghanistan to reign in cross border raids, something that McCain says, "shouldn't be said out loud." A clear faux pas by the Governor.

.....

I have long held that we as a nation need to give this woman a chance, but the evidence is mounting rapidly that Gov. Palin is in over her head. Her nonsensical answers and non-answers in her three recent network interviews have much of the voting public shaking their collective heads at her ineptitude.

Just how far will her good looks and ambition take her? Surely not to within a heartbeat of the Presidency, right?