I spent last week in the seventh circle of hell. I’ve heard others refer to it as Las Vegas. Anyway, I got to watch the Celtics game six clincher at the Wynn Sports Book with, surprisingly, a ton of Celtics fans. It was a good time, the number two highlight of the week. The first, watching all 19 holes of Tiger Woods epic playoff win on my Jet Blue flight. That ought to tell you how much I like Vegas.
Anyway, a hot topic in the sports world lately is the hatred of Boston by jealous sports fans from across the country. Jay Fitz at Hub Blog has been following this with a series of great, link filled posts here, here and here.
That photo says it all doesn’t it. Looking back, I prefer my childhood memories because they had the perfect combination of highs and lows. You haven’t lived as a sports fan until you have had your heart ripped out by the team you love. My generation had those great Celtics teams with Larry Legend, but we also had the Pats getting trounced in the Super Bowl, and of course, we had the 1986 Red Sox. Enough said. All good things come to an end, and so to will our dominance of the sports universe. In the meantime, the Masshole in all of us will bask in the hatred from the rest of the sporting world. Good times, good times.
From Hot Air,
Chuck Todd analyzed the Barack Obama missteps of the past week and wondered whether Obama realizes how he comes across to voters. Todd believes that Obama has left McCain an opening to claim the mantle of reformer after Obama tossed public financing under the bus, given McCain’s long track record on the issue and Obama’s non-existent record in return. And Todd notes that it’s one thing to be an empty suit in a season of change, but an arrogant empty suit won’t cut it.
This is not the first time the MSM has noticed Obama’s healthy sense of self. Back in March, the AP’s Ron Fournier noted that “Obama walks arrogance line”
WASHINGTON – Arrogance is a common vice in presidential politics. A person must be more than a little self-important to wake up one day and say, “I belong in the Oval Office.” But there’s a line smart politicians don’t cross — somewhere between “I’m qualified to be president” and “I’m born to be president.” Wherever it lies, Barack Obama better watch his step. He’s bordering on arrogance.
Arrogance and incompetence are an especially egregious combination. Our friend from Powerline, Scott Johnson, has an op-ed in today’s New York Post titled ANTI-TERROR OOPS and he touches on Barack’s response to the Supreme Court’s controversial ruling in the Boumediene case,
He explained: “I mean, you remember during the Nuremberg trials, part of what made us different was even after these Nazis had performed atrocities that no one had ever seen before, we still gave them a day in court and that taught the entire world about who we are, but also the basic principles of rule of law. Now the Supreme Court upheld that principle.”
Oops. At Nuremberg, an international military commission composed of representatives of the victorious Allies put the top surviving Nazi leaders on trial starting in late 1945.
Yet, in Boumediene, the Supreme Court disapproved of the system of military commissions that Congress had adopted for Gitmo (at the high court’s previous urging). Thus, the Nuremberg defendants’ “day in court” came before a kind of tribunal found constitutionally inadequate in the decision Obama was praising.
The Nazi war criminals had no access to US courts. The fair-trial provision of the charter governing the trial was relatively skimpy – and the provision on appeal rights was even shorter and sweeter: The defendants had no right to appeal. The procedures the court found deficient in Boumediene, by contrast, provided for appeal rights to the DC Circuit, the most prominent US bench below the Supreme Court.
In short, the procedural protections for Gitmo detainees under the statute before the Supreme Court in Boumediene exceed those accorded the Nuremberg defendants.
Obama’s unfavorable comparison of the legal treatment at Gitmo with that at Nuremberg suggests either that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about – or that he feels free to exploit the ignorance of audiences that don’t know the truth of the matter.
UPDATE: Even Jon Stewart is noticing,
Bruce McQuain from QandO joined us tonight for another edition of Someone You Should Know. This week, he told us the inspirational story of Marine Sgt. Merlin German,
More than a year after Sgt. Merlin German nearly died in a roadside bombing in Iraq, his hands burned into nubs and his body in a wheel chair, he resolved to walk into his San Antonio church on his own two feet.
His mother, Lourdes German, who had been “his hands and feet†since that day in February 2005, worried but knew it would be so. “Everything he did, he did himself,†Mrs. German, said. “That parish was just overjoyed. The pastor even stopped preaching to welcome Merlin.â€
At this point in the story, you’re saying to yourself,†what a phenomenal young man.†He beat the longest odds you can imagine, did it with courage and grace and, as Dr. Renz said, inspired others during his ordeal.
But that wasn’t enough for Merlin German. The young man who had willed himself out of his wheelchair and onto his feet so he could walk into church had more work to do.
Known by those who treated him as “Miracle Manâ€, Merlin German had a vision to help burned children and their families. He wanted the foundation to be named “Merlin’s Miraclesâ€. Sgt. German understood how critical the support he’d received from charities like the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund and Soldier’s Angels had been to his recovery, and he wanted to provide the same type of support for children who were burn victims.
The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Thanks to Matt, Bruce is now on board and we are lucky to have him as part of the show. All of our interviews are also available for download at iTunes and Podcast Alley via the Pundit Review Radio Podcast.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin and Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking†by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 7-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
From Boston.com
Breaking news 3:28 PM
NY Times: TV journalist Tim Russert dead
According to the New York Times website, Tim Russert, 58, the NBC television journalist and “Meet The Press” host, has died of a heart attack.
Shocking, sad news. Rest in peace.
The first report,
Morning After Update: I spent a lot of time last night watching the cable shows to see how they were remembering Tim Russert. I can’t get over the connection to Father’s Day this weekend, given Russert’s connection to his own father as told in his book Big Russ and Me. A sign of the respect the public had for Russert, his book rocketed overnight to the #1 position on Amazon.com. What a tribute.
Two lines from his colleagues stood out for me, the first from Bob Schieffer of CBS, who had to compete every Sunday against Russert for 17 years. He said, “He gave the revolving door (between politics and the media) a good name.” Indeed he did.
The other was from GOP consultant Ed Rollins who said, and I’m paraphrasing, “Tim Russert has been in Washington for thirty years, he has risen to the top and yet he had no enemies. Few people in this town can make that claim.”
Without a doubt, the low light of the night was the presence of Keith Olberman anchoring the MSNBC coverage. I wanted to puke every time he said, paraphrasing again, “Russert had that objectivity that we all strive for or wish we could have”. Keep striving Keith, keep striving.
Sunday morning update: I was looking forward to MTP just to see how they would produce the show this week. I have to say I am very disappointed in the panel they chose for the program. Much has been said this weekend about Russert’s integrity as a journalist. The presence of two stone cold plagarists on the panel is a real head scratcher. For a guy with the deepest rolodex in town, I think they could have done better. The personal relationship with Barnicle and Doris Kearns Goodwin is one thing. A tribute show by journalists about a great journalist isn’t the place for them.
This has to be the biggest non-story of the year. Jon Keller, a leading political commentator in these parts for years is being taken to task by the few Patrick administration cheerleaders who are still hanging on for having the audacity to make fun of Deval’s Top 20 accomplishments list.
And what exactly is Keller’s sin? It’s the other Keller, his son Barney. You see, Barney is the PR spokesperson for the state GOP , an unenviable job if there ever was one. Jon, by the way, discloses the relationship on his blog, it’s no state secret. Barney did what any good flack would do when such a laughable, pathetic, weak list of 4-5 accomplishments is super fluffed to reach twenty. He pitched it around to the press. Jon Keller did what any pundit worth his salt would do to a list like this…he mocked it for its lameness.
The state’s leading liberal blog, Blue Mass Group, picks up on a Herald story and says that,
Jon Keller and his son and Barney have both stated that they did not collaborate on this story. This is something that needs to be followed.
What would be criminal or worthy of investigaion is if Jon Keller DIDN’T mock this list. After all, take a look at it yourself.
Number two on the list is marriage equality for all. The fact that Deval had very little to do with this demonstrates how weak this list is. Pardon me if I’m just slightly underwhelmed by Deval’s “accomplishments,”
5. Civic engagement
8. Increasing access to state government
15. Governor of the whole state
16. Passed parts of the municipal partnership act…
17. Appointed reform-minded leaders…
18. Moving an agenda to affirm human dignity
19. Investing in the state’s DC office…
20. Governor’s role as the state’s chief salesperson…
I feel better about Deval now, don’t you? Phew, these are the hot button issues that have been keeping me up at night. And congraulations to Deval for successfully double dipping, he’s now ready, apparently, for a career as an infomercial spokesperson if this governing thing doesn’t work out.
It’s Valerie Plame all over again!! Come on people. Do you really think that after covering Beacon Hill for twenty years Jon Keller needed instruction or help in realizing this list was deserving of his trademark snarky barbs? If you follow the logic, then Jon Keller can never criticize Deval on any issue that the state GOP agrees is an issue. If he does, it is some sort of scandal. Talk about an incumbent protection act. They are trying to criminalize criticism of Deval. I’m sure that will be at the top of next year’s “accomplishments”.
The most pathetic part of all of this is that I have been watching Jon Keller for years and I have no idea if he is a Democrat or a Republican. That is the best thing one could say about a political commentator I think…and that is what makes this non-story so laughable.
Bruce McQuain from QandO joined us to tell the stroy of Silver Star recipient 1LT Stephen Boada,
In the hills of Afghanistan, a desperate fight raged as Marines fought to the death with the Taliban. One such engagement involved 1LT Stephen Boada. His story, as I’ve pointed out before, is illustrative of the tremendous responsibility young leaders bear in combat. Literally life and death rests on their every choice. And, as was 1LT Boada, they are constantly found worthy of that responsibility through their actions.
The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Thanks to Matt, Bruce is now on board and we are lucky to have him as part of the show. All of our interviews are also available for download at iTunes and Podcast Alley via the Pundit Review Radio Podcast.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin and Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking†by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 7-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
Jon Henke is one of the sharpest guys out there when it comes to the intersection of the new media and politics. He is one of the leaders of a new grassroots community called The Next Right,
The Next Right is the place for wired activists to build a new Republican Party and conservative movement. As a community-driven grassroots action website for the right, we’ll feature in-depth political analysis, on-the-ground reports, and strategic discussion and debate.
This was an interesting discussion about the state of the conservative movement, the GOP and online activism. We also took a lot of very good phone calls.
All of our interviews are also available for download at iTunes and Podcast Alley via the Pundit Review Radio Podcast.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin and Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking†by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 7-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.