Fox News Forum Writer Tries To Outfox Common Sense

Fox News has long been a journalistic (I use that term loosely) safe house for Republican and conservative news and views. But, I was a little curious when I saw an article written by John R. Lott Jr. that was titled, “Obama’s Senate Games.” Many of you may know that some Republicans have been upset with New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg (a Republican) who supposedly is being considered for the Commerce Secretary position in the administration of President Barack Obama (who, obviously, is a Democrat). Naturally, Republicans feel this is strictly being done by the Democrats to help them reach a filibuster-proof majorityin the United States Senate. This may or may not be true and I don’t have much of a problem with Republicans speculating about the motive of President Obama supposedly offering the seat to Gregg (even if that is the motivation). Hey, we need to keep it real … politics is a grown-folks business.

Here is the chunk of the article that made me shake my head:

Yet, as Politico’s Ben Smith noted on Saturday:

“The White House, I’m told, is still trying to get a guarantee from Governor Lynch that he’ll replace Senator Gregg with a Democrat.”

Smith’s statement was a single sentence and no other implications have been drawn from it. But a report in The Wall Street Journal’s Political Diary today seems to confirm this claim.

Obama is misappropriating a government position, putting someone into his cabinet who he doesn’t believe is the best person for the job.

The Politico information indicates that Obama clearly does not view Senator Gregg as the best person to head the Commerce Department. Rather, it makes explicit that Obama was offering the Commerce job solely to buy a Senate seat for the Democrats.

The question here is: Do you believe Ben Smith? Who is telling Smith this information? Sounds like a whole lot of speculation without a whole lot of proof of anything. The article gets worse before it gets better (if it ever gets better). The writer (Lott) then accuses President Obama of putting someone in who he does not think is the best person for the job (essentially to get a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate). Then, the writer goes on to bring up the name of Rod Blagojevich (you knew that was coming at some point in the article). Lott then passes the buck to Politico and uses Politico to advance his partisan interpretation and shield himself and his purpose for writing the article: to smear President Obama and Democrats in general.

Fox News:
http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/02/02/lott_gregg_obama/

With Michael Steele, Are Republicans Playing The So-Called “Race Card”

As much as I think the term “race card” is just a made-up thing, I do wonder if Republicans are trying to play it with the recent election of Michael Steele, a black man, as Republican National Committee chairman. Most people of color do not think of the Republican Party as being very inclusive and it is highly doubtful even Michael Steele will be able to change that much. Perhaps the Republicans have been caught up in the wave of momentum created by the election of President Barack Obama, who is the first black man elected president of the United States of America. If that is the hope of the Republicans, I believe they are destined to feel a painful reality … one that perhaps even Michael Steele can’t see coming.

Michigan Basketball Player Manny Harris Screwed By Refs

Michigan basketball player Manny Harris was tossed from the Wolverines’ recent game at Purdue. He was trying to clear some position for himself, got his elbows up and struck Purdue player Chris Kramer in the nose. Harris, justifiably, was assessed a foul. Elbows are dangerous and those kinds of fouls need to be called by the officials. But, tossing Harris from the game was going overboard by an officiating crew led by Jim Burr. The crew IMO improperly tossed Harris from the game for an elbowing foul that was not done with malice, but rather to clear some position from a defender closely guarding him. It’s the kind of move offensive players make in every game at almost every level of competition. The officials overreacted to Kramer’s dramatic foul after being struck (and perhaps being motivated/intimidated by the angry crowd). Even Purdue coach Matt Painter and Kramer admitted (in different articles) that neither thought it was an intentional act to injure. The officials were right to call a foul, but simply overreacted with the ejection.

Ann Arbor News:
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/basketball/index.ssf/2009/01/elbows_fly_again_as_michigans.html

Pistons Are Third-Best In The East … At Best

It has become painfully clear to me that the Detroit Pistons are in rebuilding mode for the future. This year, the Pistons are not on par with the top teams in the Eastern Conference. In recent matches against Boston and Cleveland (the two best teams in the East) the Pistons have not looked like a team playing at that level (the level necessary to say with a straight face that you’re competing for some kind of a NBA championship … or, for that matter, even an Eastern Conference championship). The Pistons do not dominate teams with defense like they did when they won the championship in 2004, they don’t have a consistent low-post threat, they have not found a way to integrate Allen Iverson effectively into their offense, Michael Curry is a bit green as a head coach and this team appears to know it is not on par with the elite teams in the league. The Pistons are building for the future.