Tuesday, June 14, 2016

NATTERING NABOBS OF NEGATIVISM

Depending on your age, you may or may not remember Richard Nixon's first Vice President--Spiro Agnew. He had been the governor of Maryland.  As Veep, he used the words  in the above title to trash and thrash  "liberals" as well as the effete Eastern Media--primarily the NY Times and the Washington Post.  Eventually, he resigned in disgrace.  The point is:  You can draw a straight line from George Wallace (and probably someone earlier) to Agnew and now to the man whose name will not be mentioned.  they in fact are the negative nabobs--having nothing creative or positive to propose. They just spit out venomous/slimy attacks on our core values. Now the man whose name cannot be mentioned has banned the Post from covering his campaign.

And then, there is Orlando.  There are simply no words in my vocabulary though I know a piece of the solution lies in banning the purchase of assault weapons.  I don't want to hear anything from the NRA or the guy whose name will not be mentioned who believes if more folks carried weapons in the nightclub, this would not have happened.  Maybe, maybe not--but it would have happened somewhere else and we will be shocked all over again.  I also know that Canada has a significant number of immigrants but more restrictive gun laws and does not have these "events".  I can write no more.

Items:

--Ken Starr is now just a professor at Baylor (that fine Baptist institution in Waco) having been kicked to the curb and out of the Presidency by the Board.  Probably still makes over 200K.
--My wonderful Senator, Elizabeth Warren, has really stepped to the plate and gone after that guy whose name I will not mention.  she will be the "guy" to Hilary's stateswoman.  I really want her to stay in the Senate and kind of hope Hilary does not pick her for a running mate.  she is such a breadth of fresh air..though the idea of "crooked " Hilary and "Pocahontas" on the same ticket is kind of interesting.
--Give your money to Senate hopefuls in Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Florida, NH, and maybe even Nevada.  There will be key votes on Supreme Court vacancies after the election--and many others.
--This is not sports.  As a casual observer of the European soccer championship, Icannot help but notice the following:  Crowds are predominantly white men and teams (even those from the Scandinavian countries  up there in the North) are about 1/4 to 1/2 composed of men of color/immigrants.  Without them, those teams would be laughable.  Check out the French team if you have the time.
--Seth Mnookin is a Globe writer who had an unpleasant experience at the world's greatest hospital.  He wrote about it in the globe just before that same hospital system announced the closure of two nursing homes--cost too much to operate.  Yuk Yuk.
--Enough with the gorillas.  A terrific column in the Globe of 6/2 by Yvonne Abraham after the gorilla killing in the Cincinnati zoo. The cries of anguish about the gorilla's death out matches how we respond to the death of children from child abuse.  Good  for pointing out that the gorilla is a fucking ANIMAL.  And don't go blaming the mother either.
--Speaking of the globe. A paragraph article was headlined by this:  BLIND MAN SUES FOR RIGHT TO BE SERVED AT DRIVE THROUGH WITHOUT A CAR.  Seriously and you wonder why people hate lawyers--someone took this case.
--Great article in last week's New Yorker about Oberlin College concerning political correctness. Not sure where I land on this. Some students whine a bit much and some had some thoughtful ideas.  But I have to be careful since I am one of the old farts and it is their world.

SPORTS TALK
Getting close to 7/4 when it is time to open the door on my thoughts on the current baseball season. If the Bruins don't learn anything from the Penguins, they are just plain stupid. and can you say Phil Kessel, the leading scorer in the playoffs.  Traded him for the rights to draft dougie--neither are here.

I will say this about Jurgen Klinsman--he has taken some risks (even if only to save his job) and he has put some very very fast, skillful young players into the lineup. They can actually shoot and often can score.