Bullets

Enough of the Pittsburgh Steelers already!

Twenty years ago tonight I remember sitting in front of the television with my dad, watching the ten o’clock news on CBC. I’m pretty sure I was supposed to be in bed, but my parents were less strict about that sort of thing if something important was going on. And young as I was, I was aware enough of the world to know that I was witnessing much more than a group of people swinging sledge hammers at a graffiti-covered concrete wall. That night, 40 years of Communist control over the Eastern Bloc collapsed, a city was reunited, and the red-headed step child of the Cold War, the German Democratic Republic, ceased to exist. Of course, it didn’t happen overnight, and there were numerous factors that brought about the change, but the fact that it happened at all was a fulfillment of a dream many - if not most people at the time considered impossible. If you told anybody in the summer of 1989 that by October the following year, East and West Germany would be replaced on the map by a single, unified Germany, they would have laughed at you. Here’s to the fall of the Iron Curtain.

My condolences to the families of those all those affected by the tragedy that took place at Fort Hood, Texas a week ago. Last Thursday, Army psychologist Nidal Hasan allegedly walked into a readiness center on base and started shooting. By the time it was over, 13 people were dead and 31 injured. It’s bad enough that this sort of thing continues to happen in this country, only made worse by the fact that this time, it happened to the very people ready and willing to give their lives to protect us, by someone they thought was one of their own.

In an unusual twist of fate, the alleged Fort Hood shooter survived his rampage, and is currently recuperating under guard at an undisclosed hospital location. Typically these maniacs get to take the easy way out, either by taking their own lives or being cut down in an exchange of gunfire with police. But this time we’ll get to ask why, and maybe even get an answer, before final justice is dispensed. No, Hasan’s fate is not in doubt. This is Texas after all.

As soon as the name of the Fort Hood shooter was released, Muslim groups across the country scrambled to find a microphone to denounce Hasan’s actions, while some at another end of the political spectrum stumbled over themselves to suggest that perhaps all Muslim soldiers - if not all Muslims as a whole - should be viewed with suspicion and maybe even questioned as to their allegiances. I have a dream. I have a dream, that one day, minorities in America will not have to rush to a television camera to emphatically state the obvious, that the actions of one individual who happens to share some aspect of their faith or culture, do not represent the group as a whole. When a white man blew the side off a twelve story building in Oklahoma City, spokespersons for the “white community” did not have to waste airtime explaining that the actions of a single 27-year-old anti-government white man did not reflect the sentiments of the entire caucasian population. When Scott Roder allegedly assassinated Dr. George Tiller several months ago, cable news anchors were not calling for the detention and interrogation of all pro-life activists. When are we going to get to the point in this country when the actions of a single minority are accepted as just that, and not a reflection upon everyone else?

November 10, 2009 is scheduled to be the last day of John Allen Muhammad's life. Better known as the D.C. Sniper, Muhammad will be executed in Virginia on Tuesday for the murder of a local man during a seventeen day shooting spree in October of 2002. The details of this case have largely been forgotten in the years since, but at the time, this was the most terrifying thing to happen on U.S. soil since the attack on New York City. Maryland and Virginia were absolutely paralyzed with fear for more than two weeks, as people were simply murdered at random by a phantom marksman, while the police and the FBI seemed powerless to stop the bloodshed. People were ducking behind their cars as they pumped gas, zig zagging on their way into stores, sneaking their kids into school through back doors in an attempt to avoid being shot. Where the anthrax letters failed, Muhammad succeeded in holding the entire country hostage to the will of a pathetic vindictive man, angry at his ex-wife and intent on killing her when he got through with his rampage. I don’t believe in the death penalty, but I won’t be sorry to see this man go.

In the aftermath of Republican victories in New Jersey and Virginia last week that apparently heralded the end of the Obama presidency, RNC chairman Michael Steele decided that Conservatism - and by extension the Republican Party - is now such a juggernaut that they no longer need so-called “moderates” under the tent. When asked about the loss of the NY-23 Congressional District to a Democrat for the first time since the Grant Presidency, Steele dismissed it as being about local issues, (although I guess none of the other races were), then launched into a pseudo-tirade in which he threatened to “come after” any moderate Republican politician that so much as entertained the thought of working with the President or Congressional Democrats for the good of the country. Nice work Mike. Way to grow the party. Way to make people feel welcome. I can’t tell you how comforted I am to know that Michael Steele is running the GOP.

Oh, by the way, the House voted to pass its version of healthcare reform on Saturday by a margin of three votes. Three votes. In the Senate, a three vote margin of victory would be equivalent to a four game sweep of the World Series. But a three vote margin of victory with a forty-seat majority is so much more than pathetic. Of course, this is par for the course from a party that still hasn’t figured out how to or is too afraid to act like winners. How long is it going take before Democrats figure out that sniping at each other and picking each other off is the quickest, surest route back to minority status?

In an attempt to prove they are more than the “party of no,” House Republicans introduced their version of healthcare reform last week. A couple days later the Congressional Budget Office released it’s evaluation. Over the next 10 years, the Republican healthcare bill will cover an additional 3 million people and reduce the deficit by about $68 billion. Not bad. Unless you consider that the same CBO scored the Democratic reform version as covering an additional 36 million people while reducing the federal deficit by $104 billion. That’s right. The Democratic bill, already gutted by the special interests and watered down by three legislative committees covers 12 times more people and saves $36 billion more than the non-alternative offered as political cover by a disingenuous, obstructionist Republican Party claiming to be concerned with fiscal responsibility and the well-being of Americans.

My NFL Thoughts for Week 9:

The two best teams in the league struggled a little this week against inferior teams, yet still managed to pull out a victory. Neither the Saints nor the Colts played their best football. But great teams find ways to win, regardless of the circumstances. The only thing standing between these two teams and a date in Miami are the defending champs and some guy named Favre.

The Cleveland Browns did not lose this week. Of course they didn’t play either. That might have had something to do with it.

I’m ashamed to admit I lived in Wisconsin for a few years, and even now consider myself a fan of the Green Bay Packers. Aaron Rodgers and company were defeated Sunday by the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their rookie quarterback Josh Freeman. Embarrassing doesn’t begin to describe it. Hard to believe that merely two years ago this team was one interception away from the Superbowl.

If the NFC East Division were to suddenly drop off the face of the earth I don’t think I’d miss it. Well, every team but the Cowboys of course. Sorry honey.

With the exception of New Orleans, no team in the league is more fun to watch than the Cincinnati Bengals. Halfway through the season they find themselves on top of a pretty competitive division, half-a-game ahead of the the defending champion Steelers, with a trip to Pittsburgh coming up next Sunday. And I don’t care what anybody says, Ochocinco attempting to “bribe” the official with a single dollar bill to change a call was funny stuff. The league needs to lighten up a little.

My Superbowl picks for Week 9: New Orleans Saints vs. Pittsburgh Steelers.

Against the best interests of his school and his team, University of Central Florida basketball star Marcus Jordan (son of Michael Jordan), stepped on the court for his first preseason game last week wearing his Nike sneakers. They might have been the most expensive pair of shoes any athlete has ever laced up. That act constituted a violation of the school’s endorsement deal with Adidas, and cost UCF over three million dollars. What a team player. I realize three million dollars is nothing more than an evening in Vegas to the Jordan family, but to a small school trying to make a name for itself in big time college sports, three million dollars is a pretty big deal.

Remember way back in the 80’s when the VCR hit the market? Remember how Hollywood freaked out, claiming that if people could watch and record movies in their own homes, no one would bother going to the theater? Funny how all that fear completely disappeared when they realized that not only did people continue to go to the theater, they also dropped million - nay, billions - of dollars a year to rent, and then purchase a copy of the same movie they had just seen on the big screen the week before. Several years ago when the digital video recorder first appeared in stores, television and cable networks tore their hair out trying to figure out how they were going to stay in business if people could just skip right over the commercials. However, it turns out they had nothing to fear from DVRs after all. Recent studies have revealed that, lo and behold, people are now watching more commercials than ever before. You see, back in the days before DVR, if there was more than one television show broadcast at the same time on different networks, viewers would have to choose one to watch, neglecting the others. But now, no one has to choose. They can watch all the shows they want, whenever they want to watch them. And as if that weren’t enough, it seems people are just too lazy to pick up the remote and skip through the commercials after all. Three times the programing means three times the advertising, which means three times the revenue.

Funny thing about fear. The fear itself is often - if not usually - far worse than the feared result. The fear of change is more frightening than the actual change. It’s true for television, it’s true for politics and it’s true in life. We would all be better off if we spent a little more time understanding and a little less time afraid.

Finally, remember Carrie Prejean? Ex-beauty queen turned traditional marriage activist, family values crusader and hero/darling of conservative media? Well she’s back. This time it’s not about pageant questions or topless photos or performance-enhancing breast implants. This time, there’s a sex tape. That’s right. Turns out this symbol of purity filmed herself engaging in a little “quality time” with... herself, and sent the video to her boyfriend. Sigh. We’ve gone down this road enough times with people like Prejean before that what I’m about to say shouldn’t have to be said. But, just in case, nobody cares that a reasonably attractive young woman sent naked video of herself to her boyfriend. What turns Carrie Prejean and her apologists into objects of ire is the fact that she has made a name and is making a living off of extolling the evils of some of the same behavior she herself has engaged/is engaging in. Americans like their celebrities to be flawed. They don’t like them to be hypocrites.