McGwire Admits Using Steroids
McGwire at 6'5" was a legitimate home run threat, even without the use of steroids (in his first full season in 1987, he hit 49 home runs), and I stand by my conviction he belongs in baseball's Hall of Fame. (The fact that a fellow Oakland A's hitter Jose Canseco alleged that he had administered steroids to McGwire and McGwire's evasion of the issue in Congressional hearings were clearly damning.) What's truly astounding is his average of a home run in less than 10.7 at bats over his career. He admits that he did use steroids the season he broke Maris' long-time record of 61 home runs, but he implies that his use of steroids was sporadic, with no consistent performance benefit, motivated more by the belief they helped him recover faster from numerous injuries. He argues that his evasiveness in the Congressional hearings was primarily based on legal advice. Let's not forget this is a guy whom could have pulled in massive salary offers by leaving the Cardinals for a major market like New York and whom funded a foundation to combat child sexual abuse. This is not the case for Barry Bonds, whom went from a career high of 46 in seasons between 1986 to 1999, never even reaching 50 until 2001 when he set the current record of 73; this was clearly an outlier performance.
Sarah Palin Joins Fox News Channel
Oh, who could have predicted this? (I did.) I'm so shocked.... Could it be that one of my standard lines in blog posts over this past year has been Fox News has had a "slobbering love affair with all things Sarah Palin" (for example)? [This is a playful jab at Bernard Goldberg, a FNC contributor, whom wrote a similarly titled book on the liberal mass media fawning over Barack Obama.] That is, Bill O'Reilly has personally attacked McCain on multiple occasions for not refuting anonymous staff leaks on Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity and Greta van Susteren have given Palin softball interviews (and in fact Greta's husband was instrumental in helping set up a PAC for Sarah--and, in my view, Greta, in the interests of professional ethics, should have recused herself from the interviews). But I had been predicting for some time that Fox News would find a role for Sarah Palin (e.g., here). She will be a commentator (let me guess: anything Obama bad, Alaska energy good, budget deficits bad, God good, terrorists bad, mother and apple pie good, Chevrolet as part of Government Motors bad).
The Harry Reid Racial Reference Kerfuffle
When I look at controversial gaffes by Trent Lott, Joe Biden, and Harry Reid where the subject of race came up (in Lott's case, implicitly, by reference to Thurmond's 1948 Presidential bid on a segregationist platform), it just amazes me. For politicians whom lived through the civil rights era of the 1960's and have dealt with related issues over the past few decades, it's remarkable that they would even consider playing with fire.
I always thought that Lott's intent was simply to flatter the aging, now deceased lawmaker as a man whom could have made for a good President (not to endorse or promote his past segregationist views). (In fairness to Thurmond, his racial political views migrated considerably from the Dixiecrat days, voting to extend the Voting Rights Act and to make MLK Day a national holiday and appointing the first black aide from the region.) Lott should have realized, of course, that you can't separate a President Thurmond apart from his core divisive political views at the time.
Biden's 2007 remarks ("I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American [Barack Obama] who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy...") were bizarre. For example, Biden is making a judgment filtering out past African American candidates (e.g., Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton). Perhaps he was ineptly trying to say that here is the first "post-racial" African American candidate where we move past a core civil rights agenda. I personally don't see substantive policy differences among any of these black progressive leaders. I suspect that Biden was trying to articulate that Obama has more of a measured, low-key personal style in dealing with hot button issues like race. However, why should Biden single out Obama out or seem so surprised when, in fact, there are hundreds, if not thousands of similar African American leaders and millions of highly competent African American professionals and blue-collar workers? I considered the political rise of talented people of color inevitable; it was never a question of if but when.
Keep in mind that Biden spoke AFTER Colin Powell headed the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was Secretary of State and after Condoleezza Rice served high-level roles under George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. Colin Powell could have won the 1996 GOP Presidential nomination (I would have supported him); Condoleezza Rice ruled out a VP candidacy. Colin Powell has traditional military discipline over his emotions and is highly articulate, as is Condoleezza Rice, a professor and a registered Democrat until 1982.
An upcoming book Game Change (by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann) about the 2008 campaign includes the following mention of Senate Majority Harry "Let's Make a Deal" Reid:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada described in private then-Sen. Barack Obama as "light skinned" and "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."
The question of "light-skinned" is a contentious issue in the African American community; it deals with a perception that some African Americans' skin color is light enough to pass as being Caucasian and perhaps not being subject to the same morally reprehensible, dehumanizing mistreatment of people of color and/or turning their back on their African American roots. Why any white politician like Reid would want to open up this can of worms? (Reid's unspoken assertion is the fact that Obama's mother was white makes him more acceptable to white voters--not his speeches, policies or record.) The "no Negro dialect" remark is objectionable for a couple of reasons; first, many people of color see "Negro" as reflective of the times of Jim Crow laws and segregation and hence unacceptable; second, it suggests that Obama says one thing to black audiences and something else to others.
My reflection on all of this: Is Michael Steele, the chair of the RNC and himself a man of color, correct about a double standard being applied to Lott vs. Biden or Reid? Of course. I also don't like the atmosphere of political correctness; I don't really think any of the three men are racist; their voting patterns have been supportive of civil rights. I also think that Obama has shown more tolerance for the mistakes of his Democratic colleagues. But I think when people publicly apologize for their mistakes (which all three did), we should move on. If we spend time debating every stupid thing a legislator says, we'll never get anything done.
Schmidt's Love/Hate Standoff with Palin
I haven't seen yet what the new book cited above says about McCain bypassing Mitt Romney for the VP pick. Isn't it obvious, in the middle of the economic tsunami, that Romney by his very background was more literate on economic issues and would have perfectly complemented McCain? I do remember at the time I was concerned about Dems using earlier Romney soundbites against McCain, but then again, Reagan chose George H.W. Bush, whom famously had described Reagan's domestic policies "voodoo economics". In hindsight, I think that McCain would have benefited by pointing out the fact that he chose his strongest rival, unlike Obama.
I do find it intriguing that Lieberman was McCain's first choice, but essentially backed off under party pressure. There certainly is precedent for a national unity ticket--in fact, Lincoln himself did that in 1864. I do think that Lieberman's choice would have caused problems for McCain, not on matters of defense, but his liberal domestic voting record. Bottom line: Lieberman, who has his own problems with his Democratic base, would not have helped McCain, whom had issues with the party base over some high-profile votes, in particular, against the first-term Bush tax cuts.
Schmidt on 60 Minutes once again refuted Sarah Palin on a number of points, a principal one being her disingenuous claim that the Troopergate investigation exonerated her. (Palin similarly continues to hold that any and all ethics charged against her were "frivolous".) Palin is all about political spin. There were other insights as well, regarding Palin's confusion over the partition of Korea and stubbornly believing there was a link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11.
But Schmidt is in his own state of denial. He asserts that Palin was more of a plus than a minus to the ticket and McCain would have lost by even more. That's just wrong on a number of grounds. First, the selection of Palin undermined McCain's experience argument against Obama. Second, there were polls showing McCain ahead of Obama before the Palin selection. Third, Sarah Palin had the highest unfavorable ratings of any recent national candidate and when you have the oldest first-term candidate in history heading the ticket, that's a problem, and there's no doubt it hurt McCain in swing states; it certainly was a key factor in Colin Powell's public endorsement of Obama.
Schmidt may be thinking that there was very little McCain could have done when the economic tsunami hit, but there were a number of things McCain had control of: (1) the decision of the VP candidate; (2) his decision to temporarily suspend his campaign unilaterally and his inability to formulate an alternative response to the TARP legislation, which drew public opposition; (3) his decision to stay with federal funding of the general campaign despite the evidence Obama had already broken his promise and had an overwhelming advantage in campaign funding; (4) his predictable campaign, a spartan domestic agenda, his inability to articulate his differences with Bush, on a leadership and policy basis, and the overemphasis on Bill Ayers (instead of the more credible Chicago political machine). The choice of a second-year governor whom couldn't articulate positions on state legislation during her 2006 campaign, had a blatantly unsatisfactory grasp of domestic and foreign relations issues, pursued earmarks while in public office, and was being investigated over Troopergate, with a report expected before the election, is a reckless gamble.
I'm not sure what Schmidt means by the vote would have been worse without Palin. Maybe Palin helped bring out more votes in red states already going for McCain--but she was a big problem with independent and moderate voters whom made the difference in swing states McCain lost, like Indiana, Florida and Virginia. Would Romney's pick have won the election for McCain? Maybe not in the sense the GOP was facing a double whammy of a change election and an economic tsunami. But Romney was well-vetted and had credible bipartisan experience as Massachusetts governor.
Political Cartoon
IBD Cartoonist Michael Ramirez points out a feature I didn't realize that the airport full-bodyscan technology has; it also seems to strip away political spin, leaving The One exposed, nothing but the bare truth. (No word if the child of a TSA employee observed this first.)
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Post-AI Original Hit
Kellie Pickler, "I Wonder"
Kellie Pickler is one of my personal favorites during the history of the show and is one of the few performers (not a top 5 finalist) to earn a gold album with her debut, Small Town Girl. She has a compelling life story; her father has been in and out of jail, and her mother left when Kellie was 2 (and later returned for a couple of years before the court returned custody, by the time Kellie was 12, to her paternal grandparents). The autobiographical song, which Pickler co-wrote, "I Wonder", is particularly powerful.
"I Wonder"
Sometimes I think about you
Wonder if you're out there somewhere thinking bout me
And would you even recognize
The woman that your little girl has grown up to be
Cause I look in the mirror and all I see
Are your brown eyes looking back at me
They're the only thing you ever gave to me at all
Oh, I hear the weather's nice in California
There's sunny skies as far I can see
If you ever come back home to Carolina
I wonder what you'd say to me
I think about how it ain't fair
That you weren't there to braid my hair
Like mothers do
You weren't around to cheer me on
Help me dress for my high school prom
Like mothers do
Did you think I didn't need you here
To hold my hand
To dry my tears
Did you even miss me through the years at all
Oh, I hear the weather's nice in California
There's sunny skies as far I can see
If you ever come back home to Carolina
I wonder what you'd say to me
Forgiveness is such a simple word
But it's so hard to do when you've been hurt
Oh, I hear the weather's nice in California
And just in case you're wondering about me
From now on I won't be in Carolina
Your little girl is off
Your little girl is off
Your little girl is off to Tennessee
