Left, Right, and Centered

Better Do Something Fast, Because They Are Furious

Cory Franklin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:34:17 +0000

Sounds like Eric Holder is in a heap of trouble.

The Beginning Of The End For Newt

Cory Franklin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:28:33 +0000

Tomorrow-Romney wins big.
Newt will gradually sink like a Macy’s float the day after Thanksgiving.

Superbowl Prediction

Benjamin Wendell — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:08:45 +0000

I’ll disagree with my blogmate on principle. Take away all that analysis and you have Eli Manning and the Giants with the momentum going into this game. Plus he’ll be a Manning inside the stadium that Manning built. Giants by six.

Meanwhile, you can’t throw a stone around here without hitting someone from ESPN. There could be a mass murder in Greenwood committed by Osama Bin Laden’s cousin, and it would still play twenty minutes deep into the local news, right after they described all the events at “The NFL Experience”, the wait for the four zip lines over Georgia Street, which celebrities were spotted at local restaurants, and whether Tom Brady slept well the night before. It looks like Indy will have better weather than Dallas had last year, and probably less screw-ups with the seating. And if Maddona has a wardrobe malfunction during the halftime show, Mrs. Left and I will have the best seats in Indiana, right there in front of the Samsung flat screen in fifty inches of HD glory.

One other thing. Mrs. Left predicted last summer that Peyton Manning would never play football again, and she’s beginning to look prescient. Word on the street, including no less than Tony Dungy, is that Peyton still doesn’t have the strength in his throwing arm. Look for him next year on “The NFL Today”.

Why Rick Santorum Is A Walking Argument For Keeping Abortion Legal

Benjamin Wendell — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:42:23 +0000

Look, I’m sure Rick Santorum and his wife are wonderful attentive loving parents. But they are also kooks, which is fine…everyone has a right to be a kook here in America. What everyone doesn’t have is the right to expect that everyone else be compelled to adopt your particular brand of kookiness. We’ve all heard about the saga of the Santorums having a premature infant who died hours after birth, the one they brought home to cuddle with the other children. The child had been diagnosed in utero with an always fatal congenital heart defect, and the medical recommendation was to terminate the pregnancy…advice which the Santorums declined. In almost all such cases, parents are offered genetic counseling. One or both of them may be carriers of some type of recessive gene which might result in a chance of the same thing happening in subsequent pregnancies. I have no idea whether the Santorumns were offered such guidance or whether they availed themselves of the opportunity.

What is known is that the Santorums have another child, Bella, age 3, who has Trisomy 18 and was hospitalized on Saturday reportedly with pneumonia. Trisomy 18 is a chromosomal anomaly that is usually (~90%) fatal before or at birth. Survivors rarely live beyond their first year and are beset with a host of serious medical problems and profound developmental delay. The Santorums may have the financial and emotional resources to deal with such a child, but most of us would not. Trisomy 18 is easily diagnosed prenatally, both by ultrasound and by amniocentesis, and when diagnosed, the medical recommendation would invariably be, except in the case of doctors who are themselves kooks, to terminate the pregnancy.

I’m sure the Santorums would tell us that Bella is a sweet and loving creature, who has much to offer, and if they really believe that, then may that view offer them some peace. But the truth is that this child will have a short and miserable life, with no prospect for any outcome other than early death. There have no doubt already been multiple hospitalizations and surgeries and untold expensive treatments and medications. The cost to the medical system is staggering and the cost to the caregivers may be worse. No child should be forced to endure such an existence and no parent should be forced to bring such a child into the world.

But if Rick Santorum and the rest of the Republicans running for president have their way, that is exactly what will happen. That would be a tragedy.

Smarter Than Sarah Palin

Cory Franklin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:18:20 +0000

And he continues to demonstrate it

The Midwest Liberal Elite

Benjamin Wendell — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:10:57 +0000

Hey, the kid from the Big Apple forgot to mention a couple of options for us rare vegetarians in the flyover states. There’s always the BK Veggie Burger, which ain’t gonna replace the double-cheese bacon burger anytime soon, but it’ll clear your arteries for a few years more and clear your conscience of all those innocent cows and pigs in the bargain. Not to mention the Subway Veggie Delite…nothing quite like rabbit food on a whole wheat bun to satisfy a hungry lunch appetite. And in one other area we can match anything New York and LA can offer; we’ve got as many burrito bars as Seattle has coffee shops. Black beans, pinto beans, rice, guac, corn salsa, some vegan sour cream, and you’re good to go. Plus, places like Indiana and Missouri can boast an advantage NYC can never offer…we can often walk whole miles without anyone running us off the sidewalk or cursing at us in some unidentifiable dialect. So if the publisher at the NY Times would like a freelancer who won’t bitch about the adversity of being trapped in the land of tractors, I’m available.

How Quickly They Forget

Cory Franklin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:49:55 +0000

But you know what we had in the late 1960′s that we don’t have now? We had hope

Hmmmmm – I seem to remember a different late 1960′s.

one where we had assassinations, Richard Nixon, 50,000 dead American GIs and the Manson Family

Maybe I was in a different country.

Son Of Gray Lady

Cory Franklin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:45:40 +0000

Here

The poor Liberal elite.

The Age Of Enlightenment

Benjamin Wendell — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:24:06 +0000

My blogmate makes a valid point while missing the point. There’s no question that the conditions in the 1960′s for civil rights, women’s rights, human rights, privacy, censorship, and Big Brother were vastly inferior to those found today. The Civil Rights Act didn’t take effect until 1965 and Roe v. Wade didn’t make a woman’s body her own until 1973. The things that you can say on TV in 2012 would have made the censors in 1960 burst an aneurysm. Playboy magazine was still considered the height of debauchery. Miranda rights were anything but routine, and in places like Chicago and New York, confessions often came courtesy of a rubber hose. In some places in the South, blacks still had separate bathrooms and drinking fountains, and politicians thought that “nigra” was far enough from the n-word to appear in stump speeches.

But you know what we had in the late 1960′s that we don’t have now? We had hope. We had glimmerings that things were going to improve, that people were going to change for the better. We actually believed that racism was on the decline and tolerance was on the ascendent. We thought that science and sense would trump mindless adherence to ancient dogma. We could see some light at the end of the tunnel. Show me that light now. Tell me how guys like Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are creating hope for a kinder gentler future…rather than a return to the 1950′s that they seem to see as the ideal…barefoot and pregnant and chained to the stove, start your school day with the Lord’s Prayer, and the darkies and wetbacks will know their place. That’s their audacity of hope.

Initial Super Bowl Chatter

Cory Franklin — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:24:48 +0000

Giants are good, no question. Eli Manning is better than his brother in the clutch against good teams. Giant front four is damn good. Wide Receivers are awfully good, underrated. Special teams are good too. I see them scoring points on the Patriots, altho the question is will they be touchdowns or field goals.

Pats – no one knows how good their defense is. D backs are shaky but Wolfork is playing really well onthe line. I think they will give up points but may bend and not break.

Brady – do not be fooled. This is definitely the biggest game of his career. No question. What is the talk about Brady? Is he is as good as Montana? Montana would win this game.

IF Brady wins, you can legit say he is right with Montana , no question. If he loses, the rap will always be Eli owns him (unless he wins another one or two after this but you can never ocunt on that)

AS good as the Giants have been, they have been lucky. Couple of calls went their way- the Bradshaw no fumble. If Williams doesn’t muff two punts they lose to the Niners. the Packers didn’t play well, but a couple of plays go different and the Packers don’t make six or eight drops, they win. The Giants are counting on winning close. that’s part of their MO -they might but that means they have to make a lot fo stops or get a lot of turnovers.

I think Brady and Belichek will be prepared for the Giant defense with that short passing attack. I personally don’t believe the Giants have the personnel to defend it. Those tight ends, Welker, and Whitehead are going to catch a lot of balls on short drops that will neutralize the Giant front four. Finely was wide open all afternooon against the Giants, he just dropped passes . Brady is mobile, Rodgers and smith both hurt the Giants with that, altho Smith can’t throw on the run. Brady can. Unless Gronkowski is really hurt, I see Brady putting up big numbers and lots of points. I’ll admit Brady didn’t look great last week, but that was against one of the two best defenses in football (along with the Niners) and he still laid 23 points on them outdoors.

Barring turnovers the Giants will have to score at least four tuchdowns. they can do it. But I think the probablity is they won’t score enough to match Brady.

Of all the scenarios- I like the Pats by more than a touchdown. I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Giants win but Belichek is planning stuff. Jerk but knows what he is doing.

Do the math. I root for Brady.