Right Wing Nut House

There has always been a fine line in the President’s personality between confidence and arrogance. I’ve pointed this out on more than one occasion, especially when it has come to the way the Administration has conducted some aspects the war as well as the President’s penchant for keeping advisor’s who have either proven themselves inept (Michael Brown) or outlived their usefulness (Rumsfeld).

To me, the most attractive aspect of the President’s personality has always been a confidence in his own judgment and innate abilities. It has allowed him to make tough decisions both domestically and in the foreign policy arena that I admire him for and continue to support. It places him on a level far above the craven Clinton and even his wishy-washy father whose backbone of jelly doomed conservatives to having to put up with two terms of a serial liar and pompous ass as well as possibly saddle us with his addle brained wife as President.

But the President’s choice of Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O’Connor as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court just strikes me as out and out hubris.

Miers is someone with no experience as a judge, which will anger some legal experts whose good opinion the President will need to get her confirmed. The choice has angered many conservatives because she has no track record on abortion or other conservative issues near and dear to the right’s heart. It will anger main stream Republicans because until recently, the woman has apparently been a supporter of Democrats. And it opens up a line of attack by the President’s enemies who are already charging “cronyism” in the selection.

In short, if the President wanted to piss off the most number of people in the shortest period of time, he should be congratulated.

But of course, that was not the President’s intent. Instead, it appears the President has rejected the advice of Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, liberals, pundits, and professionals and chosen a non-entity to fill the important position of Supreme Court Justice.

It is now an open question as to whether or not the President has become so cut off from real world exigencies that he is unable to gauge the reaction of both his opponents and supporters. This is not unusual in second term Presidents as both Reagan and Clinton showed at times that they had lost the sure political touch of their first terms. It comes from the inevitable staff shake-ups that occur in any administration. It could also signal that the President, a man who did not take criticism well in the best of times, has completely closed himself off to opposing viewpoints. And while I would hesitate to say that the President’s advisers have turned into a bunch of gonad-less “yes men,” it stands to reason that you’re not much use if the boss never listens to you. And by the way, those the boss doesn’t listen to tend to disappear from the circle of power and cease having any influence.

Perhaps there is something else at work here that we are unaware of but I think not. The President apparently decided that his judgment in the matter was so superior to others that it wasn’t necessary for him to listen to anyone else. If there is a better definition of arrogance, I’m listening.

The nomination announcement is less than 3 hours old and already Miers is in trouble. Perhaps the President can crack the whip and pull 51 Senate votes out of a hat but I’m doubting it. It’s also too late to pull back - unless something of a disqualifying nature can be found. Given how carefully the President’s team vetted her for her position of White House Counsel, that’s not likely.

Does this prove the President is a lame duck? Not hardly. Even though the left will spin the potential defeat of Miers as an indication of the President’s diminished ability to lead, the defeat of an unqualified, unwanted candidate for the Supreme Court would not be an indication of anything except the Senate showing good judgment in not having this nominee rammed down their throats.

Maybe we’ll get lucky and Miers will see the storm of controversy surrounding her nomination and gracefully withdraw. Anyone remember Alan Ginsburg? (10/3: Actually, as Erisamann points out in the comments, it’s Douglas Ginsburg not Alan, the Beat poet and author of one of my favorites, the epic poem “Howl.”)

UPDATE

I’m glad I wrote the above post without reading a single thing from any other source because I probably would have been even more negative in my assessment.

About the only positive note is being sung by the unflappable Hugh Hewitt who gives the selection a “B+.”

Elsewhere, not so good.

Captain Ed is “mystified.”

The Powerline crew is “disappointed.”

Lori Byrd wishes she was younger but is willing to trust the President.

Michelle Malkin is “underwhelmed” and does her usual spectacular job of rounding up reax.

Wizbang is not thrilled and links to Red State who has the skinny on Miers rather interesting camapaign contribution history.

Junkyard Blog makes many of the same political points I do.

Could the Prez run to the East Room and yell “Gotchya” at the press and then announce someone else? Not if he wants to be taken seriously.

A NEW WHITE SOX MASCOT?

One of the traditions of post-season sports reporting - any sport - is the so-called “Match-up” column where sportswriters pretend that it matters if a player for one team at a particular position is better than his counterpart playing for the other team.

This is sheer sophistry. It is idiocy personified. It’s a useless exercise carried out by self-important writing hacks who don’t have the talent or the brains to write for the “legitimate” sections of the paper like news, politics, or culture…

Which, of course, is why I’m going to take a stab at it myself.

Actually, it is kind of silly. After all, what possible relevance is there except in the most tangentially nebulous way if one first baseman is better than the other? What matters is how they perform on the field not some statistical comparison that you can throw out the window once the postseason begins anyway.

That said, the reason to do it is because it’s fun! Here then, are some mostly honest position by position comparisons between my beloved Pale Hose and the World Champion Boston Red Sox. The White Sox player will always be listed first.

CATCHER

A.J. Pierzynski vs. Jason Veritek

A.J. has been rightly credited with superior handling of the talented White Sox pitching staff all year. In baseball parlance he “calls a good game.” Only an adequate throwing arm, if the Red Sox are smart, they’ll try to run early and often. Offensively, A. J. hasn’t hit a homer in a month and is only average in the clutch.

Veritek on the other hand is a field general. A true throwback, he’s tough, smart, and a take charge player on the field. Better than average arm which may put a crimp in the White Sox running game Only the 3rd Captain in the entire history of the franchise, he’s a clutch hitter with a killer instinct at the plate. If the White Sox try to pitch around Ramirez and Ortiz, Veritek is perfectly capable of doing enough damage to make them wish they didn’t.

Big Edge to Boston.

FIRST BASE

Paul Konerko vs. John Olerud

Very quietly, Paul Konerko has become one of the most reliable sluggers in the American League. With 40 homers and 100 RBI’s, Konerko’s value on a team that lost slugger Frank Thomas to injury and last year’s heavy hitters Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Lee to off-season trades cannot be overstated. In short, for the White Sox to win, Konerko must produce. The Bosox know this which is why they’d be smart to pitch around Konerko and make one of the other Sox players beat them. An average glove but steady and reliable in the field.

John Olerud is a veteran with a smooth glove and excellent hitting skills. Seeing him as a Cincinnati rookie, Ted Williams thought that he reminded him of himself when it came to hitting - high praise coming from the self-absorbed Hall of Famer. Indeed, Olerud has a sweet swing that rarely breaks down under pressure. What he lacks in power, he makes up for in clutch hitting ability. And he’s a veteran of the playoff wars, an intangible that most of the White Sox players don’t have.

Slight edge to Chicago

SECOND BASE

Tadahito Iguchi vs. Tony Graffanino

“Da Gooch” was a Rookie of the Year candidate and for good reason; a .278 average with 15 homers and 71 RBI’s, Iguchi’s offensive numbers were more than impressive for a second baseman. However, his value to the team could never be measured in stats. Iguchi functioned as the proto-typical #2 hitter, a true “push-along” player who moved lead-off hitter Scott Posednik over to second (or more usually third base given Posednik’s base stealing binge in the first half of the season) on a consistent basis. And he proved himself more than capable in the late innings to deliver big hits. In the field, he’s weak going to his right, much stronger to his left, he hesitates to take charge and possesses only an adequate arm. He makes an excellent pivot on double plays, however, and like all Japanese players is sound fundamentally.

Tony “G” was a fan favorite when he was a utility infielder here in Chicago. Graffinino is solid if unspectacular defensively with good range both left and right, an adequate throwing arm, and makes the pivot well. A decent hitter with some power and is good in the clutch, Tony is a good Major League second baseman who is probably playing out of position in that he might be a better shortstop. But the Bosox needed a second baseman when Mark Belhorn went down and Graffinino hasn’t disappointed.

Slight Edge to White Sox

THIRD BASE

Joe Crede is the most maddeningly frustrating player to watch on the White Sox. A promising rookie two years ago, Crede has yet to live up to his true potential. His defense has improved immensely however and he can now be placed in the top tier of defensive third basemen in the league. He possesses a cannon for an arm and moves well both left and right - especially important given the weakness of shortstop Juan Uribe going to his right. Crede fills the hole better than just about any third baseman in the league and guards the line as if it were his own personal property. At the plate, he is streaky. Currently he’s on fire and it should be interesting to see if he can maintain the nearly .400 average he hit for in September.

Bill Mueller is a canny veteran with cat-like reflexes and possesses a strong arm. But he’s weak going to his left and his glove has been shaky at times. A switch hitter, he possesses power from both sides (left side dominant) and gives the Bosox some RBI punch at the bottom of their line-up.

No Advantage

SHORTSTOP

Juan Uribe has been a slight disappointment for the White Sox. After a 25 home run output last year, Uribe’s production fell to just 16, although he hit 7 long ones the last month of the season. His average also was on the rise at season’s end. Defensively he’s more than adequate with a strong arm and good going toward the middle. Excellent in combination with Iguchi on twin killings, he has demonstrated a weakness going to his left and his arm can be scattershot at times.

Edgar Renteria has been a defensive disappointment with the Bosox. Something must have happened between his stint with the Cardinals where he was known for his defensive ability and his current status as something of a liability. No one can doubt his bat, however, and he has proven himself a dangerous hitter.

Slight Edge to White Sox

LEFT FIELD

Not much of a comparison here. While Scott Posednik has been the major impetus during the Sox drive to the Division title with his ability as a lead-off hitter to get on and steal bases, he’s in a horrible base stealing slump since he came off the disabled list earlier in September which leads one to believe he still is not quite right. An adequate outfielder with an average arm, he possesses the speed to chase down fly balls anywhere from left center to foul territory.

Manny Ramirez is perhaps the best hitter in the game today and worth every penny the Red Sox are paying him. Who cares about his defense when the guy can hit like that?

Big Edge to Boston

CENTER FIELD

Aaron Rowand vs. Johnny Damon

Rowand is another Sox player having an off year. After hitting over .300 and 24 home runs last season, Rowand has slumped to .270 with only 13 homers this year. Defensively, he has played outstanding, gold glove type ball at times. At other times, he has played indifferently. Still, he gives the White Sox some pop at the bottom of the lineup and if he gets hot, watch out.

Damon is a tremendous talent, a great leadoff hitter who walks rarely but garnered nearly 200 hits. A smart, tough player, he patrols center field like it’s his own private preserve and can run down just about anything. A great asset to his team and a true spark plug. If he gets on base with consistency, the White Sox lose.

Edge to Boston

RIGHT FIELD

Jermaine Dye is a solid pro who had an above average season. His 31 homers were second on the team and it should be interesting to see where Ozzie Guillen places him in the lineup. For most of the year, Dye batted 5th or 6th. But with Carl Everett in a pronounced slump for the last two months, Dye was hitting 3rd in front of Konerko. Not known as a real clutch hitter, he probably would be better off batting 5th. An excellent defensive outfielder with a rifle for an arm.

Trot Nixon is another solid pro although somewhat less spectacular at the plate. He is, however, an excellent clutch hitter and plays a solid defensive right field with good range and a strong arm. It remains to be seen if Nixon can regain some of the pop in his bat that he’s had in the past although injuries may have hurt him there.

Slight Edge to White Sox

DESIGNATED HITTER

Problem child Carl Everett kept his mouth shut most of the year. Then, when he hit a slump and Guillen dropped him to 6th in the order, Everett made it clear that it didn’t sit well with him. It was a big thing for about a week and has since dissipated as a result of the team clinching the Division. However, any residual bad feelings in the clubhouse are not good this time of year. Otherwise, Everett appears to be snapping out of it and playing against his old team should give him some extra incentive to do well.

David Ortiz is one of the greatest DH’s ever to play the game. The Ortiz-Ramirez show will be the story of the series. If White Sox pitching can limit their damage, they win. If not, look for a short series.

Big Edge to Boston

STARTING PITCHING

The White Sox quadrimvirate of Contreras, Garland, Buerhle, and Garcia were lights out for the first half of the season. They slid precipitously in August and the first part of September which allowed Cleveland to get back in the race. However - very bad news for Boston fans - it appears the starters have regained their early season form. In their last 8 starts, they have a combined ERA of 1.57. Contreras was Pitcher of the Month in September and both Garcia and Buerhle are excellent big game pitchers. Garland is a question mark although his last three starts have been above average.

Boston’s group of Clement, Wakefield, Schilling, and Wells is a good, proven group of playoff performers but far less reliable. This could be the Bosox Achilles heel against the White Sox - especially Clement (who the White Sox have knocked around a couple of times already this year) and Schilling who is just a shadow of his former spectacular self.

Big Edge to White Sox

BULLPEN

The White Sox have the best bullpen in the American League bar none, hands down. Guillen has used them intelligently which has given the group of Cotts, Politte, Vizcaino, and Marte a ton of confidence. Closer Bobby Jenks is young - but old enough to throw a fastball 100 mph. If the White Sox have the lead after the 6th inning, it’s almost an automatic “W.”

The Bosox have some good arms but much less reliable. Timlin always gives White Sox players fits as does former White Sox submariner Chad Bradford. But with Keith Foulkes well known troubles - one reason the White Sox gave up on him - the bullpen is hardly as solid as the Chisox group.

Big Edge to White Sox

BENCH

Ozzie Guillen has been giving players like Pablo Ozuna and Timo Perez game time all year long and both are primed for pinch hitting and perhaps even a starting role if things go south. And catcher Keith Widger has proven himself an adequate back up.

The leading Red Sox pinch hitter is Jay Payton with three hits - and he was traded to Oakland in July.

Edge to White Sox

MANAGER

While Ozzie Guillen is a strong candidate for Manager of the Year, the regular season means butkus this time of year. And Terry Francona has been there, done that. Can a manager freeze? Yes, but don’t look for that to happen to the happy-go-lucky Guillen. However, you’ve still got to give the nod to Francona.

Slight Edge to Boston

PREDICTION

Will the old baseball adage “Good pitching beats good hitting” prove out? The answer is yes. But the question isn’t whether pitching or hitting is more important, the question is performance. If the White Sox pitchers pitch like they are capable of doing, the Red Sox lose in 4. If not, it could be the Bosox in 3.

More likely, it will come down to game 5 in Chicago - with my White Sox winning a low scoring game in a low scoring series.

UPDATE

A couple of notes:

First, if you’re a baseball fan. be sure to bookmark Baseball Musings for the duration of the playoffs. Most fans are statistics nuts (like me) and former ESPN researcher David Pinto has the goods on everybody and everything.

Regular readers of this site may have noticed that there have been several posts recently on my beloveds, the Chicago White Sox, and their quest to break the 88-year record of championship futility for Chicago baseball teams.

While I will continue to post on other, less important subjects like war and peace, the Supreme Court nomination, the media, and liberal lunacy, until my White Sox are eliminated from World Series competition, I will be doing regular updates on the games, the players, and maybe a few thoughts on how all this relates to our society and culture. Playing a pastoral game in an urban setting has always been the great dichotomy of baseball and one of its big attractions. Of course, it doesn’t matter as much now and it has become fashionable to bash the sport for all of its many faults as well as the documented and sordid foibles of its players.

You may bash to your heart’s content. My love for the game on the field when played with the skill of Major League players will not be diminished. If you enjoyed baseball in your youth, I invite you to take this journey with me. If nothing else, it’ll be a nice change of pace from documenting the faults and foibles of the fools and knaves in Washington.

The headline from this New York Times article that analyzes how many prisoners sentenced to life in prison are never paroled had me scratching my head trying to figure out what the point was:

To More Inmates, Life Term Means Dying Behind Bars

I guess I’m just not sophisticated enough to follow the Time’s reasoning here. If a “life term” doesn’t mean “life term,” why give one out in the first place.

The Times explains:

But now, driven by tougher laws and political pressure on governors and parole boards, thousands of lifers are going into prisons each year, and in many states only a few are ever coming out, even in cases where judges and prosecutors did not intend to put them away forever.

Well, that explain everything! When judges and prosecutors want to pull the wool over our eyes and give some violent criminal a wink and a nod about his incarceration, they sentence him to what should be called a “not really for life” life sentence.

My jaw dropped a little lower after I read this:

Indeed, in just the last 30 years, the United States has created something never before seen in its history and unheard of around the globe: a booming population of prisoners whose only way out of prison is likely to be inside a coffin.

I hate to seem like an idiot but when someone convicted of a particularly heinous crime - one where a life sentence is either mandated by law or given by a judge in lieu of the death penalty - where is the societal interest in letting these people out of jail so that they can potentially prey upon other people? The New York Times is certainly being free and easy with other people’s lives and well being.

Is it the Times contention that most of these people are innocent? Not at all. What the Times is saying is that habitual offenders just aren’t being released to prey upon the rest of us like they used to in the good old days of liberal ideas regarding our penal system.

Fewer than two-thirds of the 70,000 people sentenced to life from 1988 to 2001 are in for murder, the Times analysis found. Other lifers - more than 25,000 of them - were convicted of crimes like rape, kidnapping, armed robbery, assault, extortion, burglary and arson. People convicted of drug trafficking account for 16 percent of all lifers.

Here are a few facts and figures that the Times evidently missed in it’s research for this article:

FEDERAL BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS

Rates of Recidivism of State Prisoners - Rearrest Rates by Most Serious Offense for Which Released

Homicide: 40.7%
Kidnapping: 59.4%
Rape: 46.0%
Other Sexual Assault: 41.4%
Robbery: 70.2%
Assault: 65.1%
Other Violent Crimes: 51.7%

In summary, 67.5% of violent criminals were rearrested within 3 years of being released for a new crime. This is a point made by the Times article, albeit with the caveat that those who spend a long time in prison tend to be less enamored of criminal behavior. And of course, it just doesn’t look good when compared to our betters over in Europe. In fact, it must be downright embarrassing for the Times editors when they attend those cocktail parties with their European counterparts:

Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, a research and advocacy group that issued a report on life sentences last year, said that about a fifth of released lifers were arrested again, compared with two-thirds of all released prisoners.

“Many lifers,” Mr. Mauer said, “are kept in prison long after they represent a public safety threat.”

In much of the rest of the world, sentences of natural life are all but unknown.

“Western Europeans regard 10 or 12 years as an extremely long term, even for offenders sentenced in theory to life,” said James Q. Whitman, a law professor at Yale and the author of “Harsh Justice,” which compares criminal punishment in the United States and Europe.

Don’t you feel a lot better knowing that there’s “only” a 20% chance that a violent criminal will either kill again or rape again, or commit some unspeakable act against you or a loved one?

For you see, the Times likes those odds. Sounds about right…2 out of 10 ex lifers who, despite spending a couple of decades behind bars, are willing to recommit crimes for which they were sent up in the first place.

What do you suppose the chances of any New York Times editors being affected by those 20% of criminals who end up killing or raping or assaulting you or your loved ones? Which is the point, of course. Better to look good in the eyes of the rest of the world than keep us safe.

There’s a reason people are sentenced to life in prison. And while there may be a few exceptions to the so-called “Three strike” rule in sentencing (and these should be dealt with on a case by case basis) the fact is that sentencing guidelines are in place because too many judges and prosecutors think like the editors of the New York Times; that criminals are in jail not because they’re horrendously violent sociopathic thugs but because they are misunderstood by society or that they’re the wrong color or that they’ve spent time in jail and have actually “reformed” and gone straight.

This kind of thinking caused crime to skyrocket in the 1960’s - 1980’s. It wasn’t until legislatures and the Congress passed mandatory sentencing laws that crime finally began to drop. Yes judges complain they have little leeway in sentencing anymore. But that decision wasn’t taken in a vacuum. It was because judges routinely abused their positions to foist their ideas about crime and society on the rest of us that those laws were passed in the first place.

I have no doubt some lifers, if released, would make solid citizens. But until we come up with a way to positively identify those people - an almost certain impossibility given that it would require both a working crystal ball and the ability to read minds - I recommend we keep people who have been sentenced to life in prison right where they are thank you.

Knowing they are in there and I am out here helps most of us sleep more soundly at night.

UPDATE:

John Cole had a similar thought when he saw the Times headline.

Also, go Inside Larry’s Head and read Larry Bernard’s thoughts on this.

Cole just IM’d me to say when he read the headline he spit milk through his nose. For me, it was hot coffee - not a pleasant experience.

‘THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM,” BOBBY JENKS, CHEERS ON TEAMMATES PAUL KONERKO AND A.J. PIERZYNSKI FOLLOWING THE SOX CLINCHER ON THURSDAY

He can throw a baseball more than 100 miles per hour. At that speed, the ball screams toward the hitter appearing to be a tiny, jet propelled pellet of white-hot molten plasma, a blur to the eye of even the best of Major League hitters and forcing them to begin their swing almost before the pitch leaves his hand. And his 12 to 6 curve ball thrown almost 20 miles per hour slower has made more than one Major League hitter look like a busher with cataracts.

He also has the pudgy, cherubic face of a 15 year old choir boy.

But what Bobby Jenks has that makes him a potential star closer for the White Sox during the upcoming post season is the heart of a lion and the soul of a serial killer - two attributes that a successful baseball fireman must have in order to succeed when the game is on the line and the pressure so intense that equally gifted pitchers have buckled and broken.

Being a closer has more to do with possessing a mindset rather than any specific set of baseball gifts. Some of the greatest closers in the relatively short history of the position did not possess the overwhelming fastball of a Bobby Jenks or a Rob Dibble, the former Cincinnati great from the early 1990’s. The St. Louis Cardinal’s closer in the early 1980’s, Bruce Sutter, relied on the relatively new pitch - the “split fingered” fastball - to rack up his Hall of Fame numbers. And Dennis Eckersley, another Hall of Fame closer for the Oakland A’s, relied on pin point control and a devastating slider to confound hitters.

But what both of those men had and what Sox youngster Jenks seems to possess is an absolute killer instinct, a “take no prisoners” approach to the task of closing out a ballgame. It is an attitude that apparently cannot be taught but rather is part of the psychological make-up of a pitcher from the start of their careers. Jenks began his professional career in the Anaheim Angels organization. He was a raw, callow youth, so enamored of baseball during high school that he was declared academically ineligible to play 3 out of the 4 years he attended school in the small, Idaho town of Spirit Lake.

However, Jenks played American Legion ball and dazzled the competition both as a pitcher and a hitter, leading the league in homers and RBI’s as well as victories. Invited to a showcase camp for potential major leaguers, Anaheim (now Los Angeles) Angels scout Jack Uhey recognized the potential in the raw youth and signed him up.

The Angels figured they had a potential 20 game winner in the youngster and they tried to make him into a starting pitcher. As a 19 year old rookie in the “Low A” affiliate in Butte, Montana, Jenks struck out 42 batters in 52 innings but also walked 44 hitters. Not an auspicious beginning but the Angels stuck with him. The following year he struck out 96 hitters in 98 innings for Cedar Rapids and was temporarily promoted to the club’s double A affiliate in Arkansas for that teams playoffs. He did well enough there that during the next two years, he was tapped to play in the prestigious Arizona winter league where 2/3 of prospects end up on major league rosters. But the hard throwing kid with the golden arm was suffering the fate of most young pitchers - the injury bug had bit and bit hard.

Apparently, young Bobby throws so hard that the stress on the elbow causes what’s known in the business as “reaction fractures” - small cracks that cause intense pain. All professional pitchers have learned to pitch with pain as the unnatural act of flinging a baseball with velocities approaching 100 miles per hour every four or five days causes the muscles and tendons of the arm and shoulder to stretch and contract in an abnormal manner. Most pitchers learn to deal with the pain and pitch through it.

But the kind of pain caused by a fracture of the bone in the elbow can only be fixed by surgery. So, in 2004, Jenks went under the knife and had a screw placed in his elbow to keep the fractures from spreading. Fearing his career was over, the Angels released him. Taking a chance, the White Sox picked up his contract in less than 24 hours and immediately sent him to their instructional league in Florida. It was there that the Sox decided to make the 24 year old fireballer into a short reliever. Within a few weeks, they sent Jenks to their Triple A affiliate in Birmingham where he dominated the hitters, striking out 52 in just 41 innings. That, coupled with a decent spring training stint with the main club made his elevation to the majors simply a matter of time.

The call came July 5th. Manager Ozzie Guillen had become concerned over back problems being experienced by his closer at that time, veteran Dustin Hermanson, and thought that Jenks would be a good back-up for the ailing pitcher. The move proved to be a stroke of genius when Hermanson took the young fireballer under his wing and began to train Jenks in some of the finer points of closing a baseball game. Apparently, Hermanson’s tutelage had more to do with teaching the youngster how to prepare mentally for his appearances rather than any tips on how to throw a baseball.

The results have been remarkable to see. Guillen eased Jenks into the role of closer over the last few months of the season so that now, with the playoffs looming and Hermanson’s bad back a real question mark, Guillen feels no compunction about putting Jenks on the firing line during the most important games of the year.

At times, Jenks has been unhittable, striking out 50 batters in barely 39 innings. But the real test of a closer is in their ability to overcome mistakes. And Jenks has proven himself adept at getting out sticky situations created by his occasional wildness. This ability will stand him in good stead during the playoffs when every pitch in the late innings usually has the potential to turn the game around.

The ascendancy of Jenks over Hermanson, who until his probable career ending injury was one of the dominant closers in the American League, has given Sox fans hope that this in fact could be the year that frustration turns into triumph. The last time a Chicago baseball team won a World Championship was in 1917, a record of futility and heartache unmatched by any other Major League club in existence today. And with a flamethrower like Jenks in the wings, if the Sox have a lead going into the last inning, their chances of success and vindication have been increased substantially.

UPDATE

In addition to his outstanding work on the Plame Game, Tom McGuire is now evidently rooting for the White Sox to beat Cleveland since his Red Sox are now in trouble of missing the playoffs.

I would say to Mr. McGuire, no need to fret as my Sox literally own the Tribe’s backsides at The Jake this year, winning 8 while losing only 1. The snakebit Tribe will fall like a ripe huckleberry and allow his Sox to face my Sox in the Division Series beginning October 4 at US Cellular Field.

Needless to say, given the huge advantage my Sox enjoy in starting pitching and defense, his Carmines will feel the sting of defeat at the hands of my beloveds quicker than one can say “Bucky Dent” - who McGuire may not be aware began his career with none other than my White Sox.

UPDATE II

Color my face red but McGuire is a fan of the most hated, despised, and loathed franchise in all of professional sports, the New York Y**kees.

From here on out, since the name of the team is actually an obscenity and this is a family-friendly blog, we will x-out part of the Y**kees name in the interest of not corrupting children. Also, Y**kees is actually quite descriptive if one were to substitute a “uck.”

This “Better Late than Never” edition of the Carnival was truly a joy to put together this week. After all, every major institution in the United States of America - the government, the press, religious leaders - all proved that they have the collective I.Q. of a marmoset. Rarely has so much stupidity been evinced by so many in so short amount of time. This is reflected in the fact that we have a very few repeat posts from our cluebashing bloggers so that the entire panoply of cluelessness can be presented for your reading pleasure.

It’s very hard to pick the #1 Cluebat of the Week given the range and diversity of our clueless candidates. If I were forced to choose, however, it would have to be a collective award, given to the nearly 100,000 of our fellow citizens who came to Washington this week, all to get in line to be cannon fodder for terrorists. At least, that would be the practical effect of their policy prescriptions if we were to listen to them. Thankfully, they are only moonbats so we can safely ignore them. But they certainly were a colorful lot, weren’t they? For a moment, it took me back to my youthful days as a Viet Nam War protester.

The big difference I suppose is that while my friends and I really did hate the war, we had other perfectly legitimate reasons to protest; not the least of which were the protest babes who usually made up more than 50% of any anti-war crowd back in those days. Crudely put, there simply was no better place to get laid than at a protest march. And the primo drugs that were available also made marching with the moonbats a very attractive activity.

So for both nostalgic and aesthetic reasons, the “Moonbats on Parade” in Washington will be named Cluebat of the Week. And if you take a few minutes to read just a few of the posts below, maybe you’ll find something or someone that brings a tear to your eye and a lump in your throat like this past weekend’s demonstration did for me.

“Stupidity is an elemental force for which no earthquake is a match”
(Karl Kraus, Austrian poet and playwright)

“Yeah, right Karl. But what about a hurricane?”
(Me)
***************************************************************************

Mark Coffey’s Weekly Jackass is noted cartoonist and ignoramus Ted Rall, who has called charity givers “suckers.” Rall certainly knows how to highlight the compassionate side of liberalism.

Fred Fry is mad at President Clinton and has a few choice words on what the former Molester-in-Chief can do with his unwanted tax cuts. It’s tax deductible too!

The Headmistress at the Common Room doesn’t believe in corporal punishment for her homeschoolers I’m sure. But she’s mad enough to cane news reporters whose reporting from New Orleans was a travesty of journalism.

Giacomo at Joust the Facts tells us about some breathtaking cluelessness evinced by of all people, the Dalai Lama. We have just GOT to get the Lama and Osama together in the same room!

Below the Beltway goes dumpster diving to find European reaction to Hurricane Katrina to be just a little too hysterical.

Those personable pachyderms from Academic Elephants shake their trunk at Cluebat Hall of Famer John Kerry whose comments at Brown University about the Bush Administration are fisked right smartly.

Angry in the Great White North comes down hard on Mother Sheehan for her complaint that she has to share TV time with unimportant things like hurricanes and such.

Two Dogs rips into a few of his commenters who need some remedial civics instruction as well as more than half a brain.

More on Kerry from our bud The Maryhunter who reminds us that John Kerry was in Viet Nam. You didn’t know that?

Pat Curley shows Mother Sheehan to be even more of a hypocrite than we knew as he’s got a photo of her body guards carrying guns. I wonder who she’s blowing kisses to?

Cao at Cao’s Blog exorcises her own personal islamofascist demon who has been tormenting her for a while. And after reading this, if you’re still prone to the siren song of tolerance when it comes to these thugs, I suggest you adopt one yourself. Just make sure to keep sharp objects away from them.

Here’s some satire to go with your afternoon tea. Mr. Right has “Angry Protesters Demand US out of US Now!”

Mike Huckabee for President sends us a link to this Alan Dershowitz piece in HuffPo on why President Bush is so dangerous. Can you believe it’s because humans are living longer, more productive lives today?

Jimmie K at But that’s Just my Opinion throws the words about the global warming hoax of Tony Blair right into the faces of the clueless greenies who should be in anguish at this point.

Our satirical friends at The Nose on your Face have done it again with their take on the “Stuck on Stupid” quote from General Honore. Like Mr. Gump says “Stupid is as stupid does.”

Speaking of stupid, the folks at ROFA Six blog present us with this piece of flummoxry from a nursing home employee who wants $9 million for…well, read it and weep.

Van Helsing fires a silver bullet at Ted Turner - “The Mouth from the South” - for his clueless pronouncements about the benevolent and peace loving North Koreans.

Beth at MVRWC has a few choice words about the controversy over a 14 year old girl being expelled from a Christian School because her parents were lesbians. Beth is begging for a membership in the NAACP.

Please go to Atlas Shrugs and see Carnival Golden Girl Pamela’s post on Ted Kennedy volunteering to plug the levees in New Orleans all by himself. The picture of Kennedy being airlifted underneath a Huey is priceless…as is the picture of Pamela in a Supergirl outfit. Woot!

Rachel at the new (to me) blog Tinkerty Tonk has a jaw-dropping post about Katie Couric and her shameless exploitation of tragedy. Good writing and a nice looking site!

B-Right and Early quotes Senator Chuck Shumer about how independent minded Democrats are when compared to Republicans. Wha? Who? WTF? Jim does a good job making Chuckie look totally clueless.

Josh Cohen at Multiple Mentality shows how Georgia Governor Perdue singlehandedly created a gas crisis in his home state. Like Kevin Bacon’s character in Animal House during the Homecoming parade riot; “Remain Calm! All is well!”

Tom Bowler from the excellent blog Libertarian Leanings highlights some head scratching comments from moonbat extraordinaire Cynthia McKinney.

Wonder Woman at North American Patriot has an eye-opener about Google searches and George Bush. This from the folks that think that Neo Nazi websites are news aggregators but that Little Green Footballs is not.

My blogbud Jay at Stop theACLU has some recent perfidy by the “rights” organization regarding the Boy Scouts and homosexuals.

How about the Ferris Buehler of the Congresss, the Sausage King of Washington, that log rolling, pork barrelling Alaskan King Crab Don Young and his comments about critics of government spending? Here are the Reaganites Unite with the forearm shiver that leaves him bloody and bleeding.

Bullwinkle at Random Numbers has some thoughts on “Hillary Clinton look-alike” Joan Baez and the aging troubador’s pronouncements on the nature of war.

Finally, here’s my post on Katrina coverage “When ‘That’s the way it is’ Isn’t.”

Got this in the snail mail yesterday. Don’t quite know what to make of it except to say I’m not surprised given how much people are complaining about the response of the federal government to the recent hurricanes.

Greetings from the President:

Hi! My name is Daryl and I’ll be your Personal US Disaster Relief Associate. If you’d like, you can call me your PUD.

I work for the Department of Homeland Security in the Personal Service System (PISS). We were created because so many Americans were unhappy with the federal response to disasters lately and it was felt that as long was we were going to be blamed for errors made by incompetent local officials and the fact that natural disasters are just that - acts of God (or “acts of nature” for those of you who don’t believe in God) where government services breakdown due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, we might as well solve the problem by giving all 275 million Americans their very own PUD.

As your PUD, it will be my responsibility to make sure that if you are ever in a hurricane, earthquake, typhoon, tsunami, tornado, flood, or any other natural disaster, I will be there to take care of you. If you’re stranded during a flood, I promise that you will never suffer the pangs of hunger or thirst as I will see to it that within 3 hours, water and food are precision air dropped from C-130 cargo planes directly on top of your house.

As for the indignity of having to answer the “call of nature” without access to proper facilities, your government has been hard at work in developing a collapsible port-a-potty that you’ll be able to set up anywhere at a moments notice. Every American will be issued one of these little gems from our Catastrophic Relief Asset Program (Personal) or CRAP’s so that you won’t have to deal with those horrible smells that come from backed up toilets in shelters.

In fact, if you are stuck in a shelter, we promise to make your stay as interesting as possible. We have contracted with some of the top entertainers in the country to perform round-the-clock shows to keep you amused so that you won’t go blabbing to newspeople about what a horrible job we’re doing. So far, we’ve been successful in signing talent like Perry Como, Wayne Newton, The Judds, Lee Greenwood and we’re in serious talks with Kenny Rogers. And for you youngsters, we’ve had initial discussions with MC Hammer and Paula Abdul. With such a winning lineup of stars, I’m sure you’ll have a good time.

If you choose to be a looter during one of these disasters, we have a rather special and innovative program that includes both legal representation and a pamphlet that lists various excuses you might give to the police for what in normal times would be considered outrageously illegal behavior. For instance, say you’re caught with a flat screen TV when coming out a Wal-Mart. No problem! Just use excuse #30-A in your pamphlet that states “But officer! I need this flat screen so that we can have a clean place to eat our MRE’s off of.” If that doesn’t work, accuse the policeman of callousness and indifference to you and your family’ s plight and hope you can shame him into letting you go. Or, you can always say that you just “found it.” In a pinch, just say you’re a New Orleans policeman.

Of course, my main job is to see that you get your fair share of federal goodies that are doled out in the aftermath of any natural disaster. Did you live in a shabby, one room apartment that was destroyed in the disaster? How does a 3 bedroom 1 1/2 bath split level sound to you?

And don’t forget, you will be authorized to receive a Platinum Mastercard and that debit card with the $180,000 limit. Of course, all expenditures should go to rebuilding your shattered life but hey! Who’s watching? Certainly not the Congress.

I hope this puts your mind at ease. More importantly, I hope that if you ever are in a natural or man-made disaster that you slap a smile on your face and say nothing but good things about us here at the Department of Homeland Security when talking to the press. It sure would make our lives easier if we didn’t have to deal with all these questions from reporters who are “stuck on stupid.”

Sincerely,

Daryl

A thousand pardons to all of you who are wondering where the Carnival is this week.

The Carnival has fallen victim to events ocurring in my real life…which is to say the time necessary to devote to doing it and doing it well has vanished during the middle of the week. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will be very, very busy for the forseeable future. This is why…

THE CARNIVAL IS MOVING!

That’s right. As of tomorrow, the Carnival’s permanent home will move to Fridays of every week. Since I have Friday’s off, it will make it possible for me to devote the time necessary to make the Carnival a worthwhile read. This also means that the deadline for submissions will change as well to Thursday at 10:00 PM Eastern.

Again, my apologies for the confusion this week but I can promise that this move will work out for the best in the end.

SSSSHHHH…Be Vewy Quiet. I’m huntin’ Repubwicans…heheheheheheh!

The indictment of Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay is one of the least surprising developments in politics since the Democrats’ efforts to buy votes with crack cocaine in Ohio last November. Given the level of scrutiny directed toward the Texas Republican regarding everything but his bathroom habits, the laughably partisan Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, like his counterpart Elmer Fudd, was destined to succeed in finding the rabbit but will be hard pressed to ultimately catch the critter and make a stew out of him.

Instead, all Earle has succeeded in doing is making hash out of his investigation, something a federal judge will not find amusing - federal judges having a much narrower sense of humor than your average Texas pol. For in order to understand the indictment of DeLay, one must understand the wild, wild, west nature of Texas politics and how being “colorful” and “larger than life” is the best way to get ahead in the rough and tumble mud wrestling of Texas political culture.

Unlike in some of the more staid environs out east and in the Midwest, politics in Texas is a spectator sport, albeit one that requires the spectators to come equipped with a scrub brush and an extra-strength bar of soap. Both DeLay and Earle have come up through the ranks of their respective parties by successfully playing as close to the edge of the law that ethics and decency will allow, all the while “Aw Shucks”-ing and backslapping their way through successful election campaigns. It is the campaigns themselves with the ungodly amounts of money raised and spent that grease the skids of law and politics at the statehouse level.

An example would be your typical campaign for an obscure public office like State Railroad Commissioner. Through some quirk in the law, the Commission controls the oil industry in Texas which may have something to do with the fact that on average, candidates spend well over half a million dollars to get elected and most candidates spend much more than that. A run for the Texas Senate is similarly expensive. Contrast those figures in my own state of Illinois where the average amount spent on a state Senate seat is around $50,000 - figures skewed upward by races run in Chicago and its suburbs - and you have an idea of how really, really, important it is to raise money in Texas if you want to get anywhere in politics.

If money is the mother’s milk of politics, Texas has a corner on motherhood. And down through the years, well meaning reformers from both parties have attempted to change the political landscape by trying to put a stop to some of the more outrageous examples of campaign finance shenanigans, mostly to no avail. Like reformers of federal campaign laws have discovered to their utter dismay, the more strictures you put into place, the more loopholes wide enough you can drive a Texas sized 18 wheeler through are created.

Hence, we have the laughable spectacle of DeLay being indicted for a campaign finance tactic carried out gleefully by both sides. Texas law stipulates that corporate contributions to candidates are illegal. No problem, say both parties. They simply channel the money to the national parties who then churn the money back to candidates for state office through “local party building” efforts that allow the national party organs to donate money for that purpose.

Simple, elegant, legal…and unethical. Here’s a tally of what the Democrats have done with the law recently:

In fact, on October 31, 2002, the Texas Democratic Party sent the Democratic National Committee (DNC) $75,000, and on the same day, the DNC sent the Texas Democratic Party $75,000. On July 19, 2001, the Texas Democratic Party sent the DNC $50,000 and, again on the same day, the DNC sent the Texas Democratic Party $60,000. On June 8, 2001, the Texas Democratic Party sent the DNC $50,000. That very same day, the DNC sent the Texas Democratic Party $60,000.

(HT: Captains Quarters)

As the Captain points out in his article, DA Earle has a problem separating his duties as a prosecutor representing the people and a partisan representing the interests of his party. This is not unusual in Texas as I’m positive you can find similar examples of Republican DA’s in Texas acting in a manner not in keeping with the ethical requirements of their office. It is the nature of the system. And that system lives and breathes money. Doing the Texas Two-Step with the campaign finance laws is a dance done by both political parties. To pretend otherwise is hypocritical. And having DeLay indicted for violating campaign finance laws in Texas is like indicting a politician for kissing babies; it may be true but given the nature of the beast and the fact that everyone does it, how can you do it in good conscience?

The funniest observer of Texas politics, Molly Ivins, has said “Good thing we’ve still got politics in Texas — finest form of free entertainment ever invented…. ” The Loony Toons moment of indicting Tom DeLay will probably be good for a few laughs but I suspect Ronnie Earle will share the fate of Elmer Fudd and other Bugs Bunny nemeses and will end up in the stew pot himself instead of the “wascally wabbit.”

UPDATE

Michelle Malkin has an outstanding round-up of both blogger and media reaction to the indictment. Press react this morning has been predictable with a New York Times editorial calling for DeLay’s permanent removal from his leadership position and having a disguised editorial on the front page gleefully listing what they consider to be Republican baggage going into the midterms next year.

Also, the Captain weighs in with WaPo’s surprising skepticism regarding the indictment.

The late, great ABC newsman Frank Reynolds was angry.

The date was March 30, 1981 and President Ronald Reagan victim of an assassination attempt, was at that moment being operated on to remove a bullet in his chest. Three other people had been wounded in the hail of shots from John Hinckley’s gun including White House Press Secretary James Brady.

Reynolds, an old-school newsman had been his usual calm, unflappable self despite the chaos in the newsroom around him. He had two producers talking to him in his ear piece as well as several reporters updating him every few minutes. But anchoring a live newscast had its own set of problems, not the least of which was that rumors were swirling about any number of things. Unconfirmed reports had Reagan slightly injured. Others had him at death’s door. Still other rumors dwelt with the condition of James Brady who was struck in the head by one of Hinckley’s bullets. One of Reynold’s producers reporting from George Washington University Hospital said that he had just talked to a doctor who confirmed that James Brady was dead.

Of course, James Brady was not dead, although he was in critical condition. According to his account, even after being told that Brady was gone, Reynold’s hesitated. Some reporter’s instinct told him in his gut that the information just wasn’t solid enough. Despite his misgivings, Reynolds went ahead and announced it with appropriate solemnity.

Within minutes, the ABC reporter on the scene at the hospital was frantically telling Reynolds that Brady was still alive. Reynold’s, angry and embarrassed, lost his composure on air for a moment and said “Let’s nail it down, let’s get it right.”

Critics rightly took ABC and Reynolds to task for reporting what turned out to be a rumor. In those days, it was considered bad journalism to pass along speculation and gossip. These days, as Dan Rather put it, sensationalizing the news by reporting wild rumors and unconfirmed, unsubstantiated, 2nd hand accounts of events, the press is “speaking truth to power.”

Rather isn’t the only media apologist who is excusing the MSM’s shockingly bad performance during coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Matthew Felling of the Center for Media and Public Affairs is pleading for understanding because of “conditions:”

Media analysts noted that conditions in New Orleans were chaotic and that reporters relied on fragmentary accounts, collected from often unverifiable sources.

“The fog of war and the gusts of a hurricane both cloud and obscure vital truths,” said Matthew Felling of the Center for Media and Public Affairs.

“What we’re seeing here is no different than the reports of museum looting right after U.S. troops entered Baghdad. It’s not that different from election night 2000 when some journalists prematurely declared a winner. In all three cases, the public would have been served by a bit more patience and less feigned certainty.”

Note that Mr. Felling excuses the numerous factual errors and rumormongering by reporters as he pleads that journalism is too difficult to get right when things are confusing and besides, it’s happened before so it’s okay.

Contrast this attitude with the attitude of Mr. Reynolds following his faux paux and you get a perfect summary of what is wrong with journalism. News today is about “the story” not “the truth.” Part of the story of Katrina was the chaotic and violent conditions at the Superdome and Convention Center. Any information that contributed to that storyline was run without first being filtered through any kind of fact checking or confirmation process. Television producers and executives today want “flow” to the news, as if events unfold in a nice, tidy sequence. The broadcast should “march” at a swift pace. This contributes to the “drama” of the news. In short, the more entertaining we can make the news, the more viewers we will attract.

What happens to the truth in all this show-biz is predictable. When a bystander comes up to a reporter and tells a story of a 7 year old girl being raped and murdered in the bathroom of the Convention Center, since it fits into the storyline of the narrative, it is passed along and becomes part of “the first draft of history.” Except this draft is of a TV drama script, not a history book.

But other accusations that have gained wide currency are more demonstrably false. For instance, no one found the body of a girl - whose age was estimated at anywhere from 7 to 13 - who, according to multiple reports, was raped and killed with a knife to the throat at the Convention Center.

Many evacuees at the Convention Center the morning of Sept. 3 treated the story as gospel, and ticked off further atrocities: a baby trampled to death, multiple child rapes.

Salvatore Hall, standing on the corner of Julia Street and Convention Center Boulevard that day, just before the evacuation, said, “They raped and killed a 10-year-old in the bathroom.”

Neither he nor the many people around him who corroborated the killing had seen it themselves.

This widely reported story was a rumor. Part of the problem was the irresponsible behavior of Mayor Nagin and Police Chief Compass who continuously passed along rumors of the most spectacular atrocities including the rape of babies:

Compass told Winfrey on Sept. 6 that “some of the little babies (are) getting raped” in the Dome. Nagin backed it with his own tale of horrors: ”They have people standing out there, have been in that frickin’ Superdome for five days watching dead bodies, watching hooligans killing people, raping people.”

But both men have since pulled back to a degree.

“The information I had at the time, I thought it was credible,” Compass said, conceding his earlier statements were false. Asked for the source of the information, Compass said he didn’t remember.

Nagin was also the originator of the “10,000 dead” speculation, a figure that the Mayor still refuses to say who gave him.

These sins are more venal in nature in that when an authority figure like the Chief of Police or the Mayor says something - even if it’s off the wall - it must be reported as news. However, to take these accounts at face value without a hint of caution or skepticism and then fail to make any but the most cursory attempts at correcting the record later illustrates how far television news has fallen. During coverage of the Reagan assassination attempt, reporters, producers, and anchors were not overly concerned with the slow pace at which new information was coming in. The good journalists like John Chancellor and Frank Reynolds reminded the audience constantly that since this was a live news event - still something of a novelty in 1981 - that reporting on events was necessarily difficult. I distinctly remember Frank Reynolds ruefully pointing out that coverage of the event was not like a story on the nightly newscast; that the confusing and conflicting stories coming out of the the assassination attempt was an illustration of just how hard a job gathering the news was.

Unfortunately, the reporters on scene in New Orleans during coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina didn’t seem to have the same problem.