News & Notes

1. Sometimes, when I get writer's block, I find the most affective remedy is to first, take some time off from writing. Second - if the first remedy didn't work - is to just jot down different things that are on my mind and post them as a "News & Notes." Let's hope this helps.

2. Yes, I listened to the State of the Union address, and I have to say it is very difficult for me to be objective. But I will try. The problem is two-fold. Number one - the way Obama speaks just doesn't sound comfortable to me. I feel as if he is trying to speak above the less mortals below him and his kind of vocal inflection just tunes me out.

Number two - the President speaks as if he has a chip on his shoulder. He was at times condescending, and at other times, berating. When he spoke about his contempt for the Supreme Court's decision, I wasn't offended by Justice Scalia's quite rebuke. Had Obama been honest when he made his remarks, then perhaps I would have disagreed with Scalia's antics. But truthfully, I do not believe for one moment that Scalia planned his thing from the beginning.

Personally, had I been rebuked by an elected official (assuming I'm a Supreme Court justice), I would have considered walking out of the speech - especially when it seemed so many of Obama's neophytes were standing and cheering at my rebuke. If anyone acted childish in this instance, it was the President. As a Harvard-taught constitutional professor, you would think he would know that what he complained about had nothing to do with the Court's findings.

3. Obama Bows Again -- This time, the chief representative of our nation, our leader and President did not bow down to a despotic world leader, as he has before. No, this time, Mr. Obama deemed to show weakness (kind of like when a dog gets rebuked, he bows to his master) to the Mayor of Tampa.

Tampa???

Isn't there someone, anyone in his administration who can tell him that he looks like a fool?

4. Ahmahomo: "Iran Will Deliver Telling Blow to Global Powers on Feb. 11"...

Gauging the fallout from the riots a couple of months ago, as well as the leaked reports that Iran's Revolutionary Guards have lost over 30% of their men because they refuse to fight their own people, I'd say that unless Ahmadinejad is planning to blow himself up, this could be a snooze-fest.

For one thing, they have not yet developed nuclear warheads, nor are they capable of deploying much of what they do have. The thought, amongst Israel, is that he will send Hamas and Hezbollah over the borders to force Israel into action. I don't believe Hamas wants to fight again so soon and the reality in Israel is now that Olmert and Livni are out of power, dealing with Netanyahu could be suicidal.

But again, my strong feeling is that whatever the Ayatollahs try to do, they will have to defend a full scale revolution on the streets of Iran. The bigger question is whether or not our Bower-in-Chief will once again refuse to get involved - which did nothing since the Iranians still balme America for their troubles. Obama, should he show some backbone (which hasn't proven he has - except when he called the DC cop "stupid").the U.S. could instigate a regime change there. Hopefully, that will happen prior to Ahmahomo getting his hands on nukes.

5. Can we finally stop talking about Global Warming now? Between the East Anglian e-mals, the reports that show that the IPCC removed 100's of data sites that were in higher elevations (thus skewing the numbers much warmer on average), the U.N. admitting that the glacier meltdown (originally planned for 2030) was nothing more than a dissertation based on no factual evidence whatsoever, AND the fact that the global temperatures have fallen from 1998 (Australian scientist are now predicting a 30-year cooling trend, which they base on sun-spots. This has been confirmed also by NASA as a likely option.

So please, if you want to take about the environment, well fine. We should all strive for a cleaner planet and allow Capitalism to create the funds to live cleaner and healthier. But Al Gore is nothing but a very wealthy con-artist. I'm sure at one point, he actually believed that AGW was real. But now, he is either a complete pathological liar, or way too invested in his life to even consider that he might be wrong. I think what will happen is there will continue to be lawsuits over the huge amount of money wasted on this junk science and eventually, it will catch up to Gore.

6. So my Dallas Cowboys came close. But I found it amazing watching Brett Favre out there last week, and coming within one interception from going to another Super Bowl. A few days ago, NFL Network rebroadcasted the 1993 NFC Divisional Playoff game between Dallas and Green Bay. Both Favre and Troy Aikman were at, or near the top of their game. Now, 17 years later, Aikman - who covered the game for FOX Sports - was in the announcer's booth, where he has been for the past 9 years. And Favre is still playing meaningful games.

I remember back in the early 70's, I went to a Cowboys game and George Blanda was the kicker for the other team (I want to say it was the Houston Oilers). At the time, Blanda was in his mid-to late 40s (I think he retired at 47). But he hadn't played quarterback in years, and was only in on kicking plays. What Farve has been able to do at his age is nothing short of amazing. And to top it off, he's considering returning to Minnesota again next season.

As far as the Super Bowl is concerned, since I did pick New Orleans and Indianapolis to advance (and I was close on the scores, as well), I feel pretty certain that I can pick the winner of the big game also. And it isn't an easy feat. I think Peyton Manning is capable of beating any team in the league. But Indy just learned that their top pass rusher, Dwight Freeney, has been diagnosed with a ligament tear and is listed only as questionable for the game. That is a huge blow to the Colts, who will need something to slow down Drew Brees and the Saint offence.

History tells us that the team that's been there before should win the game, based on experience. However, the Giants defeated the 3 time champ New England Patriots and only a miracle catch by Santonio Holmes kept the Arizona Cardinals from winning. And aside from Peyton Manning and a few others, how many Colts were around when they won Super Bowl 41, three years ago? When you look at the Colts, they also rely on a number of young, fresh talent - especially at Wide Receiver.

New Orleans has a tremendous offense, but a suspect defense. Favre and the Vikings ripped through them like paper. But they also are a very opportunistic bunch and get a lot of turnovers. Manning threw the most interceptions this year since his second season. With inexperienced receivers, he is susceptible to turning the ball over.

But the Colts have a far superior rushing attack and a better defense. So to me, the game really will be decided on turnovers. As much as I am rooting for New Orleans to win their first ever title, I just don't see how they will be able to match up against the Colts running game AND Peyton Manning.

So my prediction for the game is:

Indianapolis Colts...............41
New Orleans Saints.............31

7. Chris Matthews said "for an hour, I didn't even notice Obama was black."

Matthews has long become the laughingstock of newstalk. Considering he shares a studio with Keith Olbermann, that says a lot. But Matthews comments underscore a very valid issue. Republicans never bring up anything about "race." Oh sure, we are all called racists by the left. But when was the last time you heard a conservative caring what color a person is? Nowadays, it's chic to put words in conservatives lips. For instance, when Maureen Dowd criticized Joe Wilson for telling Obama "You lie!" Dowd not only heard Wilson say those two words, but she added that to her, she also heard the word "boy" afterwards - making it into a racial utterance.

No intelligent being who heard what Wilson said, thought that Wilson was putting him down because of his color. But again, a liberal brings up some fantasy she believes must be true and verbally assassinates his character over it. Sort of like when Dan Rather admitted that even if the National Guard story was false, it must be true because he says so.

It's a double standard that has affect liberals for years, but has come to a head with the election of Obama. Unfortunately, instead of being the "post-racial" President the country thought they elected, he has been the far most partisan President in my lifetime. Although Matthews considers the word "arrogant" to be a code word for "uppity" (and we all know what uppity means), my problem with Obama's arrogance has nothing whatsoever to do with color of the man's skin.

Personally, I'm thrilled that we finally elected someone who isn't Caucasian. It shows just how far we've come from slavery and the civil rights's era. Just not THAT person of color. I can not say this with any more conviction, if Obama were white, I would dislike him just as much. And I'm sick and tired of being called a "teabagging, racist, homophobic extremist" because I don't agree with the agenda of the Democratic Party.

From Saul Alinsky's Rules For Radicals (the Obama Workbook):

Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

Rule 11: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don’t try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.

After a year in office, Obama has accomplished way too little for the betterment of our country, and way too much for the betterment of his political cronies. Throw in how much money Nancy Pelosi wasted flying her children and grandchildren - often without a delegation on board - on private Air Force jets, add to the constant bowing Obama has down to some of the worst despots on earth, consider how he blames Bush for everything, even though he has not only continued many of the former President's policies, but wildly surpassed Bush's spending, consider the foolhardy trip to Copenhagen - along with Pelosi's delegation af 101 Americans who stayed in first class accommodations on the taxpayer's dime, consider the fact that while Iran was crumbling, he spent more time playing golf than his predecessor did in 8 years (but of course, Bush was blamed for working from his ranch in Texas when the Mayor of New Orleans, as well as the governor, completely whiffed on their responsibilities after Hurricane Katrina.

And consider the fact that even when speaking to kindergartners, the President must use a teleprompter. Consider the fact that over 60% of Americans polled do not want the universal health care the House and Senate are trying to shove down our throats. Consider that just today, Obama was forced to admit that his promises regarding health care (that you can keep you original policy) was nothing more than a lie. Consider his admonition against lobbyist, when he has broken his pledge countless times in iring these lobbyists to fill his cabinet.

Consider the fact that he now rails against the Supreme Court (wrongly, I may add) for decreeing that McCain-Feingold is unconstitutional, In his blistering condemnation, he complained that it will now allow foreign governments the ability to influence our elections. Well, for one thing, it doesn't. And for another, Obama himself bypassed the law he now is upset at losing. He received more money from foreign contributions than any Presidential candidate in history.

Consider Obama's warning that if we didn't immediately pass his $787,000,000,000 stimulus bill immediately, we risk unemployment above 10%. We passed it and yet, unemployment today is almost 11%.

Is there any wonder why Massachusetts elected their first Republican Senator in a generation? Of course, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs explained that Brown victory was a victory for ObamaCare, even though Brown ran on the promise of being the vote needed to block it's passage. The question is, do any of the Obama people know how to tell the truth? Or are they simply following their leader?

8. I'll leave you with this comic, courtesy of Hope And Change:

I love this guy!



H/T Big Hollywood

It’s a slow day in a little East Texas town The sun is beating down, and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.....

On this particular day a rich tourist from back east is driving through town. He stops at the motel and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.

As soon as the man walks upstairs, the owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel.

The guy at the Farmer’s Co-Op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her “services” on credit.

The hooker rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill with the hotel owner.

The hotel proprietor then places the $100 back on the counter so the rich traveler will not suspect anything.

At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, picks up the $100 bill, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.

No one produced anything. No one earned anything.

However, the whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the future with a lot more optimism.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the United States Government is conducting business today.

H/T SondraK

Here is an absolutely brilliant article by the great Mark Steyn. It doesn't get much better that this, folks:

Brown's Truckin', Obama Shifts into Reverse

So what went wrong? According to Barack Obama, the problem is that he overestimated you dumb rubes' ability to appreciate what he's been doing for you. "That I do think is a mistake of mine," the president told ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "I think the assumption was if I just focus on policy, if I just focus on this provision or that law or if we're making a good rational decision here, then people will get it."

But you shlubs aren't that smart. You didn't get it. And Barack Obama is determined to see that you do. So the president has decided that he needs to start "speaking directly to the American people."

Wait, wait! Come back! Don't all stampede for the hills! He gave only (according to CBS News' Mark Knoller) 158 interviews and 411 speeches in his first year. That's more than any previous president — and maybe more than all of them put together. But there may still be some show out there that didn't get its exclusive Obama interview — I believe the top-rated "Grain & Livestock Prices Report — 4 a.m. Update with Herb Torpormeister" on WZZZ-AM Dead Buzzard Gulch Junction's Newstalk Leader is still waiting to hear back from the White House.

But what will the president be saying in all these extra interviews? In that interview about how he hadn't given enough interviews, he also explained to George Stephanopoulos what that wacky Massachusetts election was all about:

"The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office," said Obama. "People are angry, and they're frustrated, not just because of what's happened in the last year or two years but what's happened over the last eight years."

Got it. People are so angry and frustrated at George W. Bush that they're voting for Republicans. In Massachusetts. Boy, I can't wait for that 159th interview.

Presumably, the president isn't stupid enough actually to believe what he said. But it's dispiriting to discover he's stupid enough to think we're stupid enough to believe it.

So who's panting for that 412th speech? Not the American Left. As Paul Krugman, The New York Times' "Conscience of a Liberal," put it: "He Wasn't The One We've Been Waiting For."

Not the once-delirious Europeans, either. As the headline in Der Spiegel put it: "The World Bids Farewell To Obama."

And not any beleaguered Democratic candidates trying to turn things around in volatile swing states like, er, Massachusetts. The Barack Obama who showed up last Sunday to help out Martha Coakley was a sad and diminished figure from the colossus of a year ago. He had nothing to say, but he said it anyway. As he did with his Copenhagen pitch for the Olympics, he put his personal prestige on the line, raised the stakes, and then failed to deliver. All those cool kids on his speechwriting team bogged him down in the usual leaden sludge. He went to the trouble of flying in to phone it in.

The most striking aspect of his performance was how unhappy he looked, as if he doesn't enjoy the job. You can understand why. He ran as something he's not, and never has been: A post-partisan centrist transformative healer. That'd be a difficult trick to pull off even for somebody with any prior executive experience, someone who'd actually run something, like a state, or even a town, or even a commercial fishing operation, like that poor chillbilly boob Sarah Palin. At one point late in the 2008 campaign, when someone suggested that if Gov. Palin was "unqualified" then surely he was, too, Obama pointed to as evidence to the contrary his ability to run such an effective campaign. In other words, running for president was his main qualification for being president.

That was the story of his life: Wow! Look at this guy! Wouldn't it be great to have him …as community organizer, as state representative, as state senator, as United States senator. He was wafted ever upwards, staying just long enough in each "job" to get another notch on the escutcheon, but never long enough to leave any trace.

The defining moment of his doomed attempt to prop up Martha Coakley was his peculiar obsession with Scott Brown's five-year-old pickup:

"Forget the ads. Everybody can run slick ads," the president told an audience of out-of-state students at a private school. "Forget the truck. Everybody can buy a truck."

How they laughed! But what was striking was the thinking behind Obama's line: that anyone can buy a truck for a slick ad, that Brown's pickup was a prop — like the herd of cows Al Gore rented for a pastoral backdrop when he launched his first presidential campaign. Or the "Iron Chef" TV episode featuring delicious healthy recipes made with produce direct from Michelle Obama's "kitchen garden": The cameras filmed the various chefs meeting the first lady and then picking choice organic delicacies from the White House crop, and then, for the actual cooking, the show sent out for stunt-double vegetables from a grocery back in New York. Viewed from Obama's perspective, why wouldn't you assume the truck's just part of the set? "In his world," wrote The Weekly Standard's Stephen Hayes, "everything is political, and everything is about appearances."

Howard Fineman, the increasingly loopy editor of the increasingly doomed Newsweek, took it a step further. The truck wasn't just any old prop but a very particular kind: "In some places, there are codes, there are images," he told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. "You know, there are pickup trucks, you could say there was a racial aspect to it one way or another."

Ah, yes. Scott Brown has over 200,000 miles on his odometer. Man, he's racked up a lot of coded racism on that rig. But that's easy to do in notorious cross-burning KKK swamps like suburban Massachusetts.

Whenever aspiring writers ask me for advice, I usually tell 'em this:

Don't just write there, do something. Learn how to shingle a roof, or tap-dance, or raise sled dogs. Because if you don't do anything, you wind up like Obama and Fineman — men for whom words are props and codes and metaphors but no longer expressive of anything real.

America is becoming a bilingual society, divided between those who think a pickup is a rugged vehicle useful for transporting heavy-duty items from A to B, and those who think a pickup is coded racism.

Unfortunately, the latter group forms most of the Democratic-media one-party state currently running the country. Can you imagine Bill Clinton being so stupid as to put down pickup trucks while standing next to John Kerry? And what's even more extraordinary is that those lines were written for Obama by paid professionals.

But fine, have it your way. Tuesday's vote was really a plea by a desperate people for even more Obama. We're going to need even more Obama teleprompters, even more Obama speeches, even more sonorous banalities unrelated to action, even more "Let me be clears…" prefacing even more tinny generalities, on even more reams of even more double-spaced paper. And we're gonna need a really heavy duty rig to carry all that verbiage.

Maybe Scott Brown can sell 'em his truck.

H/T JWR

Doug Ross does it again. As someone who lives here (as does Mr. Ross), we see this first-hand and hear about the horrible mortality rates among our public school students. Obama, while obviously not a miracle worker - regardless of what the Left believes - did nothing positive during his tenure as a community organizer, and perhaps even set back the black community as most race-baiting, white-blaming organizer can do (hear that Jesse and Al? This means you too!).

Dreams from My Single-Parent Family

Last September, a cell-phone video that depicted Chicago public school students beating a fellow teen to death circulated throughout the Internet and the mainstream media.

Curiously, none of the media outlets that covered the story bothered to recollect that President Barack Obama had once served as a community organizer and then a state senator in these very same South Side neighborhoods.

Throughout his years working for "change", Obama paid scant heed to the primary cause of violence and dependency in the area: the eradication of the black two-parent family by decades of Democrat policies.

Community organizing had gotten its start in Chicago under the direction of an activist named Saul Alinsky. Alinsky believed that poverty was the result of political inequities. He envisioned a power-grab by the "have-nots" of society, who would form massive, grassroots coalitions that would defeat the rich and redistribute their possessions.

But the Alinsky movement suffered two calamitous setbacks in the years leading up to the Obama era. First, the War on Poverty had established a governmental community organizing bureaucracy called the Community Action Agency. Rife with corruption, the agency's money was misappropriated and used to fund gang warfare, rape and murder.

In addition, the Alinsky playbook was doubly irrelevant because blacks occupied most of the positions of power in Chicago. The city had elected its first black mayor, Harold Washington; it had power-brokers like Emil Jones, Jr. in the State Senate; and Jesse Jackson would launch his 1984 presidential campaign in the south side.

Despite the sea-change in political influence, Chicago had exploded in a maelstrom of black-on-black violence. In 1984, the year Obama came to Chicago, one of the top high school basketball players in the country -- an immensely talented and likable center named Ben Wilson -- was murdered by gang members.

The outcry was as predictable as it was ineffectual. None of the power-brokers pointed out that all of Wilson's killers came from single-parent families. None concerned themselves with the mind-blowing statistic: 75% of all black Chicago kids were born out of wedlock. In fact, it became a cultural norm for young black men to father children and flee responsibility. The result was rampant crime. In fact, statistical studies show that if one controls for single-parent families, there are no differences between the races when it comes to crime.

In Obama's book Dreams from My Father, his narrative "is almost devoid of men. With the exception of the local ministers and the occasional semi-crazed black nationalist, Obama inhabits a female world. His organizing targets are almost all single mothers. He never wonders where and who the fathers of their children are. When Obama sees a group of boys vandalizing a building, he asks rhetorically: 'Who will take care of them: the alderman, the social workers? The gangs?' The most appropriate candidate—'their fathers'—never occurs to him."

Rather than confront the central issue, Obama as community organizer initially struggled to find his role. He was relieved to find that a Mayor's Education and Training (MET) office had no branch in Roseland, and he promptly filed an application to open one. The office had as much of an effect on the area as his asbestos removal efforts, which is to say: none. In fact, youth violence continued to increase and by his third year, 57 children had been killed in the city.

In 1994, a series of brutal child murders galvanized public attention: an 11-year old gang member was executed to keep him from implicating others in an accidental shooting death. A month later, a five-year old boy who had refused to steal candy for two under-12 gang members was dropped from a 14-story building. Not one of the participants came from a two-parent family.

A year after these notorious murders, the would-be candidate for state senator granted an interview to The Chicago Reader. Rather than point out the lack of family structure endemic to the rampant violence, Obama instead attacked "the Christian Right and the Republican Congress for 'hijack[ing] the higher moral ground with this language of family values and moral responsibility.' Yeah, sure, family values are fine, he says, but what about 'collective action . . . collective institutions and organizations'? Let’s take 'these same values that are encouraged within our families,' he urges, 'and apply them to a larger society.'"

The ignorance or naivete inherent in these statements expose a bizarre worldview. Never in the history of western civilization has some collectivist framework served as a realistic substitute for the traditional family structure. In Obama's Chicago, fathers are AWOL; and some nebulous obligation for "collective action" has no chance of succeeding without a sense of personal responsibility. In fact, Obama downplays the notion of a familial duty and points to an overall societal failure, saying "...we have a society that talks about the irresponsibility of teens getting pregnant... [but] not the irresponsibility of a society that fails to educate them to aspire for more."

The ideology of Alinsky then -- as now -- appears to have clouded Obama's mind. Where history, facts, logic and reason point to the need to encourage, nurture and reward the traditional family unit, Obama instead vilifies family values.

For decades, Obama and the Democrats have embraced an utterly defective and destructive strategy: Crushing school choice. Incentivizing single-parent families. Encouraging a lifelong culture of dependency.

The children of Obama's South Side deserve better. They deserve more than a dream of a father.


Based upon: Heather Mac Donald, Chicago’s Real Crime Story, City Journal, January 2010.

Obama Tells The Truth!




H/T ZIP

Keith Olbermann's Perversions and the Burden of Proof

On January 18th, crack MSNBC newsman Keith Olbermann analyzed the close Massachusetts Senate race with a concise summary of the policy issues at stake.

In short, in Scott Brown we have an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, teabagging supporter of violence against woman and against politicians with whom he disagrees. In any other time in our history, this man would have been laughed off the stage as an unqualified and a disaster in the making by the most conservative of conservatives. Instead, the commonwealth of Massachusetts is close to sending this bad joke to the Senate of the United States.

On January 19th, expert MSNBC anchorman Keith Olbermann offered a retrospective analysis of the Massachusetts Senate race with a plainly-stated, even-handed review of the policy issues.

In Senator-Elect Brown, we have an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, sexist, ex-nude model, teabagging supporter of violence against woman and against politicians with whom he disagrees.

And if he, or you, don't like that characterization, my answer to you is simple: disprove it.

Because he... .hasn't.

On January 20th, Global News Service editor-in-chief Simon Criswell responded to Olbermann's attacks.

In MSNBC newsman Edward R. Olbermann, we have an irresponsible, bloviating, reactionary, sexist, please-lord-no-nude-posing, pudding-sucking, strap-on-using, garlic-breathed wearer of women's underwear who demeans politicians with whom he disagrees.

And if he, or you, don't like that characterization, my answer to you is simple: disprove it.

B***ches.

Olbermann was unavailable for comment at press time, reportedly because he was on a shopping junket for Perfect Pair Breast Enhancers and a rare Kochi the Anime Doll.

H/T Doug Ross, by way of Michelle Malkin

Dallas Cowboys
Heroes & Zeroes
Divisional Playoff

Minnesota Vikings 34 Dallas Cowboys 3

So this is what happens when one team thinks it can win, and the other knows they will. Even though the game started well for Dallas, their inability to score when given the opportunities gave Minnesota all it needed to turn the tables and blow the Cowboys out. There is a lot of blame to go around, but before we get into that, I have to tip my hat to Brett Favre and his Vikings. They played a hell of a game and deserved to move on to the next round.

As for the Cowboys, not much can be said other than it was a fun season and a good run for them. They won the East and finally won a playoff game. I am optimistic that they are in a good position to compete at this level for a number of years and although I am disappointed by the way the season abruptly ended, I still consider this season to be a resounding success.

HEROES

Anthony Spencer, Outside Linebacker -- Over the course of the season, Spencer went from being a first-round bust, to being perhaps the best defensive player on the team. He doesn't quite have the tools that DeMarcus Ware has, but he has turned into a real force to be reckoned with. Since both he and Ware are still young (He is 26 and Ware is 27), these two will hopefully be the foundation of this defense for years to come (along with Jay Ratliff and Mike Jenkins). Yes, the defense got pushed around today by a very good team. But there is no question this D has become a much feared unit, who should only get better with time.

Jason Witten, Tight End -- Early on, when it looked like the Viking defense was going to eat Tony Romo alive, Witten was needed as a blocker more than as a receiver. And aside for one play where he had to go man-to-man with Ray Edwards (who payed the game of his life today), he did a good job. But when it became apparent that the only chance the Cows had in trying to get back into the game was to pass, pass, pass - Witten became Romo's main target. For the day, Jason caught 10 balls for almost 100 yards. No one else on the team had more than 4 (Miles Austin).

Felix Jones, Running Back -- Minnesota has an outstanding front line and is very, very good against the run. But you could tell early on the value of a back like Jones. His speed and explosiveness caused all sorts of fits to the Viking defense. Of course, the turnovers by Tony Romo killed any momentum that the Dallas offense had (more on that in a moment). But this loss was not at all on Jones, who ran 14 times for 5 yard per carry average (69 yards). Of course, on the other side of the ball, he has become a real liability in kick returns.

ZEROES

Tony Romo, Quarterback --It's almost unfair to pin a lot of blame on Romo for what happened today. But if he gets credit for the win, he deserves blame when they lose - especially when they only score 3 points. To his defense, Romo was badly harassed all day and was forced into almost impossible situations. His offensive line was truly offensive and failed miserably in picking up Viking blitzes. But his three turnovers sealed the deal. Granted, one of the lost fumbles really wasn't his fault (maybe even the other one, too). Furthermore, when he had the time, he was able to hit his receivers. But the Vikings were outstanding in tackling and removing one of the Cowboys' biggest strengths (yards after the catch).

Gerald Sensebaugh, Safety -- One of the best free agent signings in a long time, Sensebaugh has really given the Cowboy defense a real strong presence this season. However, his misplaying Brett Favre's first touchdown pass to Sidney Rice, when he didn't bother looking up for the ball, set the tone and proved to Minnesota early that they could score on Dallas. In addition, Sensebaugh was a non-factor in tackling (one tackle and one assist - way too few for a safety). All in all, his lack of focus was a microcosm for the entire defense today.

Jason Garrett, Offensive Coordinator -- The Cowboys failures lie mostly with their inability to account for Minnesota's aggresive defensive line. It just seemed as if every time the team made positive yardage, the play calling that followed caused a negative play on the next snap. Nothing expressed this better than when they were still in the game (down 14-3) and on a second and 4, he called for a pitch out to Marion Barber that lost 7 yards. The problem was, while running a pitch out isn't a terrible call, running it with Marion Barber, who has been slowed because of a bruised thigh (which kept him out most of last week's game and all the practices this week), was doomed from the start. Minnesota's defense was attacking and only a very quick runner (Jones) could have made something from that play. Garrett has failed a number of times this year because he has called the specific plays with the wrong personnel.

Unlike 1991, when Dallas lost this badly to Detroit in the Divisional playoffs (after beating Chicago in the Wild-Card round), this Dallas Cowboy team is not "up and coming." They are a very talented group, but have beaten themselves on far too many occasions. It is likely that Jerry Jones will reward Wade Phillips with another year of employment, and based on winning last week, he probably deserves it.

But as well as they have played these past 6 weeks (excluding today), they still have a long way to go to be the best. In my next Cowboys post (year in review/report cards), I will talk about what I think the team must do to get over the hump. I will say this, if they do not improve - especially when it comes to causing turnovers and avoiding penalties, the team will suffer another losing end to the season. With all the talent this club has, that would be a terrible shame.

Next Weekend's Conference Championship Games
I am really rooting for New Orleans and the New York Jets here. I do believe that as agood as Minnesota was today, the Saints at home are better. The Vikings were unbeatable in the Metrodome (9-0), but they are beatable on the road (4-4). Meanwhile, whatever issues New Orleans had going into the playoffs, they washed those away by totally dominating the Arizona Cardinals.

In the AFC, I think it's hard to pick against Peyton Manning. I do think the Jets can pull it off. I just don't believe they will. But the way they went into San Diego and smothered Phillip Rivers today was a thing of beauty. In theory, defense wins championships and Minnesota and the Jets have the best D's of the teams alive still. Regardless, the games will be fun to watch.

Indianapolis Colts..................24
New York Jets.........................17

New Orleans Saints ...............34
Minnesota Vikings..................27

The Old Double Standard

Victor Davis Hanson, columnist extraordinaire of the National Review, hits the nail on the head:

When Conservative Felonies Become Liberal Misdemeanors

Why in matters of stupid behavior do liberals and Democrats often get second and third chances from the media and general public not accorded to their conservative and Republican counterparts?

We’re seeing it now in the national reaction to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s reported racial gaffe. Compare how he’s being treated to what happened to Trent Lott in 2002.

Public and media pressure forced Lott to resign his Senate minority leadership post after going way over the top at a private birthday party for Strom Thurmond. In his tribute to Thurmond, Lott heaped praise on the centenarian senator’s 1948 Dixiecrat presidential candidacy — despite the fact it was predicated mostly on promoting racial segregation.

Compare that to what’s happening to Reid, who reportedly remarked in 2008 (and has not denied saying) that then-candidate Barack Obama could win the presidential race because he was “light-skinned” and did not adopt a “Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one.”

Almost immediately, most of those in the Democratic establishment and in the media who once had gone after Lott insisted that Reid's liberal credentials exempted him from resignation.

Obama himself in 2002 called for Lott to step down from his leadership post. Reflecting the general double standard, the president has made no such requests of Reid — apparently, as Obama put it, because the senator is a leader on “issues of social justice.”

Vice President Joe Biden, as a presidential candidate, once characterized Barack Obama as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”

What exactly did Biden mean by “clean”? The press, of course, didn’t bother to probe too deeply, instead seeming to think that good old Joe Biden was running off his mouth again.

That leeway was quite in contrast to the national outrage, led by the media, in 2006 after Virginia Republican senatorial candidate George Allen stupidly pointed to a volunteer for the opposing campaign and called him “Macaca or whatever his name.”

Such asymmetrical media and cultural reactions transcend race.

In 2005, public outrage properly arose when it came out that syndicated columnist Armstrong Williams had accepted $240,000 to promote the Bush administration’s “No Child Left Behind Act” — while posing as a disinterested public commentator.

His syndicate, Tribune Media Services (which distributes my column), properly dropped Williams, and the government lifted his contract.

But recently the same media was mostly silent when it was disclosed that MIT professor Jonathan Gruber had received $400,000 in government money for work on Obama’s health-care overhaul.

Surely, it was a conflict of interest for Gruber to offer himself to the press as an academic health-care expert while keeping silent about money he was making to toe the Obama line.

For months in 2008, only the National Enquirer reported on liberal presidential candidate John Edwards’s affair and alleged illegitimate child.

In contrast, the mainstream media later spent considerable time cataloguing the psychodramas of Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s pregnant daughter and her rakish boyfriend.

Palin, remember, was also lampooned for flubbing ABC’s Charlie Gibson’s gotcha question about defining the Bush Doctrine, and botching a number of Katie Couric’s inquiries.

But the press corps was quiet when Biden told Couric he thought Franklin Delano Roosevelt had not only been president in 1929, but had addressed the nation about the recent Depression on television — well before TV was commercially available.

In general, we chuckle in embarrassment that tongue-tied George Bush used to say something like “nuclar” for nuclear. But who really cares that mellifluent Barack Obama apparently thought Austrians speak “Austrian” rather than German?

Why the disproportionate media reaction to the gaffes and bad behavior by liberal and conservative politicians?

The answer is not just the usual explanation that most in the media are sympathetic Democrats.

Instead, the public is conditioned by the media and an elite establishment to assume that Obama, Reid, and Biden are superior moralists — more interested in “issues of social justice.”

So when such supposedly more intelligent humanitarians lapse, their offensive or dumb remarks are written off as atypical. Or maybe they are due to extenuating circumstances or honest mistakes.

In contrast, any inanity of a Bush, Lott, or Palin is seen as yet more logical proof of their shallow, unsophisticated emphasis on self rather than society.

So, why damage the career of a smart, well-meaning progressive for a moment’s gaffe when his aims are so much more exalted, so much more moral than those of his conservative counterparts?

Yet if all that were true, why, then, as we have seen, do liberals prove as insensitive or unaware as their conservative counterparts?

Excellent point made by Don Surber:

The White House rolled out the cliche of the day: “President Obama inherited unprecedented challenges at home and abroad.”

The Scorekeeper (Surber) guesses that George Washington had a cakewalk in establishing a government or that 11 states seceding as Abraham Lincoln took office was precedented and that Franklin Roosevelt’s inheritance of the Great Depression was no big deal.

President Obama is the ultimate political Drama Queen. The “two” wars he “inherited” were one declared by Osama bin Laden. President Bush decimated al-Qaeda as our troops slaughtered the terrorist group in Iraq. As to the economy, turning a 9% unemployment projection into a 10% reality is incompetence squared.

Surber writes a weekly column for the Charleston (West Virginia) Daily Mail, but he blogs daily under the moniker, The Daily Scoreboard. I'm not sure how I found him (it may have been Doug Ross' blog). But boy I'm glad I did. I'm going to add The Daily Scoreboard to my blog links.

News & Notes

1. Harry Reid Called Obama Light-skinned With 'No Negro Dialect'

I wonder if Trent Lott can take his job back now. After all, Reid was instrumental in Lott's fall from grace after he was accused of making a racist comment (it wasn't as bad and only the left inferred it was racist). Reid, at the time, commented, "If you tell ethnic jokes in the backroom, it's that much easier to say ethnic things publicly. I've always practiced how I play."

Well, the rules only change for the Democrats, don't they? I doubt the MSM will even cover this story - certainly not like they did when Lott was forced out. But Weasel Zippers has a rundown on who the racist party really is.

UPDATE: Six Meat Buffet reminded me of the brouhaha over Rush Limbaugh's comments about Donovan McNabb:

“Sorry to say this, I don’t think [Donovan McNabb] been that good from the get-go,” Limbaugh said. “I think what we’ve had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn’t deserve. The defense carried this team.”

And that probably cost Limbaugh a chance to own the St. Louis Rams. Man oh man - it turns out Rush was right on the money. It wasn't a racist comment, it was the truth. McNabb is a good quarterback, but has been highly overrated for many years. Now, he probably payed his last game for the Eagles because he can seem to be good enough.

2. Barack Obama Musical to Kick off in Frankfurt

Springtime for Obama?

3. 30 Years of Global Cooling Are Coming, Leading Scientist Says

Someone I know (no names please - I want to keep my job) told me that this cements the proof that Global Warming is fact. I'd like some of what he's smoking.

Wait, will it turn me into a brain-dead liberal? Never mind, then.

4. Mark McGwire Admits to steroid use

At first, I thought this was no big deal. Aside from the fact that everyone already knew he was a user, I figured the since pitchers were using also, it equals out. But then, I thought about it some more and I considered the plight of players who were clean, but were passed over for honors, and even jobs, by cheaters. How much money did these clean players lose because guys like Big Mac beefed himself up illegally?

But then again, I really blame us (the fans). As Kathy Bates said (in the TV movie "The Late Shift"), "you want the steak, but you don't want to know how I killed the cow." We wanted home runs and we wanted the Sammy Sosa - Mark McGwire summer of '98. We pay for the players hugely unfair salaries because we want our towns and our teams to "represent."

I'm not saying we ware wrong. Just that we enabled, and that's almost as bad.

5. Nancy Pelosi and others flew for free to Copenhagen Climate Junket

Besides the fact that this country is going bankrupt and can ill afford the millions of dollars this ridiculous trip cost us, the taxpayers, just how much carbon did these elitists use? I don't believe the science is settled, regarding climate change. But for those who do (and apparently, these donkeys do), how can you justify the utter waste by flying three 737's, two military cargo jets and all those commercial airline miles?

The most ethical congress ever? That should be "never."

6. "Avatar" causing viewers to contemplate suicide

Oh, come on. Personally, I think if someone is suicidal after watching a make-believe movie, there is something far more disturbing about the person that they are possibly unaware. Get a grip.

As Nora Dunn used to say (on "Saturday Night Live"), "LOOK AT YOURSELF!"

7. NFL Divisional Playoffs

It should be noted that back in September, when I did my annual predictions, I never expected that I would have been so accurate. But I picked 7 of the 8 division winners correctly and also 5 of the 8 teams still in it. It's even possible that Dallas, the team I picked to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl (which a number of you criticized - saying that not only would they not be in the big game, but likely wouldn't even make the playoffs) will go all the way. I could have been 8 for 8 in the standings had Indianapolis and Cincinnati not rested their starters the last two weeks of the season.

8. Students, fans greet Kiffin with obscenities

Maybe USC is his "dream job." But how does a man preach the importance of attending your college, where you will fit right into his system, and then run out the door the minute a better offer comes along? In college athletics - especially football and basketball - the coach is like a father to these young man.

If Kiffin had been there 4 or 5 years, then I understand he made his mark on these young kids ans sometimes it is time to follow your dream. But he'd only been in Knoxville ONE SEASON.

It's like marrying your pretty girlfriend. You spend all your first year assuring her that you want to build a future together and can't imagine being anywhere else. Not only that, after a year, life has improved for you and her and you are so looking forward to many, many more years to come.

All of the sudden, your old high school girfriend - all mature and HOT - shows up and tells you she wants to get back together. Some people would say "no, I made a commitment and I wish to see it through." Others might say, "it's tempting, give me time to think about it."

But Lane Kiffin is out the door before the white picket fence was even finished being painted. UT will get over the rejection and everyone in Tennessee will remember what a two-timing louse Kiffin was. But the players he recruited and bought into the program are still impressionable young men, who now feel betrayed.

Yes, UT will get over it. But the stink eminating from the Kiffin household will linger like so many broken dreams and promises.

Just remember USC, he was quick out the door for you. He will be just as quick for someone better one day. Time for me to root for UCLA.

9. Writer's block

I don't haz it anymore.

Dallas Cowboys
Heroes & Zeroes
Wild-Card Week

Dallas Cowboys 34 Philadelphia Eagles 14

Well, it wasn't another shutout, but it may as well had been. For the fourth straight week, the Cowboys looked unbeatable. Aside from the fact that Wade Phillips has saved his career (winning just his first ever playoff game), the team was ready and fired up to play - clear signs of good coaching. On both sides of the ball (and special teams, also), the Cows dominated the Eagles in the same way they did a week ago.

Early on, when the game was still tied 0-0 (at the end of the first quarter), few in attendance, or on TV, felt the Eagles stood a chance to win this game. Even after Michael Vick's brilliant pass to Jeremy Machlin (it was a gorgeous throw), and then the almost interception by the Eagles' Sean Jones, you still felt that they only way the Cowboys fall is by their own hand.

But since the win over New Orleans, this team is far different from previous years. even though as a team they committed 14 penalties - although in defense of the team, referee Ed Hochuli is known for throwing the flag often - this team seems to easily overcome the mistakes. In years past, they may have simply laid down and faltered when faced with those challenges.

HEROES

Tony Romo, Quarterback -- I don't believe there is a QB still active in playoffs playing as well as Tony Romo is right now. I can always tell his intensity by how often he smiles during the game. Last night, I didn't see a grin from him until late in the 4th quarter (he's been like that since New Orleans). He did make two bad throws, however, and he's lucky the two passes weren't picked off. But aside from that, he was nearly flawless and peaking at the right time. He always talks about improving and it leads me to wonder just how much better he can get. He already holds most individual team season records. He wins a Super Bowl or two and you can carve his name up there with Aikman and Staubach. But he has to win those first.

Felix Jones, Running Back -- In a game where starter Marion Barber re-injured his thigh, the Cowboys needed Jones to come through. Boy, did he. By rushing for 148 yards (on 16 carries - an average of over 9 yards per run), the 2nd year back from Arkansas had the third best rushing day in Cowboy playoff history. Plus, he also caught a pass for an additional 30 yards, to boot. With Tashard Choice filling in as well, the Dallas offense gassed the Philly defense early on and set the tone for the victory.

Bradie James, Inside Linebacker -- I could have easily chosen anybody from the defense and felt comfortable doing so. But Bradie James is an unsung hero of this team. Once again, he led the team in tackles and also, he created a fumble and recovery which basically killed any chance for an Eagles comeback. He is the "quarterback" of the defense and gets overlooked by the likes of DeMarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer, Jay Ratliff, Keith Brooking, Terrence Newman and Mike Jenkins - all of whom, along with Bobby Carpenter (finally) deserve praise for their performance.

ZEROES

Ken Hamlin, Safety --Ken Hamlin is an aggressive player. He isn't as fast as he once was, but he plays the safety position far better than anyone else this team has had since Darren Woodson. That being said, it doesn't surprise me that he occasionally gets called for personal fouls. However, Hamlin was called three times and perhaps should have been ejected for at least one of them. It's one thing to be aggressive, it's another to be stupid. Hamlin is rarely stupid, but he was on Saturday night. That can not continue if this team is going to get past the next round.

Felix Jones, Kick Returner -- So how does someone become a hero and a zero in the same game? Jones, as mentioned above, was a big reason the Cowboys dominated the Eagles the way they did. But as a kick returner, it was a completely different story. Last year, Jones flashed his speed (and reckless abandon, which is necessary for a kick returner) and made a believer out of the coaching staff. But since returning from injuries, he appears too timid in the return game. It was so bad, that the team replaced him with Kevin Ogletree on the Eagles last kickoff.

Jason Witten, Tight End -- Jason Witten is perhaps the most complete tight end in the league. As Tony Romo's best friend (so is reported), he and the quarterback share a tremendous on-field chemistry, which has enabled them both to perform at such a high level. However, as I've noted in the past, Witten has become a penalty machine. In the last three weeks, the All-Pro has committed 8 penalties (usually false starts) and last night, he had three - one wiping out a Felix Jones' 14 yard run and another killing the Cowboys first drive, following a 16 yard pass to Ogletree that was downed at the Philly 1-yard-line. Obviously, you take the bad with the great. But in the playoffs, where every yard is precious, he must be more careful.

The 2-game manhandling of the Philadelphia Eagles was a surprise to everyone except the Dallas Cowboys. There is a tremendous amount of confidence running through this team, which is a huge advantage going forward. For a team that was considered dead in the water, just five weeks ago, they have become the team to beat in the NFC.

One of the most beloved legends in the NFL is that defense wins championships. That is often very true (but not always). The Cowboys defense is right now he most feared in the league. On top of that, the offense looks unstoppable. The only think that can defeat this team is themselves. For the first time in a number of years, the coaching has been tremendous, as the team seems to finally understand Wade Phillips' scheme. On Offense, Jason Garrett seems to once again be head coaching material. But the soul of this team seems to be Joe DeCamillis, the special teams coach. DeCamillis was badly injured during training camp, when the roof of the practice facility collapsed. Then, right before the Washington game a few weeks ago, he suffered from appendicitis and was forced to follow the game from his hospital bed. But he has completely changed the ferocity of the special teams unit and given the team as a whole a spiritual lift.

So now it's on to Minnesota, where Dallas will face old foe (really old) Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikes have been terrific this year, but have faltered a bit down the stretch. They run a similar style offense as did the Eagles, but have better weapons - including Favre and Adrian Peterson. They also boast rookie of the year Percy Harvin, the explosive wide receiver who, along with Sidney Rice, make the team forget all about Randy Moss.

If Dallas plays the way they have been playing, the Cowboys win this game with no problem. If they revert to the mistake-laden ways of the past, it will be a Viking cake-walk. My money (if I had any) is on Dallas.

Next Saturday's Divisional Playoff
Dallas Cowboys ...............27
Minnesota Vikings...........17

Dallas Cowboys
Heroes & Zeroes
Game Sixteen

Dallas Cowboys 24 Philadelphia Eagles 0

We are in very new territory here, folks. For the first time in 10 years, the Dallas Cowboys have closed the season with a victory. In addition, this is the first time in team history that the Cows have scored back-to-back shutouts. It couldn't have come at a better time.

The Cowboys once again dominated. Over the past three weeks, the team has outscored their opponents 65-17, with 14 of the points they allowed all coming in the fourth quarter against the explosive New Orleans Saints. I've been a die-hard fan of this team for 40 years and this may be the finest I've ever seen this defense play - certainly, it ranks among the top 2-3 Cowboy defenses at this moment. This win was so one-sided that I know I'll have a tough time finding three "zeros."

HEROES

Tony Romo, Quarterback -- Much maligned for his late season woes, Romo has turned from Mr. November into Mr. December (and January). He's on a roll comparable to any stretch a Cowboy QB has ever seen. With his performance today, he set three team records, including most passing yards in a season (a record he set two years ago). If he can continue his stellar play into the playoffs, there may be no stopping this team.

Mike Jenkins, Cornerback -- All last year, it seemed that Jenkins, a second-round pick that year, was a complete bust. His infamous whiff on a Brandon Jacobs run, a year ago, cast his image as a scared, outmatched defensive back. But after a strong preseason, he has emerged as one of the best shutdown corners in the league and certainly, the best on this team. His coverage of the Eagles' receivers - especially on the long passes - was once again, stellar.

Doug Free, Tackle -- Rarely does an offensive tackle get mentioned among the players of the game. Since he replaced Marc Columbo, when Columbo went down with a serious knee injury in week ten, he has been outstanding covering Romo's blind side. But he deserves special mention for the remarkable block he made - 30 yards downfield - springing Felix Jones on his 49 yard touchdown, that all but iced the game.

ZEROES

Roy Williams, Wide Receiver --I'm seriously considering naming the zeroes in honor of Roy Williams, who graces the list again. However this time, it wasn't for what he did (last week, he dropped two passes), but for what he didn't do. The only time Romo even looked Williams' way, the two of them were nowhere close to making a connection. After that, Williams spent most of the rest of the day on the bench, replaced by rookie Kevin Ogletree Who made 1 catch, an outstanding 15 yard reception.

Shaun Suisham, Kicker -- Suisham was signed last week to replace Nick Folk because Folk could not hit the side of a barn. After making a nice 44-yarder, he then went wide left on a easy 30-yarder - which was why the Redskins lost faith in him. It was close, though. But that doesn't cut it and in the playoffs, Dallas needs to feel secure with their kicking game (we all know what happened in Seattle three years ago).

Andre Gurode, Center -- Gurode is a Pro-Bowl player, and has been one of the stallwarts of the offensive line for a long time. But today, whether it be a lack of focus, or whatever, he pulled a hat trick today with three penalties. Thankfully, Romo and the offense was more than good enough to keep the penalties from costing too much. But this late in the season is a bad time to start getting flagged. In a close game, which is what I would expect next week, these kinds of mental errors can be deadly.

Beating Philadelphia was perhaps the biggest win this team has had since the mid-90's. Shutting them out was simply unexpected and remarkable. For the third week in a row, the offense was tremendously efficient in the first half, which allowed the defense to take complete control in the second half. By the time the Eagles realized what hit them, they were already down 14. Take away a fluke interception by the Eagles in the Cowboy red zone, and a Suisham miss, the score could well have been 34-0. The Cowboys were that dominating.

Now comes the fun part. Can Dallas (and Wade Phillips, who has never won a playoff game) get the monkey of playoff losses off their backs? Can Tony Romo continue his late-season exemplary play? Can the defense hold the Eagles out of the end zone two weeks in a row?

It's hard to beat a team twice in a season, harder to beat them three times in a season and even harder to beat them two weeks in a row. But this is not the same Dallas team that lost to the Giants in the playoffs two years ago. Plus, Philadelphia is the only division opponent Dallas has ever beaten in the playoffs (strange, but true. They've beaten the Eagles twice in the playoffs - in 1992 and then again in 1995).

Next Saturday's Wild-Card Game
Dallas Cowboys ...............24
Philadelphia Eagles..........16

Zo's New Year's Resolutions

Posted using ShareThis