Gingery Oddity: The Newsroom- Maggie: On Michele Bachmann & Christianity

Source:Gingery Oddity-

Source:The New Democrat

What the Maggie character from The Newsroom didn’t mention and perhaps didn’t think of, is that perhaps Representative Michele Bachmann’s whose career in Congress will be over in just a few weeks, (counting the days, can’t wait) that perhaps Michele believes her own propaganda.

See, I’m not sure if the distinguished Representative from Minnesota is an escaped mental patient, someone who should be committed, but because she’s married to Markus Bachmann who perhaps should be committed as well, or is not smart enough to see that her dear wife needs professional help. Or is a complete idiot who believes her own, lets say propaganda about, “God wants me to run for President”.

You know not all politician’s are liars. Which is as difficult to believe that it never snows in Minnesota, or the New York Yankees aren’t from New York, or there isn’t a lot of oil in Texas. But there are politician’s that are simply flat nuts or complete morons, or perhaps in Michele Bachmann’s case a case of both. And yes there are politician’s that lie, well their mouths off, who the only way to know what they think and know about anything, at least important is to always have them on truth serum. I’m just throwing it out there that there are politician’s who are nutty or dumb enough to actually believe their own words and aren’t always lying.
Source:Gingery Oddity

Real Time With Bill Maher: 'Most Americans Are Dumb & Uneducated'

Source:The New Democrat

I wonder if Bill Maher includes himself in the group "most Americans are dumb and uneducated". I also wonder where he got those polls and numbers he was apparently quoting. Assuming what he does is a real job, he wouldn't have the time go do those polls himself, or do all the research. Bill Maher again leaves me with a piece where I'm sort of with him, but not completely there. Are there stupid Americans, you might as well ask if their lakes in Minnesota, snow in Alaska, or water in Michigan. That is not a real question or debate. And to be completely truthful, I don't believe "are most Americans stupid a real question and debate either".

If most Americans were stupid, the country wouldn't be nearly as developed as it is and far along and powerful across the board as it is. Why, because a country run by idiots and not just in the public sector and private sector couldn't create that. Why, because they are idiots and what are idiots good for, well why are they called idiots, because they are experts on idiocy. I know Bill Maher is a comedian, at least technically so what he says should be taken with at least jar of salt every time he even tries to sound serious, but he's simply wrong about that.

Now here is where I agree with Maher. And again no debate, too many stupid Americans, but why is that, one our education system, public for the most part isn't as good as it needs to be for a country this size. Too many Americans either not finishing high school and even if they do not getting out of high school what they should've gotten that taxpayers paid for and as a result having to take high school courses in the junior college that would take them  so they can finish their high school education and be ready for junior college.

But it is not just education, but it is also about values. And no I'm not a Religious Conservative, but things that people need to do well in America, aren't valued as highly as what is considered hot or awesome at the time by too many young Americans. Which is how you get such a high percentage of Americans who couldn't tell who their U.S. Representative is, even if it meant winning the latest smart phone with a year of free service. Why because they are too busy playing video games, watching so-called reality TV, what was the latest bar their favorite celebrity got kicked out of. Or what Kim Kardashian had for lunch in Beverly Hills on Saturday and what shoes she wore with her purse.

A lot of young Americans are more interested in these celebrity culture and technology stories, than they are in current affairs and politics. And forget about American history or the U.S. Constitution, "because that is like so yesterday and not awesome". Actually for a lot of Millennial's, what happened last year, "is like so ancient history". American history and current affairs is being replaced by valley culture and valley pop. At least in the short-term, hopefully at some point they'll grow up and become more serious and respectful of things and people that came before them. But right now they are making America look stupid.
Source:Murat Shawn

The Late Show With David Letterman: Jon Stewart on Things

Source:CBS- Late Night With David Letterman & Jon Stewart.

Source:The New Democrat

As far as kids, glad I don't have any! And so far I've done a hell of a job up achieving one of my goals in life which was not to have kids. I'm not even crazy about being an uncle, as my two nieces and nephew may tell you. Not saying that having kids is not important and that kids don't have a place in the world. Last time I checked, people don't start off as adults in life. I'm a perfect example of that and some may say I haven't finished childhood yet. I'll say one thing nice about kids. I'm glad my parents decided to have them and more importantly at least to me, I'm glad they had me.

As far as Halloween, I'm glad that's over for me. I mean it was useful to me as a kid, because it meant about a week or a few days of free candy. Depending on how successful I was at tricker treating and not scaring the hell out of people who may give me candy. Like dressing up as Charlie Manson, Ted Bundy, Saddam Hussein. But one thing I discovered as an adult with a job, that if I want candy, I don't have to ask my parents. I can just go buy it, like I did on Friday and besides candy is not that important to me anyway. A couple of things you learn as an adult.

As far as freedom in Egypt and the Middle East, or Arabia. This may sound harsh, but are they ready for freedom, I mean what would happen if all the sudden they had it, would they know what to do with it? I think freedom to people in that part of the world they where they grew up and living as adults in such an authoritarian statist environment, where you are told what to do by your own damn government all the time, you come to expect that. It is a reason why these countries are called police states. Because it essentially like living in prison where you don't have to make decisions for yourself.

I think learning to live freely for people who've only known an authoritarian system, would be like trying to learn how to drive without an instructor right after you learn how to, well drive for lack of a better word big wheels. I think their would be a real learning curve there. And if you free the people there, then you are also freeing authoritarian radicals who want to tear down the current police state to establish their own. Not saying that freedom couldn't work in a large like Egypt to use as an example, but there would have to be smart people there who have to know how to establish it. And an overwhelming majority of the country that actually wants it.
Source:CBS

ABC Sports: NFL 1978-MNF-Baltimore Colts @ New England Patriots: Joe Washington Highlights

Source:The New Democrat

I'm posting this because as a Redskins fan who is not quite old enough to have a very good memory of the Baltimore Colts before escaped to Indianapolis in 1984, I remember Joe Washington with the Redskins in the early and mid-1980s. He was what the NFL calls now and perhaps then a hybrid on offense. Someone between a wide receiver and running back. Someone you could run out of the backfield in a traditional set, but run draws, catch screens and swing passes out of the backfield. But you also line him up in the slot position as a possession receiver, or even big play receiver.

Hybrid offensive players tend to not be big for running backs and not tall for receivers. They tend to be about 5'9-5'11 around 190-200 pounds or smaller than that. Strong enough to run the ball out of the backfield and catch the ball as a wideout and get open. But not quite big enough you want that player to be doing full-time, at least as your go to runner or receiver. The guy who really reminds me of Joe would be Eric Metcalf who played for the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons in the 1990s. And played both halfback and wide receiver, as well as return kicks and punts.

The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson: Steve Martin Interviewing Richard Pryor (1978)

Source:The New Democrat

Sounds to me Steve Martin was going dry trying to interview Richard Pryor on The Tonight Show. And what I mean by that for all of you who just speak English, is that Martin was struggling to think of stuff to ask Big Richard (ha ha) and was having to go off the top of his head. And apparently not having much upstairs to pick from to talk to Pryor about. With Pryor doing the best with what Martin would eventually find to talk to Pryor about. This interview to me is sort of like a blind date involving two people that basically have nothing in common. Perhaps their friends put them together as a practical joke.

Which is strange to me because Steve Martin is obviously not just a very funny man and great comedian, but a very bright guy. Otherwise he wouldn't of gotten the opportunity to fill in for the great Johnny Carson. But this interview to me looks like a couple of complete strangers being forced together and forced to talk to each other like their life depended on it. And they basically get down to "nice weather we're having. Yeah the weather tends to be nice around here in May. What's you favorite color? I had a cold recently, but it wasn't that bad".

But being the two great professionals that they were despite Steve Martin's lack of preparation and homework, (ha ha) I think they did pretty well together, despite the lack of and material and topics they had to work with. Because of Steve Martin not knowing what he was doing in that big chair and perhaps not understanding what the job of the comedic interviewer was. Perhaps The Tonight Show Staff didn't give him the memo, or Steve's dog ate his homework.

Real Time With Bill Maher: Tells American Socialists to Come Out of the Closet

Sourcre:Real Time With Bill Maher- telling American Socialists that it's time to come out of the closet already.

Source:The New Democrat 

"Bill Maher Demystifies Socialism & Compares the American Model with the European Model. America gets stuck with bank bailouts and imperialist wars; Western Europe gets public transportation, low school tuition, and universal healthcare." 

From Real Time With Bill Maher

Forget about me saying at risk of slapping myself on the back, because I'm just going to slap myself on the back so much, you would think I was being whipped with a belt by a gay lover. Because I've made at least part of the point over and over of what Bill Maher is saying here. 

We not only still have closet gays in America, but we have closet Socialists as well. We have Americans who say: "I hate socialism! Oh by the way, you even think about touching my damn Medicare, I'll kill you!" And that is the nice version. But who do you think runs Medicare, Jesus Christ? Medicare is a socialist, centralized, federal government-run program that is financed through taxes that we the people pay.

But there's even more, because we also have Americans who say they aren't Socialists. They just speak highly of socialism and defend socialism, as if their lives or Unemployment Insurance depended on it. Sort of like the Christian fundamentalist preacher who says he hates homosexuality and that it is a sin, while at the same time he's having affairs with men that his wife and ten kids don't know about of course. But the difference being the closet Socialist on the Left, doesn't have the balls to admit they are a Socialist. The person on the Right doesn't support socialism broadly. So I'll cut them some slack.

But the closet Socialist on the Left is a Socialist, perhaps knows they are a Socialist and just doesn't want to admit it. Because admitting to being a Socialist in America or admiring it, is liking a man admitting he likes boys, or admitting to being a rapist or something. 

It is not socialism that Americans hate, but the word itself because it gets linked to communism and other leftist authoritarian ideologies. It is not that we don't have Socialists or gay lovers of gay socialism in America. It is that we have Socialists who don't have the balls to admit to what they are. And Americans who do not understand what socialism actually and look down at and people who actually admit they are Socialists.

Whether you want to call the lets say hard core Left in America especially in the Democratic Party McGovernites (which is how they were labeled in the 1970s and 80s) or the so-called Progressive Caucus (closeted Socialists, in actuality) in the 1990s and even today, or the modern label Occupy Wall Street, these are the stuck in the closet with the door bolted down that an Army tank couldn't knock the closet door down Socialists in America. 

Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, actually has the balls to admit he's a Socialist and damn proud of it. (Perhaps he plays a lot of basketball) But a lot of his followers don't and go by Progressive, or what makes me want to try to ram a brick wall down with a head, I hate saying this, but they some call themselves Liberals.

Frank Russo: Captain- The Thurman Munson Story: Mr. New York Yankee of The 1970s

Source:Frank Russo- From the Thurman Munson documentary, Captain.

"New York Yankees-produced video biography of the Yankee catcher who was American League rookie of the year in 1970, Most Valuable Player in 1976, and a seven-time all-star before his death in a private airplane crash."

From Frank Russo

I'm not an expert on Thurman Munson, he died in 1979 and I didn't start watching baseball until 1983 but what I've heard about Thurman Munson, is that there's not nearly enough information or reporting about him one of the most underrated and under appreciated baseball players of all time. We are talking about one of the best all around catchers of the 1970s, right there with Carlton Fisk and Johnny Bench. Same skills as both players but ran better and could hit for a better average.

This was a catcher who was a 300 hitter and back then that almost never happened. Besides I'm a Baltimore Orioles fan and the New York Yankees are our arch rivals and Orioles fans hate the Yankees and we had a very good rivalry with each other in the 1970s and 80s and the Yankees cost the Orioles a three division titles in the mid and late 1970s, 76-78. But again what I've heard and know about Munson, is a great all around catcher who was headed to the Hall of Fame.

And even though he only played eleven seasons 1969-79, again since he was one of the best all around catchers of an entire decade that alone should be enough to give Thurman Munson consideration for the Hall of Fame. Anytime you're one of the best players at your positions and one of the best players in the game for an entire decade, that alone should give you strong consideration to be in the Hall of Fame. But that's not up to me but it took a plane crash in the Summer of 1979 to keep Thurman Munson out of the Hall of Fame because he's a player that played in pain constantly, similar to Mickey Mantle another great Yankee and who was headed to the Hall of Fame.

If you want to know if Thurman Munson was a great baseball player or not, you need to know what makes a great baseball player. To me that's someone with no glaring weakness' and at least with a few glaring strengths and you show these skills consistently for a solid period of time, 5-7 or ten years to me for a catcher to be a great catcher, you can't just be a guy that calls a great game, defends his position well and throws the ball well, Rick Dempsey of the Orioles did all of those things very well.

And for about ten years about as well as they could be done. But Rick Dempsey was basically a 230 hitter with very little if any power and not much of a run producer his entire career. But he was a good clutch hitter in the playoffs but that alone even with being a great defensive catcher, doesn't get you in the Hall of Fame. The reason why Thurman Munson was a great catcher because he did everything that Rick Dempsey could do if not better.

But Thurman was also a 300 Hitter who drove in runs. Who also had solid power but not great power but definite threat to go deep. In the American League the two best catchers in the 1970s were Carlton Fisk and Thurman Munson and you could go either way and for that decade I would lean towards Munson, because he played through injuries without losing production. Fisk missed a lot of time because of injuries. When I think of the term captain as it relates to sports, I think of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers who his teammates called Cap.

But captain also fits Thurman Munson of the New York Yankees who was not only the captain of his teams but the leader the quarterback, the on field coach of that team that his teammates knew they better do their jobs or the Captain was going to get on them. Who always did whatever he could to make sure his players were in the best position that they could be so they could play as well for the Yankees as possible. Thurman Munson was the Captain of the New York Yankees. 

You can also see this post at The New Democrat, on WordPress.