For my column comparing Susan Boyle to Janeane Garofalo, please link here.
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/egolub/2009/04/19/from-susan-boyle-to-janeane-garofalo/
Below is another link on the subject.
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/20/janeane-garafolo-meet-katrina-pierson/
eric
After four decades, John Madden is retiring from the game of football.
No, this is not life and death. Yet for a leatherhead like myself, it feels like it.
Football is not about cheerleaders, parties, or even gambling, although they are all part of the game. Football in its truest and purest form is about Xs and Os. Nobody understood Xs and Os better than John Madden.
http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/04/john-madden-great-announcer-better-man.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/peter_king/04/16/madden/index.html?eref=si_writers
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-sp.maese17apr17,0,3046804.column
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80fd1302&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true
http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/23143/madden_retires,_wont_soon_(ever)_be_replaced
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/Rowe_.html
He insists that his health is fine, yet I keep referring to him in the past tense.
Too many times we wait until it is too late. So while John Madden is alive and healthy, I will proclaim that he was the best color commentator in the history of football.
One of my favorite Madden moments came in 2006 at his (long overdue) induction ceremony into the NFL Hall of Fame. I was in Canton, Ohio, for the festivities. John Madden began his speech overcome by emotion, saying, “I don’t plan on making a heckuva lot of sense, and I don’t care.” The crowd went wild.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A–nCJiyrA4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBIBaRbhEaY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2WJEamSfE8&NR=1
So forgive me if my hyperbole is tribute is disjointed. I love John Madden, and am overcome by emotion. So in praising him, I don’t plan on making a heckuva lot of sense, and I don’t care.”
He started out as a football player. He has often said that if you play one game of football, your life will never be the same. In the first quarter of his first professional game, he blew out his knee. One minute he is on his way to being a star offensive lineman, and the next minute his career as a player was over. Football was his life. He had to stay in the game somehow. He was hired to be an assistant coach with the Oakland Raiders. Two years later in 1969, Renegade Owner Al Davis shocked the football world by hiring the then 32 year old Madden to coach what was already an elite franchise.
John Madden was one of the best football coaches of all time. In 10 years, the Raiders went 103-32. Madden had a better winning percentage than Vince Lombardi. Madden’s Raiders reached the AFC Title Game six times. Some of the greatest games in NFL history were played with Madden prowling the sidelines for the Silver and Black.
In 1972, the big story was the Miami Dolphins having the only perfect Season at 17-0. Yet the playoff game between the Raiders and Steelers featured what became known as the “Immaculate Reception.” A 7-6 Raiders victory became a shocking 13-7 Steelers win.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S08LIRj5q5c
John Madden has said that the immaculate reception will bother him until the day he dies. He claims that the official went to the sidelines, called the Pittsburgh Police Department, and asked them how many officers they could spare if he disallowed the touchdown and handed the Raiders the victory. When told only six officers could be spared, the officer asked if the police department meant 600 or 6,000. When told that the number was six, the official raised his hands and exclaimed for the home team, “Six for Pittsburgh!”
While there has always been a theory that the officials hated the Raiders because of the Commissioner’s war with Raiders Owner Al Davis, John Madden did get to witness some miracle finishes where the Raiders came out on top.
The 1973 Raiders got revenge against the Steelers by thrashing them in the playoffs 33-14. That season saw them defeat the Dolphins 14-10 in the second week of the season. That snapped the then record 18 game winning streak. Although Miami did not go unbeaten again, they did win the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year. The Raiders did fall to the Dolphins in the AFC Title Game 27-10. Miami had too much firepower in the rematch.
1974 was probably the most exhilarating and heartbreaking season for Madden. They began the season by beating the Steelers 17-0 in Pittsburgh. They finished with the best record in the NFL at 12-2. They played the two time defending Dolphins in the divisional playoffs. Yet this time the game was in Oakland.
The Dolphins ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown to lead 7-0. A see-saw game had the Dolphins leading 26-21 with seconds remaining. The Raiders had one last chance, and veteran quarterback Ken Stabler went over to discuss options with Madden. Madden was his typical excitable self. As he describes it, he was rambling at Stabler, “Should we run? Should we pass? What should we call? What what what?”
Stabler just looked at Madden and said, “Coach, these people are sure getting their money’s worth.”
Stabler ran back on the field, nearly got sacked, and as he was going down, threw a miracle touchdown to Clarence Davis. Davis ripped the ball from three Miami defenders in what became known as the “Sea of Hands” catch. The Raiders had won 28-26.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBr8ItDt4Hs
For the third straight year, the Steelers and Raiders faced off in the playoffs, although this was for a trip to the Super Bowl. The Raiders led 10-3 after three quarters, but they collapsed in the fourth quarter. The Steelers won 24-13.
More painful than losing that game was the quiet whispering that John Madden “could not win the big one.” Five times the Raiders made it to the AFC Title Game, and in those games they were 0-4. While the first three games were on the road, this was a home loss. Even worse, they led with one quarter to play. They were underdogs in previous years. This year the favorite had blown it.
Madden stayed the course, and in 1975 the Raiders and Steelers again met in the AFC Title Game. This time the game was in Pittsburgh, and the field was a block of ice. The Steelers led 3-0 after three quarters in a game where nobody could move. The offenses got going in the fourth quarter, and on the last play of the game, Stabler threw a Hail Mary with the Raiders trailing 16-10. The ball was caught, but the receiver was dragged out of bounds at the five yard line. Five yards separated a trip to the Super Bowl from another tough loss. Madden was 0-5 in AFC Title Games.
In 1976, the Raiders finally broke through. In the opening week, the Raiders trailed the Steelers in Oakland 28-14 with 5 minutes remaining. A furious rally had the Raiders win 31-28 on the final play of the game.
Yet the true essence of John Madden came in the last game o the 1976 season, in a Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Raiders had locked up home field throughout playoffs. Madden could have rested his starters. Had the Raiders won this final “meaningless” game, the Bengals would be out of the playoffs. Yet had the Raiders lost, the Bengals would be in the playoffs, and the two time defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers would be out of the playoffs.
Broadcasters around the country, particularly in Pittsburgh, maintained that the Raiders were afraid of the Steelers. The Raiders were going to purposely lose the game to keep Pittsburgh out of the playoffs.
This enraged Madden. His Raiders had always been accused of cheating. They were considered the dirtiest team in professional sports. Yet every accusation against Madden and the Raiders was that they would do whatever it took, even if it meant breaking the rules, in order to win. Now they were being accused of purposely losing. John Madden made it clear that his players may have bent the rules, but nobody on that team, including him, ever cheated the game of football itself.
Madden wanted to play Pittsburgh. He didn’t want people to say that the Raiders got lucky. The Raiders began by thrashing the Bengals, knocking them out of the playoffs and getting the Steelers in. The Oakland fans began chanting “We want Pittsburgh.”
The team barreled through a 13-1 season. Yet before playing Pittsburgh, they had a playoff game that they would not overlook. In the divisional playoffs, they faced the only team that had beaten them that year, the New England Patriots. The Patriots destroyed the Raiders 48-17 in Oakland. The rematch had the Patriots leading 21-10 in the third quarter. The Raiders fought back, and late in the game they benefited from a controversial late hit of Ken Stabler by Sugar Bear Hamilton. The personal foul kept the last Oakland Drive alive. With only 10 seconds remaining, Staber himself snuck over from one yard out to give the Raiders a heart stopping 24-21 win. New England would get revenge exactly 25 years later.
The Raiders then faced the Steelers for the fifth straight year in the playoffs, and the third straight year in the AFC Title Game. The game was not close. The Raiders battered the Steelers 24-7. The Super Bowl was almost an afterthought, but Madden had the Raiders prepared. They thrashed the Minnesota Vikings 32-14, and Madden was finally a Super Bowl champion. The Super Bowl rings had the score of 24-7 instead of 32-14, since the Raiders knew that beating Pittsburgh meant crushing their archenemy.
Some teams get complacent after a Superbowl win. The Raiders came out wanting to repeat. The 1977 Raiders reached the AFC Title game for the fifth consecutive season. The Oakland Raiders to this day are the only team to ever do this. John Madden is the only coach to ever do this. The Raiders had lost only eight regular season games in the previous four years combined, going 12-2, 12-2, 13-1, and 11-3.
The division rival Denver Broncos had the home field, and again a controversial call robbed the Raiders. The Broncos fumbled at the one yard line, and replays clearly showed the ball coming out. The play was ruled a touchdown, and the Broncos prevailed 20-17.
The 1978 season began as insanely as any other season in Raiderland. In the second game of the season, trailing 20-14 against the Chargers in San Diego, the Raiders pulled out a miracle. A sack of Stabler caused a fumble was batted and kicked forward 24 yards by two different players into the end zone for a ridiculous touchdown. The Raiders won 21-20 in the game that is now known as the “Holy Roller.”
Bill King exclaimed it best during the Holy Roller.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNMy6FV10VM
http://www.bayarearadio.org/sports/raiders-chargers_sept-10-1978.shtml
“The Oakland Raiders have scored on the most zany, unbelievable, absolutely impossible dream of a play! Madden is on the field! He wants to know if it’s real! They say yes! Get your big butt out of here! He does! Nothing is real in the world anymore! The Oakland Raiders have won the football game! 52,000 people minus a few lonely Raider fans are stunned! The Chargers are staring at the sky! They don’t believe it! I don’t believe it! I don’t even think the Raiders believe it! This one will go down in the history books and be relived forever, bitterly in San Diego, and Joyfully in Oakland!”
Rumors that have never been substantiated have this as the only game where a coach got into it with an opposing team’s mascot. Yet analysis of the tape shows that John Madden and the San Diego Chicken were not on the same sideline. Their reactions were on opposite sidelines. Madden could have taken that chicken and made him one leg of his later to be famous “turducken.”
Yet the roller coaster ride that was the NFL took its toll on Madden. He developed an intense fear of flying. He would get ill before, during, and after games. After the 1978 season, the team finished 9-7, missing the playoffs altogether. The losses bothered Madden, but the flying bothered him more. He offered his resignation, but Al Davis refused it. He told Madden to take an entire week to think about it. Madden did, but after the week, he declared himself retired from coaching.
Madden, as he had over a decade ago, faced a decision that terrifies people everywhere. What was he going to do next? He still loved football. He could not tear himself away. He took a job as an announcer at CBS, and teamed up with Pat Summerall. They became inseparable, as the words “Madden” and “Summerall” blended together.
This is what makes John Madden so special. He went from coaching, to where he was one of the best, to announcing as a color commentator, and becoming the very best that ever did it.
Fans loved him because he really did come across as the guy sitting next to you at the bar. Madden is often described as “blue collar.” Yes, his last contract paid him seven million dollars per year. It didn’t matter. John Madden really was blue collar. He was that guy sitting in the bar, with one exception. He knew what he was talking about. He knew the game cold, inside and out. He presented it in a fun way.
Yes, there was the time when he asked Summerall whether a centimeter was bigger or smaller than a millimeter. Yet people were not fooled, and Madden was no fool. Beneath the Batman language of “Whap! Boom! Bam!” was a man who could explain Xs and Os better than anybody.
He also made the NFL watchable when the game itself was out of hand. Uncompetitive games still maintained ratings so that people could see what Madden would talk about next. In 1986, when the New York Giants defensive stars, led by Harry Carson and Lawrence Taylor, began dumping the Gatorade bucket on never satisfied coach Bill Parcells, Madden realized a new tradition had been born. He used the telestrator to illustrate how a proper Gatorade dumping is done. He pointed to various buckets, and pointed out the “Momma Bucket, Poppa Bucket, and Baby Bucket.” He showed what angle makes for the best Gatorade dumping, and how you have to get the entire head, not just the back. During the Super Bowl, he showed winning coach Parcells looking around nervously to see where his top players were. Madden made it fun when he showed the path that they took to finally douse him.
Yet Madden was no clown. He would also use his telestrator to show things that nobody else would see. When other announcers were focusing on a quarterback sack, Madden would point out the missed blocking assignment. When Others pointed out a spectacular touchdown pass and catch, Madden would note the blocking scheme that gave the quarterback an extra split second of protection. Madden’s ever so brief career as a lineman gave him an extra appreciation for the “mudders,” “grunters,” and “guys in the trenches.”
Madden recognized the everyman players that others overlooked. When he declared a player to be “All Madden,” it meant they had blood and mud on their shirt, but were still playing hard. NFL Players took great pride in being named to his All Madden Team. True to his character, Madden even has in his backyard the blocking device that offensive lineman practice on when pile-driving forward on run blocks.
Madden’s blue collar likability allowed him to become a successful commercial pitchman. In the 1980s, Madden, Bob Eucker, and Rodney Dangerfield made legendary commercials for Miller Lite Beer. The commercials would end with John Madden bursting through a brick wall. Sales of Miller Lite skyrocketed during what should be described as the golden era of beer commercials. He eventually became satirized with affection by Frank Caliendo.
Madden also was one of the few people that still retained influence with Al Davis, who kept his inner circle small and secretive. It was Madden who played a major role in 1995 and getting Al Davis to “return the Raiders home” to Oakland after a brief sojourn in Los Angeles. Los Angeles was the entertainment capital of the world, but Oakland had the Raiders. Once again John Madden came through.
Yet even as Madden was aging, he managed to reach an entirely new generation when Electronic Arts featured him for their sports football video game. On Sega Genesis, I still remember playing Madden ’93 and hearing his voice saying “speed kills” after a wide receiver caught a touchdown or “He’ll remember that number” after a hard defensive hit.
Madden Football has gone on to become the top selling video sports game of all time. Every year he refines it. Now there are instant replays, slow motion viewings from several angles, fantasy drafts, player injuries, and more wisdom in the form of many famous Madden phrases.
Yet to me John Madden will always be the guy at the 2006 Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. I was probably five feet from him, but the fans were not allowed to get too close to the inductees. Asking for autographs was not allowed, but pictures were allowed with all players except the inductees. I understand that we live in a post 9/11 world, and safety comes first. I still hope that one day I get to shake his hand and thank him for providing so much joy on so many Sundays to so many people.
Whether it was his Thanksgiving celebration of the turducken, a bird that is part turkey, part duck, and part chicken, his yelling on the sidelines and running onto the field to “talk to” an official, or his finding marvel and wonder in every aspect of what others appeared to be a routine four yard gain, John Madden presented it as only he could.
He should have been in the Hall of Fame earlier, but some criticized the fact that he won “only one” Super Bowl. I suspect the voters just assumed incorrectly that he had already been enshrined twenty years earlier.
He eventually joined Al Michaels on Monday Night Football to combine the best play by play guy with the best color commentator. The pairing worked. Monday Night Football, which had fallen on hard times, was revitalized. The pair then moved to Sunday Night Football, and revitalized that as well with the help of better games.
After being the color commentator in a thrilling Super Bowl to end the 2008 season, John Madden took some time to reflect and then finally decided to retire. Like Al Davis 30 years ago, NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol tried to get Madden to reconsider. Ebersol even offered Madden the right to work two of the four football months and take alternate months off. Madden declined. Ebersol flew to Madden’s home, but after 11 hours, accepted the inevitable. John Madden had retired as an announcer.
At age 73, he repeatedly insists that his health is fine. He and his wife will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary later this year. He wants to spend time with his grandchildren.
As a Raider fan, I feel like the Silver and black let John Madden down. Had the Raiders (and 49ers) been better football teams, they would have gotten enough games on Sunday nights to allow Madden to stay near his family for some football weeks. Instead, Madden would have had to be traveling every week this season. Since he is afraid to fly, his Madden Cruiser bus would have kept him away from home for several months.He is not an 18 year old leaving for Iraq or Afghanistan. He is a 73 year old man who has given his life for the game he loves, and now he is walking away on his terms. He served us honorably for decades, and like the five star general of football that he is, he enjoys to enjoy his retirement.
During his 2006 induction speech, he mentioned that his father had advised him not to work when he was in college. He would have his whole life to work, and that he should enjoy his youth. He became a football player, a football coach, a football announcer, and a football video game entrepreneur. He even authored the book, “Hey! I’m Talking Football!” The book was not even about him. It was about football. Whether out of humility or other reasons, writing an autobiography was less desirable to him than simply writing about the game that defined his life. He always knew that the game of football was bigger than him, even if his legions of fans may disagree.
After describing his entire life, he exclaimed that in his entire life, “I’ve never worked. I never had to go to work.”
In describing his childhood, he said, “Life with me was a locker room, and every day was recess.
No matter how tough my ordinary life can be at times, Sunday was always recess. Sometimes recess even extended to Monday nights. John Madden took the toughest day of the work week and helped make it the best day of the week.
Sundays and Monday nights will still exist, and football will still be played. However, there will never be another like John Madden.
He was simply the very best.
eric
At the 2008 Republican Convention in Minneapolis, I had the pleasure of meeting former Washington State Senator Slade Gorton.
Slade Gorton had the unusual distinction of holding both senate seats. He was elected in 1981 as part of the Reagan Revolution. When he was defeated for reelection in 1987, he simply ran for the other seat two years later and won.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slade_Gorton
He was very genial with me, and seemed to enjoy being a spectator who could shake hands with people without needing anything from them. He ran several campaigns, and fought the good fight. My interview with him is below.
1) What are the most important issues of 2008?
SG: “National and domestic security are most important. Keeping America safe is what matters.”
2) Who are your 3 favorite political heroes?
SG: “My political heroes are Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and Howard Baker.”
3) How would you like to be remembered 100 years from now? What would you want people to say about Slade Gorton the person?
SG: “I would like to be remembered as a thoughtful person who was principled. I would also liked to be thought of as a man who advanced the cause of freedom.”
4) Given that Republicans are the party of John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, and Slade Gorton, and the Democrats offer Barack Obama, John Edwards, and Chris Dodd, are the Democrats bigoted against the follically challenged? Can we finally crack the glass ceiling and elect the first bald President since your hero Dwight Eisenhower?
SG: “I sure hope so! I’m one, and we deserve it!”
To say that Senator Gorton is good-natured would be an understatement. He also is, as he hopes to be remembered, quite thoughtful. I still maintain that he lost his seat in 2001 because his female opponent and supermodel stunning beauty. It is one thing to be follically challenged, but it is another to have to face off against a woman that captures the male vote by tossing her hair around like in the commercials.
I did not bring that issue up with him.
Senator Gorton will have to settle for being a good man of substance that represented his state and his nation well.
It was thoroughly enjoyable meeting him. The people of both Washingtons were lucky to have him, from State to DC.
eric
Piracy is out of control.
I am taking action. Visit Big Hollywood for the solution.
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/egolub/2009/04/16/killing-hollywood-pirates-one-by-one/
eric
April 15th is now in the rear view mirror.
I fought the good fight, but apparently my efforts at the anti tax tea parties failed.
Tea is still legal in America.
I showed up with my sign.
“I dislike taxes, but I hate tea. Death to Mint Medley! Death to Earl Gray! Death to Tetley!”
I tried to explain to people that this is a America, and that we do not drink sissy liberal beverages here. We drink beer, or in my case, soda. In fact, most things that rhyme with tea should be put under intense scrutiny, from trees to brie cheese.
Anyway, the bottom line is that America is simply divided on the issue. Like other complex moral issues, I never did get certain questions answered.
For one thing, when does tea actually begin?
Conservatives, who I pray never to catch drinking the stuff, insist that once it made at wherever it is, it is exists. From the moment it is conceived and put in that womb of a box that is placed on grocery shelves, it is tea.
Yet liberals argue that until it is taken out of the box, placed in a cup, and hot water is added to it, tea is unborn.
Now I know some extremist liberals will insist that until the tea actually breaks out of the tea bag and actually mixes with the water, no tea has been made. These zealots are out of control. Anybody who thinks that a tea bag sitting there ready to blend with the water, in the seconds before the water changes color, has not created tea in its full form, is insane.
Some people actually wait until after the tea is born to then throw the bag in the dumpster. This is barbaric. Every opportunity was given to throw the bag away before mixing with the water, but waiting until the tea is wholly formed and fully integrated into the society of water is clinically cruel.
I saw no discussion of this at any of the rallies. In fact, across the street from these so called protest marches, were places actually selling the stuff. What in the name of California is going on here?
I witnessed discussions, some animated, some calmer. I witnessed a diverse crowd. The disrupters claimed to be from the CCCP (Some Commie Pinko Derivative), but I think they were Tetley executives in disguise.
Yet nobody was throwing tea in the ocean. This was no revolution. This was a typical day in Santa Monica, although much colder and windier.
The police did not support the lawlessness, opting for coffee instead. While this is not much better, it is slightly better.
Does nobody drink soda any more? What has happened to America? Even the leftists wanted to join hands 20 years ago and sing about buying the world a Coke. Now it is dirt mixed with Evian.
Some young missionaries came to preach the Gospel of their Lord and Savior. They agreed with me on the anti-tea stance. They were also against drugs. We tried to get some drug addicts on the street some help, but they would not listen. One person insisted it was glaucoma medication they were taking, while another insisted that they had a prescription for the tablets that appeared to be an anti-histamine.
Well I know a thing about tablets. God gave them to Moses, and it did not sanction liberal pill popping in this land I love, especially when those drugs are mixed with beverages that change colors after being mixed.
We are losing the culture wars. I have done all I can do.
Some of the smell from the tea emanating from that vile store near the protest site wafted towards me. I contacted the Center for Disease Control, and they quickly arrived and gave me a morning after pill.
It may have looked like Pepcid AC or Pepto Bismol, but that was to keep the rest of the crowd from panicking.
I tried my best America. I let you down.
Tea still exists, and this administration will continue to allow it.
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/15/massive-tax-day-tea-party-usa/
Oh yeah, and taxes are too high.
eric
Outside of liberals, nobody likes April 15th. As we know, the reason they don’t mind taxes is because they often don’t pay them.
(For a list of tea parties and other events, the link below is provided and continuously updated.)
https://tygrrrrexpress.com/2009/04/events-announcements-and-link-love/
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/15/massive-tax-day-tea-party-usa/
Nevertheless, April 15th is not a day when I normally rant about taxes. Besides, we should all be in a good mood now that the NFL 2009 Schedule has been released as of yesterday. I have it memorized already.
Yet the anger in America is palpable, and it is often justified.
For too long, productive people have had to rip the leeches of the less productive from their wounded chests. The giant sucking sound that Ross Perot spoke about in 1992 was not about Mexico. It was about liberals stealing from conservatives in the name of fairness.
Conservatives are fighting back in the form of tea parties around America.
I am not sure if I will attend. I have to work, and am balancing several radio interviews. Also, to quote a comedian that did a fabulous imitation of Gilbert Gottfried promoting Tetley Tea…
“I hate Tea. Tea I hate. Tea is hot water with a bag in it, and the bag is urinating dirt. Waiter, get that bag out of my hot water. Also, why T? Why not call it L? L would have been good.”
Then again, a world with less tea would be a good thing, so I might throw some in the water to protest not just against taxes, but against tea as well. I might even throw a golf club to protest my distaste for golf. I just have to find a political angle, and somebody willing to part with a club.
I could even wear a sign that reads, “apolitical, I just hate tea.”
Then again, I really am political. The sign will need work.
My bigger concerns are that I still have not found a way to blame Palestinians, feminists, or other scourges for this situation. I will connect the dots faster then somebody can toss their Tetley.
(If you work for Tetley, please do not sue me. I don’t know a Mint Medley from an Earl Grey, and never wish to learn. Your competitors are just as useless to me, only your name is the only one I know from that catchy jingle you did years ago.)
Actually, radical feminist meetings and leftover tea often contain old bags, but that can wait for another time. Thank the heavens they do not support this cause. If they burn their bras I am leaving immediately.
To me tea is a liberal drink. It is elitist and snobby. Guys drink beer, or in my case, soda.
So for those of you in Taxachusetts drinking your dirt filled cup of water, just know that I scoff at your blue state beverage.
At least by tossing stuff in the ocean, we will be ticking off the environmentalists. Some good will come out of this.
So as we curse Tim Geithner and fight back against the pillaging and plundering liberals that act like Somali pirates minus the willingness to use force, just remember that tomorrow will be April 16th, and life will continue.
For that reason, I might skip the tea parties. With all of the people I have offended, who knows how many of them want to throw me in the river?
So to those who are offended by me, take the advice of the tea companies, and adopt the new slogan I just created for them.
Stick a bag in it.
eric
The 2009 NFL Schedule has now been released.
http://www.nfl.com/schedules?seasonType=REG#Week
11 days until the DRAFT.
eric
President Obama was a brilliant political campaigner, but getting elected and actually governing require separate skill sets.
Centuries later, Machiavelli remains the political master. President Obama would be wise to heed Machiavelli’s counsel.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/09/rollins.obama/index.html
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/04/the_world_loves_obama_but_does.html
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/04/its_your_country_too_mr_presid.html
The question is whether it is better to be loved or to be feared. While neither of those are ideal choices, there is no middle ground in the Machiavellian world. Therefore, the answer is that it is better to be feared.
Yet in today’s world the middle ground does exist. In the short term, being feared is better than being loved. Yet rule by fear does not last in the long term. Dictatorships fall.
In the long term, better than being feared, and much better than being loved, and even far better than being liked, is being respected.
This is where President Obama has the potential to be either a spectacular success or a spectacular failure.
Right now he is liked. Yet I do not see him being respected on the world stage.
He bowed before the Saudi Arabian King. He was given nothing in return. He apologized before adoring Europeans. He got nothing. He talked tough on North Korea. He got less than nothing except more belligerence. He offered an outstretched hand to Iran. They slapped it away, and would have chopped it off had the Secret Service not been so effective.
I have had to listen to liberals carp for almost a decade about how President George W. Bush made us less respected around the world. We were hated. Donald Rumsfeld spoke of “Old Europe.” We were arrogant.
Barack Obama was going to change all of that. Yet what the left in America still fails to grasp is that being liked is supposed to be the means to actual world improvements, not the end itself.
Barack Obama is liked around the globe. Yet what did he actually achieve in terms of anything tangible?
Liberals then claim that it will take time to reverse the damage of President Bush, and that only negotiation can do that. Yet how can negotiation work when the people we are trying to do business with do not respect our leader?
George W. Bush routed the Taliban and took down Saddam. That led to Khadafi in Libya giving up his weapons. Barack Obama thinks that being nice to Iran will get them to do likewise.
This gets to the idea of whether I want Barack Obama to succeed. The notion has been brought forth and argued back and forth over whether wanting Obama to fail is the same as wanting America to fail.
No it is not. Domestically, I do not want his policies to succeed. I think they will make matters worse.
However, on foreign policy, the President must succeed. His failure does hurt America. Just ask anybody objective how badly we were hurt by Jimmy Carter until Ronald Reagan straightened things out.
Sure, people can say that Barack Obama is new, and yes he deserves the benefit of the doubt, but the problem is not just with him. The problem is that the the people that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld treated with contempt really did deserve that contempt.
Old Europe? Absolutely. What else would one call a continent of worthless America bashers that would be part of a Muslim Caliphate if we didn’t bail their sorry, pathetic, cowardly hides out of the fire.
Iran? Who the heck do they think they are? Barack Obama is my President, he gave them a chance to show humanity, and they flunked.
I support a more extreme version of the Bush foreign policy that even he did not endorse.
It is called the “Dear World, go f*ck yourself, you’re on your own” doctrine.
America feeds, clothes, protects, and defends the world, and we get nothing but grief for it.
Europeans and our Arab enemies like liberals because they like a weak America. They see American power as a bigger threat than Islamofacism. Jacques Chirac spoke of a glorious multipolar world.
The problem with this theory is that it assumes that when push comes to shove, a liberal President will surrender. This is where I differ from some conservatives.
When Barack Obama is forced to choose on an issue that divides America from the world, I believe he will do the right thing. He will stand up for America. I believe this because he knows how Jimmy Carter is rightly perceived, and he wants to get reelected. So rather than throw away this nation, he will anger the world.
Iran is already burning him in effigy. Europe will hate him soon enough.
Europe and our Arab enemies did not hate George W. Bush. They hate American power. They want us emasculated to cover up for their own frail, feeble failures.
Barack Obama was everything they wanted. So he bended, bowed, appeased, prostrated, and apologized.
Yet I still believe he will not surrender. He will then be disliked.
I don’t care if my President is loved, or even liked. I won’t mind if he is feared. Yet he better be respected.
I can criticize him because he is my leader, and that is what America is all about.
Yet when our enemies, which sometimes includes our barely helpful allies, disrespect our President, they are disrespecting Americans everywhere.
Liberals should have understood this when George W. Bush was President.
They did not hate us because of him. They hated us because we are us, and they are them.
Water remains wet, and conservatives don’t need to be doused in European or Arab floods of disrespect to understand this.
eric
Excluding my present sexual administration, there is not a lovelier Republican brunette on the planet than Shannen Doherty.
The rumors are false. She and I are not back together.
Go to Big Hollywood for the truth.
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/egolub/2009/04/12/happy-passover-shannen-doherty/
eric
This Sunday will be dedicated to events, announcements, and link love.
Most importantly, I wish a day of peace and happiness for those celebrating Passover and Easter.
Sunday, April 12th–This is the deadline for those who wish to register at Planet Social Sports to play in various leagues. I will be playing touch football, and may play kickball and softball as well. After the games, we all get together at the bar to eat and drink. This happens in several cities. Hazen Wilson runs the leagues.
http://www.planetsocialsports.com
Monday, April 13th–Larry Greenfield of the Claremont Institute will be moderating a foreign policy panel at the Luxe Hotel in Brentwood in Los Angeles. It should be a very stimulating discussion.
Tuesday, April 14th–From 4pm to 6pm PST, the NFL 2009 Schedule will be released. Memorize it.
Tuesday, April 14th–I will be a radio guest of Frank and Shane of Political Vindication at 7pm PST. I will be on for about an hour.
http://www.politicalvindication.com
Wednesday, April 15th–Get your taxes done, and then enjoy tea parties. They are everywhere.
Below is an extensive Tea Party Guide.
http://www.site.sacteaparty.com/Event_Schedule.html
The South Bay Tea Party at Dockweiler Beach will feature Tammy Bruce.
http://southbaytaxdayteaparty.typepad.com/
Long Beach Tea Party Info:
http://rosemarysthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/04/lb-tea-party-is-on.html
Donald Douglas has his thoughts on the tea party revolt.
http://americanpowerblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/grassroots-tea-party-revolt.html
Thursday, April 16th–I will be a radio guest of CJ at Soldier’s Perspective at 5:30pm PST. I will be on for about 15 minutes.
http://www.soldiersperspective.us
Friday, April 17th–Operation Gratitude Comedy Night. Operation Gratitude sends care packages to the troops.
http://ja-jp.facebook.com/event.php?eid=55231559906&ref=mf
http://www.operationgratitude.com
Saturday, April 18th–My friend Chad at the Grizzly Groundswell is receiving a prestigious blogging award in Chicago. He lives in Minnesota, and is a great source of info regarding the senate race there.
http://www.grizzlygroundswell.com
http://www.samadamsalliance.org
Sunday, April 19th–I will be a radio guest of Douglas Gibbs of Political Pistachio at 7pm. I will be on for about an hour.
http://www.politicalpistachio.com
Monday, April 20th–Matt Brooks, Executive Director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, will be speaking at the Sheraton Delfina Hotel in Santa Monica.
http://www.rjchq.org/Events/eventdetail.aspx?id=b4223eea-5914-4536-8d76-a0805556cb02
Tuesday April 21st–Evan Sayet is doing his monthly Right to Laugh night of politically conservative comedy at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood.
Saturday, April 25th and Sunday, April 26th–NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Wednesday, May 6th–Andrew Breitbart will be speaking in Los Angeles to the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Andrew Breitbart runs the site Big Hollywood.
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com
I have just been accepted by Mr. Breitbart to contribute to his site. I am very pleased about this, and look forward to thanking him personally on May 6th. I will be posting sporadically, not daily. I will still be posting here daily. On Big Hollywood, I will only be writing entertainment related columns, although there will of course be a political angle.
In Mid-May, ata date to be determined, I will be speaking to the Reseda-Tarzana Federated Republican Women’s Club. They have a monthly luncheon.
Thursday, May 28–I will be speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition Reno chapter in Reno, Nevada, at 7pm, at the Atlantis Casino.
That concludes my announcements and events, but link love is now in order.
Nik Mouser has a great site, and a friend of his has a new book
For medical blogging, Edwin Leap offers insight.
http://edwinleap.com/blog/?p=325
Another Jewish Republican blogger has befriended the Tygrrrr Express. Check out Kenneth Davenport.
http://www.kennethgdavenport.com
The Tennessee Republican blogosphere has been very supportive of me. I will be doing a barnstorming tour of the state, most likely in October. For anything connected to Tennessee politics, check out the Blue Collar Muse.
Debbie Lee has a great site dedicated to our best.
http://www.americasmightywarriors.org
For Mark Levin fans, this link was brought to my attention.
http://marklevinfan.com/?p=2408
Nathan Martin is part of the Ohio chapter of Vets For Freedom. He also has his own important projects going on.
Gary Graham is one of the many people at Big Hollywood that befriended me. In addition, he wrote a phenomenal column on the right to bear arms. He brilliantly breaks down the Second Amendment.
www.garygraham.com/bighollywood
For those looking to find a meal that fits the guidelines of being Kosher for Passover, check out your local Chabad or Hillel House.
The food at UCLA Hillel is especially tasty for those in Los Angeles.
My friend ran for Congress as a Libertarian. I just found out today. She would have made one hot Congresswoman.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008/elections/tx/house/733/
Enough announcements. Enjoy the holidays. Then go buy my book. My home page has the link.
eric