Windmill Tilter

Sad to see him go, one of the most colorful and true Red Sox ever, and the only pitcher who Mickey Mantle feared. In nineteen plate appearances, Mantle got 3 hits, 3 walks and struck out 13 times. But to his last days Radatz claimed he struck out Mantle over 40 times in over 60 plate appearances. I can forgive him.

Dick Radatz, whose towering presence and 95-mile-per-hour fastball made him baseball's most dominant relief pitcher in the mid-1960s and earned him the unforgettable nickname of "The Monster" in Red Sox lore, died yesterday when he fell down a flight of stairs in his home in Easton, according to police.

Go here to find out what that means. Here are some hints: poluter and death machine.

Great O'Reilly clips. Check out the clip from Russert's show, especially. http://www.outfoxed.org/clips_oreilly_lies_qt.php

I've decided to read everything this guy has ever written. Here's a good sample.

Screw all the bullshit from the right about not giving minorities (usually gays) "special" rights, which only means the right to do what these religious freaks are not prohibited from doing. I've come to the realization that the only groups in this country, THE ONLY GROUPS that get actual, for real, special rights are the rich and the religious. As Noam Chomsky says, "Human rights are subordinated to the overwhealming, overriding need of profit for investors." This is enabled by, "the really existing doctrine of free markets, that means market discipline for the poor and the defenseless, but plenty of protection and subsidy for those who really need it, the rich and the powerful." Also, the fact that the religious can get away with demonizing the "other", an urge that I suppose exists deep within all of us, and in general being able to justify ANYTHING (that's another thing, they are also the only group that is allowed to take no personal responsiblity for anything, but at the same time demonize people like Bill Clinton for allegedly creating a culture of personal license, while he is the only recent president who fully accepted responsiblity whenever a political proposal failed or led to unintended consequences), who wouldn't, in pubic life, turn into a partisan, pseudo-religious hack. They are the only people who are allowed by law to force their beliefs on others against their will, which coincidentally, is exactly what their frigging religion calls for. You could also get rich. If that isn't heaven on earth to a shallow fraud, what is? It's essentially like being plucked by the hand of god, having your frontal lobe ripped out, though painlessly, and plopped down in the garden of eden to gorge your spiritually gluttonous maw with huge, ripe, tempting, soulless apples for the rest of your days then shitting all over yourself and Eve, only to have someone else clean it up.

I wrote to someone that one way to discredit fools like O'Reilly is to repeatedly ask him (and Hannity and Coulter and Horowitz, etc...) whether, if he had a choice, which group he would prefer to stay in existence, the ACLU or the KKK. I figured the urge would well up inside of him and in a fit, he would blurt out his preference for the KKK. Some thought that was ridiculous. But, after O'Reilly explicitly calls the ACLU a terrorist group, how ridiculous is it?

As the resident historian of the Senate, there was no one more qualified to deliver the final, elegant blow to the so-called Nucular Option (as our prez would say) on the floor of the Senate. Remember, this is a man whom the right dishonestly criticized for his long-ago association with the KKK, which he has repeatedly and fully repudiated. By implication, they were calling him a good old American fascist. This coming from a party of such obvious tolerance for differing views and lifestyles. Does this sound fascistic to you?:

The Senate was to serve as a “check” on the Executive Branch, particularly in the areas of appointments and treaties, where, under the Constitution, the Senate passes judgement absent the House of Representatives.... When it comes to the Senate, numbers can deceive. The Senate was never intended to be a majoritarian body. That was the role of the House of Representatives, with its membership based on the populations of states. The Great Compromise of July 16, 1787, satisfied the need for smaller states to have equal status in one House of Congress: the Senate. The Senate, with its two members per state, regardless of population is, then, the forum of the states. Indeed, in the last Congress, 52 members, a majority, representing the 26 smallest states accounted for just 17.06% of the U.S. population. In other words, a majority in the Senate does not necessarily represent a majority of the population. The Senate is intended for deliberation not point scoring. It is a place designed from its inception, as expressive of minority views. ... The Senate was deliberately conceived to be ... a “better refuge,” meaning one styled as guardian of the rights of the minority. The Senate is the “watchdog” because majorities can be wrong, and filibusters can highlight injustices. History is full of examples.

For those examples, read the whole speech. I think I've said it before, but DAMN, there are some good senators.