So long 2008!

Let’s get this out of the way: Those who believe they can, definitively, speak to how 2008 (or any year) will be thought of in 50 years is a self-righteous fool. Harry S. Truman (and to an extent John F. Kennedy) proves otherwise.
Time has a way of clarifying history’s true judgments. Right now, 2008 seems like the year of Barack Obama. History may very well judge that assessment accurate, but it could just as easily be an ironic, negative assessment. Or perhaps the global economic implosion will, ultimately, come to define 2008 and an entire generation. We simply cannot know.
With that said, these reflections are given w/o the benefit of time and are quite likely to be seen as utterly foolish in years to come.
We begin with the trivial: Sports.

January once again gave the Ohio State Buckeyes a thumping, with LSU reaping the benefits. That game annoyed me far more than the year before (with Florida). Why? Stunningly, Jim Tressel seemed to learn nothing from the year before, with an awful gameplan on both sides of the football. A loss to Texas in the upcoming Fiesta Bowl won’t help the cause.

After a big trade in Feb., involving Ben Wallace, Delonte West, and Wally Sczerbiak, the Cavaliers played eventual champs Boston tough, but not tough enough. Looking ahead, that’s OK. As of the afternoon of Dec. 23, the Cavaliers, now with Mo Williams, are 23-4 and, unlike last year’s “LeBron and some other guys” unit, this team CAN truly win an NBA Championship.

The Indians, meanwhile, had huge expectations. They went on to fall flat on their faces. Joe Borowski, and the bullpen as a whole, should be fingered in this, but c’mon, you had platoons all over the place (1B, C, OF). No championship org. should be pinning their hopes on platoons w/ mostly average players (Delucci, for one). And yet, given the Cleveland market and Larry Dolan, this is the reality for the franchise: An extreme dose of good luck (Kerry Wood staying healthy) and good fortune (Shin-Soo Choo playing well) is the only way we’ll ever win.

The year in racing deserves it’s own post, which I probably won’t get to ;), but it ends with the end of an era.

So, Barack Obama will be President in 20 days. I think the night of, and the day after, the Iowa Caucuses were when the awe and gravity of what would possibly happen really hit me. As an abstract, it sounded great. But then, the abstract became reality. Obama, and ALL of us, made it happen.
What kind of POTUS will he be? Again, who knows? I hope he surprises me with, for instance, how he handles the UAW in the next month. But I’m not holding my breath.
Nonetheless, despite the turmoil and difficulty, for me, 2008 was the year we reengaged: with ourselves, each other, and our country.

Happy New Year!

A long, maddening, weird, and... inspirational 2 years

Ends tonight.


Two years ago (25 months, really), I wrote THIS. I didn't really know what would happen if he did run. By my nature, I'm a pessimist, so I doubted his ability to truly pull this off. And yet...

Yet, here we are. Unless we are surprised tonight, Barack Obama is going to be the 44th President of the United States. Democrats will be the clear majority party in Washington and the country.

Know this, race shouldn't be a pro OR a con in determining a vote. If so inclined, you shouldn't support Obama just b/c he will indeed become our first black president (though, if you are African-American, I certainly get it).

Make no mistake, though, it IS important. 160 years ago, Barack Obama, had he lived in the South, would have been property. 50 years ago, the South (and some Northern enclaves) was segregated. Now, Barack Obama is likely to become the next President of these United States.

As to what kind of POTUS he'll be, no one ever knows for sure. I disagree with him fairly strongly on trade, though I suspect he'll be less protectionist in office. In truth, what the right never understood about Obama is his pragmatism and caution. I was attracted to his candidacy for two reasons: His respect for political ideas with which he disagrees and his un-radical approach. We've had enough radicalism the last eight years. How about a political detox?

I think Alex Massie best explains the Obama phenomenon. In short, the right moment met the right man. He makes no sense as a candidate in 2000, 2004, or perhaps even 2012. But he does in 2008.

For me, outside of that remarkable day in January when Obama won Iowa, the most important day of the campaign was March 18th in Philadelphia. Jeremiah Wright had exploded like a bomb onto the scene, threatening Obama's entire political future. Was he REALLY just a black radical himself who agreed with Wright? Even if not, how could he have gone to Trinity all those years? Would he permanently turn off white voters?

Then came "A More Perfect Union," a stunningly thoughtful, eloquent, and American speech on race. No other politician, of any color, could have truly given that address. Yes, he went on to lose Pennsylvania to Hillary Clinton (along with other parts Appalachia), but it was that day that he not only saved his campaign but also allowed us to have a thoughtful dialogue on race.

Barack Obama is no messiah, as I wrote before. He'll never live up to the enormous, utterly unrealistic expectations set for him. He will fail. All Presidents will. But will he be a failure? I doubt it, but you never know.

Some thoughts on conservatism in America. It is a true shame that the movement started by Goldwater and mainstreamed by Reagan has degenerated into Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber. By the end of the night, the Republican Party might be virtually reduced to a Southern-led rump. It needs to come back, and with some thought and work, it will.

For now, though, an era comes to an end.

Yes and No

Overall, I think I agree with Sullivan on the Keating strategy. I had hoped Keating would not get mentioned at all, and I think you could have let the increasingly bizarre McCain camp bury itself in bombthrowing.

On the other hand, if as Scheiber suggests (see Sully's links), the Keating connection is used, in part to discuss policy differences, like regulatory policy, I'm less troubled by it.

Not to mention, it's, you know, TRUE.

I'll Let Robin Miller Say What Needs to be Said...

...about Paul Newman.

R.I.P. PLN. You are missed.

Joe Biden!

Uhh, :sigh:. At the rate he's going, maybe Joe Biden will be sick of... Joe Biden!

And yet, STILL a much better pick than Palin.

What they said

Obama's Spanish-language ad... SUCKS and is "shitty." McCain may be many things*, but anti-Hispanic he ain't. Has he muddled his position? You bet. That SHOULD be pointed out.

But this is dumb and false, though, I suspect, not a huge buy.

*In unrelated news, McCain adds Spain to "Axis of Evil."

UPDATE (8:15 pm): See, THIS ad (based much more on facts) is more like it:



I go back-and-forth on it, though right now, I'm more inclined towards Obama's view, but it IS a legit ad.

Bad Obama, Good (very good) Obama

First, the bad. From Dave Weigel:

David Freddoso is the author of the lone decent anti-Obama book, The Case Against Barack Obama. (It's the Myth of a Maverick of anti-Barackology!) It was researched on the scene in Chicago. It doesn't traffic in birth certificate-style kookery.

So, naturally, the Obama campaign is siccing the bloodhounds on Freddoso.

A bit hyperbolic (along with the "brownshirt" meme on the right)? Yeah, but the fact is this is not necessary and beneath the Obama campaign. Freddoso is conservative, but not a TOTAL hack. I'm all for vigorously challenge his ideas, almost none of which I agree with, but he has a right to be heard and WGN has a right to air his ideas. Any implied threat is wrong.*

Oh, but the Good, the Good is excellent and very risky (ballsy). We all know the markets are, umm, having issues right now. Economic distress/anxiety is THE issue right now. So, in a surreal two-three weeks of Palinmania, e-mails** and bacon (well, where it comes from ;)), what does Obama do?

Pay for a TWO-MINUTE ad on the issue:



A two-minute ad on policy? Refreshing, no? Might it bore people? Perhaps, but this is what we need the campaign to be. In other words, file this under "One man is serious, the other is not."

*It should be noted that the Obama "Call to Action" included this: "Be honest, be civil." Not exactly brownshirt.

** I'm referring to the following, which I initially thought was OK, but is just dumb:



BTW: Sullivan on Freddoso.