Showing posts with label Tea Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tea Party. Show all posts
Happy Monday!
Sadly, I have to open this with some disheartening news, as I learned yesterday that a deadly car accident in Ballard claimed the lives of three recent BHS grads early this morning. A fourth passenger is fighting for her life at Harborview. I am still trying to find out who was in the car, but reports are they are in their early 20's, meaning it is likely I knew them. Scary and sad.
UPDATE: The Seattle Times has an updated story today. All members of the BHS Class of '08.
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On a far happier note, I was able to watch Connecticut take on Baylor in the women's Final Four last night, in what was supposed to be a test for the Huskies. It was. Baylor crawled to within three in the second half. But let's get real here. UConn won by 20. They have won their Elite 8 and Final Four games by a combing 60 points. This is a team that hasn't allowed more than 50 points in the entire tournament. They will play Stanford, a team already a 12-point victim earlier this season, a Tuesday's national championship game.
What will I be doing on Tuesday? Watching the game of course, but only after coming down from a double dose of Monday excitement, which will include the Mariners' Opening Day, as well the men's title game. Fittingly, the Red Sox and Yankees kicked of 2010 last night with a thriller at Fenway.
[More]
Sadly, I have to open this with some disheartening news, as I learned yesterday that a deadly car accident in Ballard claimed the lives of three recent BHS grads early this morning. A fourth passenger is fighting for her life at Harborview. I am still trying to find out who was in the car, but reports are they are in their early 20's, meaning it is likely I knew them. Scary and sad.
UPDATE: The Seattle Times has an updated story today. All members of the BHS Class of '08.
--
On a far happier note, I was able to watch Connecticut take on Baylor in the women's Final Four last night, in what was supposed to be a test for the Huskies. It was. Baylor crawled to within three in the second half. But let's get real here. UConn won by 20. They have won their Elite 8 and Final Four games by a combing 60 points. This is a team that hasn't allowed more than 50 points in the entire tournament. They will play Stanford, a team already a 12-point victim earlier this season, a Tuesday's national championship game.
What will I be doing on Tuesday? Watching the game of course, but only after coming down from a double dose of Monday excitement, which will include the Mariners' Opening Day, as well the men's title game. Fittingly, the Red Sox and Yankees kicked of 2010 last night with a thriller at Fenway.
The visit, however, capped off a huge week for the president as he takes advantage of renewed momentum, while at the same time making his first visit to a place that is drawing more U.S. attention than anywhere else.
In a move many have been waiting month for, President Obama announced 15 "recess appointments" over the weekend. For those who don't know, this is an executive appointment made while the Senate is not in session, meaning there is no confirmation. Eventually there will be, but this way these people can actually get to work instead of constantly being blocked by Senate Republicans.
One of the key appointments, Craig Becker, who was actually already rejected by the Senate once, was again appointed to the National Labor Relations Board. Just last week, Chief Justice John Roberts, in hearing a case involving the NLRB, said these nominees needed to be appointed during the recess. Right now, only two of the five positions on the NLRB are filled.
The president has more than 200 pending nominations, with 77 awaiting floor action.
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- An interesting column that shouldn't be judged by its headline. It has a good wrap-up of the protesting of health care, along with analysis about who is protesting and why. The best point: how can you not call it racist when a black member who wasn't even close to a major player was spit on by a protesters and slurs were throw at both another black member and a gay one? You can't.
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- Which brings me to another thing that actually peaked anger in me, a Glenn Beck clip, where he takes a shot at Nancy Pelosi for the Democrats locking arms to, "compare themselves to Civil Rights activists. "How dare you," he said. Well, ignore Pelosi for a minute and look at who is standing next to her. That is Rep. John Lewis, the member who was called the "n" world by a protester.
Glenn, John Lewis sat at those lunch counters. At 23 years old he was the chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC - pronounced "snick"). He was a Freedom Rider beaten bloody in Montgomery. And he spoke in front of the same crowd that heard Martin Luther King, Jr. say that he had a dream.
John Lewis led that group Glenn, arm-in-arm with Pelosi. So how dare you, Glenn. That's a real American hero you're talking about.
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- And speaking of the Tea Party, one of the questions I often find myself asking during Tea Party rallies is: "don't these people have jobs." That is a reaction to their middle-of-the-week, middle-of-the-day protesting. Well, the short answer is no. Many of them actually rely on government assistance - a head-scratching irony. The real question, however, is what happens when the economy picks up and these people get jobs. Are they no longer such a force?
This also reminds me of something that frustrated me while watching Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio debate today. Some said Rubio was impressive. Maybe. But I noticed that when the question of the health care bill arose, their answers were different. Obviously, they both called for its repeal. Rubio said, "we can't afford it." Crist said, "we can do better and here is how we already are in Florida."
While I disagree with the "repeal" part, Crist seems like the one actually prepared to govern. I am so sick of the "we can't afford argument." Fine, you think we can't afford. So give me a better idea, because I know you think something needs to be done. But all I hear is, "we can't afford it." Well, watch us.
Note: Rubio is up 11 in a recent poll for that seat.
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Chinese company to buy Volvo from Ford Motor Company.
It appears Iran will begin work on two new nuclear sites, both in the mountains, a clear defiance of the United Nations.
Finally, an interesting tradition from the White House. Love these little anecdotes, though.
Let's have a great week!
It was 2006 when an underrated superstar named Brandon Roy, a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle, led his basketball team into a Sweet 16 matchup with Connecticut. The game took place in Washington, D.C., my current town of residence, just up the street from my office at the Verizon Center.
In the midst of one of the best games the Huskies would play in years, against a UConn team just two years removed from a national championship, something painfully unforgettable happened. It seemed so innocent when Rudy Gay cut across the key, trailed by Roy. The two had be chipping away at each other the entire game and as Gay exited the key, the whistle blew, a foul on Roy, his third.
As the official went to the scorers table to report the "foul", the two players turned toward each other and came face-to-face. Another official separated them and as they began to back away from each other, the whistle blew again, this time from the other side of the floor. It was the same official, some 25-feet away, dealing out a double-technical on both players.
It devastated Washington. Roy picked up his third and fourth fouls on one play, early in the second half. The Huskies played remarkably with him on the bench and had a chance to win, but that game, a Sweet 16 game, was irrevocably turned by an overzealous official long before the game-tying three and bonehead foul.
I understand why Lorenzo Romar says it will haunt him. These Sweet 16 matchups against UConn have that effect on Washington. Just ask Michael Johnson, the Ballard High School grad who watched Richard Hamilton stab the Huskies in the heart in 1998.
Point? Few teams have the Sweet 16 demons the Huskies do. It has been 57 years since Washington advanced past the Sweet 16 and back then there were less rounds. Twice in their history the Huskies have faced devastating last-second losses to Big East teams.
Tonight, they play another program from the Goliath conference, West Virginia.
I will not make a pick or anything of the like. I'm not even going to preview the game. These are different players, a different time, but they know. They played with Jon Brockman, a member of that 2006 team. Donald Watts, from the '98 team, is still around the program and Todd McCullough has made appearances as well. History hangs over the head of this program tonight.
It is against a Big East team on a Big East court on the heart of Big East country: New York state. The crowd could actually be decidedly pro-Husky, since it is hard to imagine Cornell fans, who are traveling in droves from 60 miles away to see their Ivy League team play Kentucky, rooting for WVU. Opportunities to validate a program and exercise demons don't get bigger than this.
What: Washington vs. West Virginia, NCAA Sweet 16
Where: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
When: 7:27 pm E.T.
Follow GoHuskies.com during the day for more.
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Other notes:
- Health care isn't quite over yet and it appears headed back to the House for one more vote. Last night, as Senate Republicans did everything they could to block the legislation, offering amendments until 3:45 am, an small issue was discovered that needed to be changed. It was in part of the student loan reform, requiring the deletion of 16 insignificant lines. Simple fix and another vote.
During the daytime yesterday, Republicans attempted to shut down government yesterday, using another minority ploy that forces a unanimous consent motion to continue any business past the two hours after the Senate is gaveled into session. They objected, forcing the ending of several hearings and halting business for the day. The ploy led Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown to call them "children".
Also, I actually watched the mind-numbing proceedings for a couple of hours, something us wonk types do out here. I actually find it refreshing to watch floor proceedings, if only because it paints members in a different light when they are interacting with each other. Sometime around 9:30 last night, Montana Democrat Max Baucus poked fun at Kansas Republican Pat Roberts, sarcastically asking how Kansas and Kansas State were doing in the NCAA Tournament. These two would never be mistaken for political friends, ever. No only that, but in poking fun, Baucus was wrong. While Kansas has been eliminated, KSU is still very much alive.
So, the next time Baucus was up to speak, Roberts asked if he would yield for a moment. Surprised, Baucus said sure and Roberts stood up to say: "Senator, I am sorry Montana was eliminated in the first round." Laughter ensued and, for just a moment, the mood in the room was lightened. Trust me, that only lasted a minute. But, in the same spirit of my post about Ernie Kent yesterday, it is nice to remember these people are human.
The Senate reconvenes at 9:45 am this morning, with a final vote expected by 2 pm.
- Don't Ask, Don't Tell was in the news again yesterday, as Sec. of Defense Robert Gates has promised a more "humane" treatment of gays in the military regardless of congressional inaction.
- Health care is a social justice issue.
- Finally, this might be the best poll ever. These "tea party" groups, well, they look a whole like the Republican party. Of the members of tea parties, 74 percent are Republicans and a whopping 88 percent are white.
All for now. Go Huskies!
[More]
In the midst of one of the best games the Huskies would play in years, against a UConn team just two years removed from a national championship, something painfully unforgettable happened. It seemed so innocent when Rudy Gay cut across the key, trailed by Roy. The two had be chipping away at each other the entire game and as Gay exited the key, the whistle blew, a foul on Roy, his third.
As the official went to the scorers table to report the "foul", the two players turned toward each other and came face-to-face. Another official separated them and as they began to back away from each other, the whistle blew again, this time from the other side of the floor. It was the same official, some 25-feet away, dealing out a double-technical on both players.
It devastated Washington. Roy picked up his third and fourth fouls on one play, early in the second half. The Huskies played remarkably with him on the bench and had a chance to win, but that game, a Sweet 16 game, was irrevocably turned by an overzealous official long before the game-tying three and bonehead foul.
I understand why Lorenzo Romar says it will haunt him. These Sweet 16 matchups against UConn have that effect on Washington. Just ask Michael Johnson, the Ballard High School grad who watched Richard Hamilton stab the Huskies in the heart in 1998.
Point? Few teams have the Sweet 16 demons the Huskies do. It has been 57 years since Washington advanced past the Sweet 16 and back then there were less rounds. Twice in their history the Huskies have faced devastating last-second losses to Big East teams.
Tonight, they play another program from the Goliath conference, West Virginia.
I will not make a pick or anything of the like. I'm not even going to preview the game. These are different players, a different time, but they know. They played with Jon Brockman, a member of that 2006 team. Donald Watts, from the '98 team, is still around the program and Todd McCullough has made appearances as well. History hangs over the head of this program tonight.
It is against a Big East team on a Big East court on the heart of Big East country: New York state. The crowd could actually be decidedly pro-Husky, since it is hard to imagine Cornell fans, who are traveling in droves from 60 miles away to see their Ivy League team play Kentucky, rooting for WVU. Opportunities to validate a program and exercise demons don't get bigger than this.
What: Washington vs. West Virginia, NCAA Sweet 16
Where: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
When: 7:27 pm E.T.
Follow GoHuskies.com during the day for more.
--
Other notes:
- Health care isn't quite over yet and it appears headed back to the House for one more vote. Last night, as Senate Republicans did everything they could to block the legislation, offering amendments until 3:45 am, an small issue was discovered that needed to be changed. It was in part of the student loan reform, requiring the deletion of 16 insignificant lines. Simple fix and another vote.
During the daytime yesterday, Republicans attempted to shut down government yesterday, using another minority ploy that forces a unanimous consent motion to continue any business past the two hours after the Senate is gaveled into session. They objected, forcing the ending of several hearings and halting business for the day. The ploy led Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown to call them "children".
Also, I actually watched the mind-numbing proceedings for a couple of hours, something us wonk types do out here. I actually find it refreshing to watch floor proceedings, if only because it paints members in a different light when they are interacting with each other. Sometime around 9:30 last night, Montana Democrat Max Baucus poked fun at Kansas Republican Pat Roberts, sarcastically asking how Kansas and Kansas State were doing in the NCAA Tournament. These two would never be mistaken for political friends, ever. No only that, but in poking fun, Baucus was wrong. While Kansas has been eliminated, KSU is still very much alive.
So, the next time Baucus was up to speak, Roberts asked if he would yield for a moment. Surprised, Baucus said sure and Roberts stood up to say: "Senator, I am sorry Montana was eliminated in the first round." Laughter ensued and, for just a moment, the mood in the room was lightened. Trust me, that only lasted a minute. But, in the same spirit of my post about Ernie Kent yesterday, it is nice to remember these people are human.
The Senate reconvenes at 9:45 am this morning, with a final vote expected by 2 pm.
- Don't Ask, Don't Tell was in the news again yesterday, as Sec. of Defense Robert Gates has promised a more "humane" treatment of gays in the military regardless of congressional inaction.
- Health care is a social justice issue.
- Finally, this might be the best poll ever. These "tea party" groups, well, they look a whole like the Republican party. Of the members of tea parties, 74 percent are Republicans and a whopping 88 percent are white.
All for now. Go Huskies!