The Sad, Sorry State Of The Union…
… was delivered by this lamest of ducks:
From Cyberspace, channeled through Zig.
The snake-oil salesman tried, once again, Monday night to sell his illusions to a skeptical audience that stopped listening to him years ago.
George W. Bush’s final State of the Union speech marked a sad, pathetic footnote to a failed Presidency: a dismal, clueless exercise in fear-mongering and falsehood; a monument to arrogance and bluster; and a testament to the depths to which this nation’s government has sunk.
For the most part, this seventh and last SOTU was pure Bush: a mixture of unreality and unrelenting hyperbole, delivered in the stilted, halting style of a failed orator.
He tried to convince an skeptical Congress to become more of a co-conspirator to his failed polices, urging the House and Senate to make his failed programs permanent as a lasting monument to his corrupt legacy.
Congress must, he said, make his tax cuts permanent, a move certain to deepen the record deficits that he will leave to the next President.
It must, he demanded, legalize his warrant less wiretapping bill to make government spying on American citizens the alw of the land — cementing his destruction of the Constitution and destroying what little is left of the freedoms we once thought were bedrocks of the American way of life.
It must continue to send billions off to pay for his failed war in Iraq and support a military presence there that will last well into the next decade if not much, much longer.
But even Congress knows a lame duck when it sees one and, with one eye on the approaching November elections, few — Democrat or Republican — are willing to listen to the ravings of George W. Bush.
As Larry Markasak of The Associated Press reports:
A lame duck president called again for immigration reform, an end to lawmakers’ pet projects, control of Social Security spending and making tax cuts permanent. Democrats have rejected those Bush initiatives before.
And, in a sign that the dominant political battles will not be in Congress, many in the House chamber kept an eye during the speech on Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, bitter rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. They sat close to each other, but managed not to shake hands.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who hours earlier had endorsed Obama over Clinton, reached out to shake Sen. Clinton’s hand when she came near.
Delivering the televised Democratic response, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius urged Bush to work with a Congress controlled by her party.
“The last five years have cost us dearly in lives lost, in thousands of wounded dupes troops whose futures may never be the same, in challenges not met here at home because our resources were committed elsewhere,” she said. “America’s foreign policy has left us with fewer allies and more enemies.”
Bush’s time has, indeed, passed and many in Congress and among the American public, wish it was a time that had never happened. His legacy will be a failed, corrupt Presidency that drove this nation to the brink of the abyss and could yet plunge America into it. He has, after all, nearly a year left to complete his dismantling of the Constitution and final elimination of what little integrity is left of the office of President.
In usual Bush style, he twisted facts, played the terrorism fear card and claimed credit for successes that don’t exist. He claims of success in Iraq came on a day when five American soldiers died — the bloodiest death toll for our troops in a long time.
He continues to claim America’s economy is sound at a time then millions have lost their homes, a record number of Iraq vets are homeless and this country slides deeper into recession.
Yes, the President of the United States gave Congress and America his view of the State of the Union Monday night. As he has six times before, he presented a view obscured by illusion, illogic and incoherence.
America is in a sorry state… and it sailed into those dangerous waters with George W. Bush at the helm of the ship of state. But this captain will not go down with his ship. He will walk away and leave others to try and save the sinking U.S.S. America.
The Greatness Of Derek Jeter
Turns out, intangibles…
… don’t begin to tell thje story of Derek Jeter’s career.
Hits?
Pete Rose 2337 through age 33
Derek Jeter 2356 through age 33
Jeter has 19 more.
Whoda thunk?
Omar, King Of New York
Up until yesterday Omar Minaya, New York Metropolitan GM has been vilified by the fans and press, alike, for the “mother of all collapses” his [our, my] boys put us through. The Santana signing takes the heat off him and shifts it to Manager Willie Randolph, where it always belonged.
Here are some numbers:
Three Seasons Before Omar
YEAR W L PCT GB PLACE
2004 71 91 .438 25 4
2003 66 95 .410 34.5 5
2002 75 86 .466 26.5 5
Three Seasons With Omar
YEAR W L PCT GB PLACE
2007 88 74 .543 1 2
2006 97 65 .599 0 1 NLCS
2005 83 79 .512 7 4
New York Mets Celebrate Johan
Todays New York Post front page:
Back page:
Their rotation [which includes Pedro Martinez, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Orlando Hernandez) vaults the Mets to the top of the Eastern Division in the NL… on paper. However, as I’ve come to learn, baseball is played on dirt and grass- not paper. We’ll see.
In any event, the countdown begins.
14 days ’til pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.
I’m ready.
Mets Acquire Johan Santana
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3220894
It’s official… and they didn’t have to give up F-Mart!
Webber, Nelson Reunite…
… Hitler skis with O’Malley, as hell freezes over.
I’m shocked, intrigued, curious, captivated, interested, and motivated to take in a basketball game in Oaktown. First time in a long time.
Pictured below are Don Nelson, a man of considerable…
… girth and and a great capacity for forgivingness, and Chris [the new-age prodigal son] Webber.
The late, great Warrior basketball announcer Bill King would have said it best. “Holy Toledo.”
Difficulty Of Hitting 40 Home Runs
George Herman “Babe” Ruth is pictured bellow.
Here are the numbers:
1920’s
40 + home runs was achieved 13 times.
1930’s
40 + home runs was achieved 18 times.
1940’s
40 + home runs was achieved 9 times.
1950’s
40 + home runs was achieved 34 times.
1960’s
40 + home runs was achieved 34 times.
1970’s
40 + home runs was achieved 20 times.
1980’s
40 + home runs was achieved 13 times.
1990’s
40 + home runs was achieved 71 times.
Wind’s Direction
WZIG in Alameda is reporting that, in an effort to “get something right, for Christ’s sake,” Jehovah Whitenesses are predicting the wind will be taking an entirely different direction in the very near future. Don’t bet against it, ye of little faith. These people aren’t just annoying oxygen wasters that sell idiotic newspapers for a dime and wake you up on Saturday mornings. They are that, of course, but not just that…
106KMEL Radio Supports PC4DC…
… and, in turn, we support them.
Zen Truths…
… From Cyberspace, Channeled Through Zig:
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.
3. It’s always darkest before dawn. So if you’re going to steal your neighbour’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.
4. Don’t be irreplaceable. If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted.
5. Always remember that you’re unique. Just like everyone else.
6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
7. If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
8. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.
9. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
11. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
12. If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.
13. Some days you’re the bug; some days you’re the windshield.
14. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
15. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
16. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
17. Duct tape is like ‘The Force’. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
18. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
19. Generally speaking, you aren’t learning much when your lips are moving.
20. Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.
21. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
22. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
Comfortably Zoned with Ralph Zig Tyko 