It’s Gone! (posted 10/17/03 12:31 a.m.)
Well, misery loves company. How can baseball be America’s game if
Chicago and Boston never stand a chance? They came oh so close only
to be swatted down for thinking they could hold a lead and move on.
At least we’ve learned again that baseball humbles, and breaks more
hearts than any other game could even dream of doing. Has the
consolation “Wait till next year?” ever rung more hollow?
******
Round ‘Em Up (posted 10/13/03 12:41 a.m.)
In defending his nonpartisan newspaper disinterested and selfless
reporting on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s social skills, L.A.
Times editor
John S. Carroll did not come off too well in the special op-ed
he wrote for his paper’s Sunday edition. It did not help that
instead of engaging critics he dismissed them as
“pornographers,” though none is a known subscriber to Oui.
In any case, Schwarzenegger apologist Hugh Hewitt lets Carroll have
it good and hard on HughHewitt.com for his mendacity
and cowardice.
For my part, I found something else of interest in Carroll’s
apologia, namely his brief references to his paper’s investigative
methods in reporting on Arnold’s groping. “The reporters started by
asking the paper’s many Hollywood sources for names of possible
victims,” Carroll writes, implying the Times’s conclusion
was preordained. That is, Arnold was assumed to be guilty until
proven guilty.
More revealing still was Carroll’s next revelation: “The names
of other people who might have knowledge of Schwarzenegger’s
behavior were gleaned from the credits of his films.” That’s a lot
of movies and a lot more names. What would Carroll say if, for
instance, John Ashcroft attempted such a dragnet?
Must Read (posted 10/13/03 12:35 a.m.)
In honor of Columbus Day, I recommend you read our Italy-based
columnist Frank Rocca’s
human interest story in the latest London Spectator on
an aspect of the Italian character. Who knows — we might now
better understand Columbus’s urge to get away. Regardless, you can
rest assured Luigi Barzini (The
Italians) would find Rocca’s writing tops.
******
In Deep Denial (posted 10/8/03 12:58 a.m.)
It wasn’t even close. Despite bias-media’s best efforts, their
tragic hero never had a chance, no matter how alcoholic his father
was. In a state in which Democrats outregister Republicans by ten
points, a Democrat governor has been ousted, less than a year after
being re-elected. It’s a huge, enormous humiliation for the forces
of government, public virtue and the highest self-regard. So how
did they respond? By pretending nothing untoward has happened to
them and to predict great difficulties ahead for the Blob
who’ll replace Gray Davis.
If Gray Davis never displayed shame, why should they? ABC sent
Peter Jennings to cover California these last days. His verdict as
soon as polls closed? The recall was a defeat for Davis, but not a
victory for Schwarzenegger. That’s one way to demonstrate denial.
Having nationalized the election by assigning it to Jennings ABC
tried to use its “Nightline” program last night to claim the
results will have no national effects. George Stephanopoulos said
so himself. Host Ted Koppel outdid himself again, interviewing
every Democrat under the sun about how gruesome a future
Schwarzenegger faces without bothering to interview a single
Republican — unless that’s what former Clinton adviser David
Gergen can still pass himself off as. He delivered the soundbite of
soundbites, declaring California will be to Schwarzenegger what
Iraq turned out to be for Bush: easy to conquer, hard to rule. Just
like that, ABC nationalized the election again.
******
Suffering Situations (posted 10/6/03 12:41
a.m.)
“I don’t know if you saw ‘NFL Countdown’ this morning, but it was
horrible,” Hunter
Baker said in an e-mail yesterday, apropos the ESPN show that
banished Rush Limbaugh. “I thought they might briefly explain
Rush’s resignation, have a quick postmortem, and move on. Instead,
they gathered around and kicked the corpse repeatedly. In essence,
they said it was a terrible mistake ever to have had him on the
show and that they all had erred in not dropping the bomb on him at
the moment he made his remarks. It was awful. I nearly lost it when
scandalmeister Michael Irvin took his turn. It was like seeing Ted
Kennedy laying down the law to men like Clarence Thomas and John
Ashcroft in confirmation hearings.”
Chalk up another reason why pregame shows are a waste of time.
But to add injury to insult: during the Redskins’ game against
Donovan McNabb’s Eagles, Fox man Chris Collingsworth said his heart
went out to McNabb for what he’d gone through this past week. Then
again, these are jocks so don’t expect Collingsworth to understand
that his comment confirmed Rush Limbaugh’s contention that McNabb
is coddled by the media.
Meanwhile — switching leagues and games — while the word
rejoices that the Cubbies advanced and the Red Sox just might do
the same, is there a sadder figure in sports than Braves manager
Bobby Cox, a long-suffering good ol’ boy whose team year after year
dominates the regular season only to fizzle in the playoffs? How
come no one feels sorry for him?
Philly Fantastic (posted 10/2/03 12:51 a.m.)
Just in time to draw flack away from the White House in the Joe
Wilson nonsense, Rush Limbaugh is taking big heat big time for
suggesting Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb isn’t as
good as he’s cracked up to be. Thirty-seven percent AOL poll
respondents agree with Limbaugh’s comments; 29 percent said they
were racist. As context disappears, lost is Limbaugh’s remark that
the Philly defense carried the team in recent years, not
McNabb.
It’s an arguable point. Anyone who saw McNabb sleepwalk his way
to losses in the Eagles’ opening games would have to agree. His
team’s defense was missing key players from recent seasons and no
longer could stop mediocre opposition. Without the tone it once
set, no one on the team seemed to play with any purpose, starting
with McNabb. Moreover, he still appeared to be recovering from the
drubbing he and his team took in last year’s playoffs against
eventual Super Bowl winner Tampa. (Though it’s been forgotten that
McNabb was coming off a broken leg and shouldn’t have been playing
at all.)
Last Sunday the Eagles came alive. McNabb was seen moving again
too. Perhaps his return to form will continue this coming Sunday.
If he plays the way he did in recent seasons, he’ll again be
considered one of the top players in the game. That status was
never an invention of some sportswriter collective. His quality has
been apparent to anyone who’s followed his career. He’s the closest
thing to a successor to John Elway — most dangerous when the game
is on the line.
A final thing no one should miss: McNabb is respected above all
by those in the best position to know — other NFL players,
teammates and opponents alike. They know who’s the real thing.
******
We Take Our Chances (posted 9/22/03 12:28
a.m.)
It was fashionable to pooh-pooh the threat Hurricane Isabel posed
to the national capital area, but anyone who lives here now knows
better. True, schools didn’t have to shut down on Thursday — most
kids would have been safely home by the time the winds and rain got
serious. But otherwise, what a holy mess.
I grew up in California, where the disaster of choice is thought
to be the earthquake. My hometown, Santa Barbara, was for all
intents changed forever by the destructive quake of 1925 — needing
to rebuild, the town chose the Mediterranean Spanish style that
makes it the last best place on earth. In my own time there I
experienced no more than one real earthquake — in 1971, a quake
centered in the San Fernando Valley but powerful enough to shake,
rattle, and roll every old house such as ours 90 miles away. Had it
lasted a dozen seconds long I can imagine my family home would no
longer be standing. If you’ve sensed it, a strong earthquake does
make a lasting impression.
Fortunately for California earthquakes don’t occur there as
frequently as one might think. Locals may live in terror of the
great San Andreas break off into the sea, though as far anyone
knows it may still be thousands of years away. It could be that
earthquakes are easier to talk about than a more immediate cause of
fear in California: fire. When it comes to disrupting lives and
destroying property, brush and forest fires are the real equivalent
of east coast hurricanes.
During my sophomore year in high school the mountains
overlooking Santa Barbara burned from one end (Montecito) to the
other (San Marcos Pass), over the course of a nightmarish week that
saw fire work its way into canyons and just about into the heart of
the city. About a decade ago a smaller if move violent fire jumped
the freeway and destroyed and threatened area that always were
thought to be safely beyond the real fire zone. When Santa Barbara
reeks of ash, smoke and arid heat, it’s suddenly the worst last
place.
California may be paradise most times but in one respect it
doesn’t have a thing over the east: trees. Not just any kind, but
incredibly tall, shady, leafy, bounteous trees, the kind you have
in abundance only because it rains back east during all those many
months when California remains bone dry. We live in an old
neighborhood about 15 miles west of Washington. I’d guess there are
at least 50 sixty-foot-plus oaks and poplars shading the ten lots
along our one-block street. Fairfax and Arlington counties are
filled with streets likes these. Without them there’d be no reason
to live here.
Every major thunderstorm you hear about some of those trees
falling over. Several years ago a storm-related mini-tornado roared
down the cross street to ours and knocked down 10 of our neighbors’
trees, including a huge poplar that left a crater the size of a
bomb and another that pierce the roof of their dining room. One of
those trees also knocked power out at our house for days. But we
were lucky — none of our big trees toppled. Not only that, but the
great unspoken: none of them landed on our house.
We were lucky this time as well. But in our neighborhood alone,
the tropical storm Isabel sent our way knocked down dozens of trees
— including one that sliced through a home and at least a half
dozen that ended up resting against a house and perhaps doing less
drastic damage.
We take our chances. Out west, it’s earthquakes, fires, homes on
cliffs that could slide into the ocean. Back east, it’s hurricanes
or floods or life in shady suburbs under trees that are just a
storm away from driving a stake through your roof.
******
Isabel Update (posted 9/18/03 10:00 p.m.)
This will make your day. We survived Isabel Day One. Isabel Night
One may be another matter. But rest assured Friday’s lineup will
appear on schedule — though it may require the services to the
National Guard to round up an Enemy of the Week. We’ll see what
happens. Or maybe we’ll find him among the looters passing
themselves off as Hurricane Trauma counselors. You never know who
you’ll meet when it gets weird outside.
******
Job Creation (posted 9/3/03 11:38 p.m.)
Attentive readers of Wednesday’s bio-lines will have noticed a
major new shift in our ranks: George Neumayr and Jeremy Lott are
now officially ensconced in our Arlington offices as managing
editor and assistant managing editor, respectively, of The
American Spectator. They’re not on the Left Coast anymore, but
Inside the big bad Beltway. Their presence will be felt, not only
on this website, which is soon to be upgraded in stunning new ways,
but also in the magazine itself, which is set to go monthly in a
lovely new design beginning with our next, October issue. Please
stay tuned.
******
See You Next Month (posted 8/29/03 12:18
a.m.)
Attention Labor Day Weekend readers: The Enemy of the Week and all
your other close friends will return on Tuesday, just as soon as
America gets summer out of its system and our real labors begin in
earnest. Don’t watch too many football games — there’ll be plenty
of time for that later on.
