A Gentleman’s view.

This is the most important decision of his basketball life.

Summertime, and the Professional Basketball players are living easy as no other time in history. I just wonder how many of them truly appreciate just how this particular summertime’s living could be living well and making history. This is the summer of 2010 and I don’t know what 2012 will bring and if we’re still are around to appreciate basketball, but this year has been anticipated by the basketball world since Dwyane Wade and LeBron James joined the National Basketball Association. This year also includes the availability of Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudmire, Dirk Nowitzki, Joe Johnson, Carlos Boozer and Rudy Gay just to name a few of the future stars who could enhance any rooster. This doesn’t include the next level of NBA star yet presented with an opportunity to shine we haven’t met yet. Adding any combination of this caliber and right potential will place teams making those selections will most likely own the championship of this league for the next ten years or a good portion thereof.

This all for good or bad, right or wrong, historical or indifferent is hindering on the decision of one man, LeBron James. Of the talent available, this man’s unique physical gifts rank him as the future and face of this professional sports league in America with even more potential in the world and for the NBA. This is so big teams have been plotting and planning for this like never before. It is perceived wherever goes LeBron goes the future of the NBA and obviously everyone wants to be on board for the ride. However this crop of physical talent seems also to be aware of the most serious potential to amass wealth at untold proportions if the right choice is made. This as well as making history and that all depends on which team gets LeBron James. The first concept floated had him joining the talent already put in place by the city of Chicago in anticipation of this summer. Another suggested he could join Wade with Bosh on the Miami Heat and possibly coax Pat Riley back to the bench to pick up a couple of those rings and even more bank. Another suggests some would join King James on the Cleveland Cavaliers cementing his name in the town he calls home and loves so much. Only one man seem to appreciate as I do the historical enormity of this moment; Skip Bayless, a longtime columnist now commentating on ESPN.

Here’s my take on first why those options above are wrong and which choice I think is the best to cement his name in the annuals of professional basketball history in a manner equal to at least the former ‘Hs Airness’, Michael Jordan. Also, lets not forget, as a owner of a team looking for a piece of that championship and historical pie, ‘His Airness’ won’t just be sitting on the sidelines watching. LeBron in Chi town; first: New Coach, former defensive coach of the famed Boston Celtics, no track record in the position of head coach. Good potential base of Derrick Rose and Yokaim Noah, a year of two with the king, a promising rookie and another piece and they could be there, but why? LeBron would always be in the shadow of ‘His Airness’, no man will make history standing in another’s shadow and no real man wants to. The only way out is 7 rings or more, with the changing tides of life, that is hard to guarantee, therefore stupid to hope for. How will the new coach do as well as who will be his offensive guru. What will management do over the long haul with limited money that will be available in 2 or 3 years to keep things going there? There are too many questions for someone seeking immortality there for the Bulls to be worth it. Next or should have eliminated first: The Cleveland Cavaliers, no chance in hell. No coach and even less talent and if that was not an issue they would have a ring already, Shaq couldn’t change that. Finally and the one with the most potential would be joining Wade in Florida and with Riley bring glory to the south again, at least in the sport of Professional Basketball. But that is just the point, not to the history of the NBA just the number of championships that city may lay claim to, and that my friends is why if Lebron doesn’t come to New York City to play for the Knickerbockers, then Wade must and team up with Bosh. Then he will go into the Basketball Hall of Fame on first ballot for making the NBA really, really, rich again.

The thing about any sport whether it is baseball, basketball or football worth its salt, it is about location, location, location, period. Historical things happen in historical locations. The Boston ‘Bean town’ Celtics, (not the Tea Baggers), the Chicago ‘Chi Town’ Bulls, the ‘Los Angeles ‘ShowTime’ Lakers are all cities rich in history and tradition already. I believe the Knicks are capable of gathering Flash and Bosh and another key piece and they will own the professional basketball league and expand around the world to the point of rivaling the “World Cup” as the world’s biggest sport attraction and don’t you think that is not and should not be the goal of that business enterprise. Anything less would be uncivilized! The Knicks already but announced trying to snag Joe Johnson from the Atlanta Hawks as a potential to start the mix going. Wade and Bosh, Bosh and the King or any other combination in the top ten available with the King, would definitely put this team with the media muscle of the Madison Square Garden, a place known worldwide behind them in the biggest media city in the world, the flow of money could be monumental. There is no place other than Hollywood capable of providing that type of financial return on investment this move would represent and they already have Kobe. But important, potential immortality at least equal to Michael Jordan by restoring a franchise in a big city longing for basketball glory.  So LeBron always respect your humble beginnings, pick your friends and/or teammates according to the best chemistry that comes naturally on the court, but you only have one choice if you really want the international acclaim and media exposure you’ve told the world you do and that is bring your ass to the New York Knickerbockers! I still personally am rooting for Wade to convince Bosh they can pull it off here and hand the King another defeat for making poor choices in history. The King already quit  or displayed poor attitude too many times for me.

What the Republicans are doing is more insidious than racism, its revenge!

Forgive me America, I was wrong about this being about the ‘Black Man’ in the White House and I apologize. Oh, don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean they don’t have a problem with him, but this is deeper than that. I saw their obstructionism as a problem with President Barack Obama, America’s first Black President and assumed this was all about race. I have to admit though, there were some nagging issues in my mind and heart and now I am realizing why they wouldn’t go away. I kept thinking about how toward the end of the election cycle last time all of a sudden there was a this financial meltdown and the powers that be came to Washington looking for a ‘Bailout’. It just didn’t feel right. I was blind and now I see what the game is all about. It wasn’t about having a man of color running the country; the Republicans thought Hillary was going to win this thing outright. This is about cutting off America’s nose to spite the country’s face.  You see, I am a projectionist and unfortunately for my analysis of what’s going on with the Republicans, also an optimist. This caused me to view this experience with my usual sense of not expecting people to purposely do harm to others. I honestly thought people who choose to become politicians actually in their hearts to want what is best for the constituents who elect them into office to some small degree. I was wrong, oh so wrong with these Republicans.

This was about a setup of the worst kind. This was about stacking the deck against any Democrat they expected to win in face of what Bush had done to the reputation of the Republican Party. This was about making sure that with the last President wasting the surplus left by Clinton and running up the deficit to high hell, any Democrat winning the election would be starting off on the wrong foot by starting off with the perception of being on the side of big business with the required bailouts of Wall Street, the Auto Industry, two unnecessary wars, the banks and the little people of America who needed the stimulus required to supplement the massive job loss that took place under the previous administration. They were projectionist as well these Republicans. They could see the potential animosity that would rear its ugly head with all that money from the ‘Tarp Program’ put into place before their man left for the hills of Texas. They knew that stink would follow the next President and make whoever that was appear as a Democrat incapable of handling the domestic agenda of this country.

Don’t get me wrong, it is true there are many Whites having a problem with the ‘Black Guy’ thing going on, but that is not the crux of this ‘just say no’ the Republican Party now represents. Yes, you do have the issues of race with the Rand Paul comment on his being ‘Un-American’ with dressing down the head of BP, you hear it with the “You Lie” hollering out in the joint session of Congress, and most of all, very loud and clear from the Tea Party and Birthers talk of the President not being a legitimate citizen of these United States and therefore no right to the office of the Presidency. You saw it during the process of obtaining a rational health care program that was only an attempt to reign in a segment of business in this country which for the longest, answered to no when it came to how they operated against the interest of the many citizens legitimately requiring their services and paying for them. Even the situation that just took place with having to replace General McChrystal, I suspect personally for him was about race. But, these things just added fuel to the fire being stoked by the Republicans with their agenda of painting the Democrats as being against the interest and values of Middle Americans citizens and it has been working like a charm.

The Filibuster, not even allowing any legislative issues come to a vote, not approving the required Presidential selections to positions in agency responsible for getting vital agency agenda moved forward or completed, even saying no to mechanisms such as unemployment insurance put into place as a safety net for citizens can’t get approved. These are all calculated efforts on the part of the Republicans to paint the Democrats as incompetent and unable to govern. This is a plan to win back power by allowing the good citizens of this country to suffer and then point to the Congress of which the Democrats control and say; “See, we told you they can’t govern”, “We told you they want to have you children paying for programs that give away your hard earned money to the undeserving”, “We told you that they to change this society to destroy the quality of life that you have come to expect as a true American”. We told you! “We said time and time again, they want socialism so they can redistribute your hard earned dollars to people unwilling to go out and earn a living on their own”. The just say no position in place is a calculated tactic with the intent of permanently crushing the Democratic Party at the expense of the rest of the country. The sad thing is they’re willing to do this to one of their own, remember they thought Hillary Clinton was going to win, not the Black Man. I am sorry, America, my bad!

We all just love the “Black Guy!”

Finally tonight as promised a Special Comment on the self-destruction of General Stanley McChrystal.

“We have the highest respect for General McChrystal and honor his brave service and sacrifice to our nation. General McChrystal’s comments, as reported in Rolling Stone, are inappropriate and inconsistent with the traditional relationship between Commander-in-Chief and the military.”

Senators Lindsey Graham, Joe Lieberman, and John McCain. They left out the far greater truth — that the comments are inappropriate and inconsistent with the traditional relationship between military and civilian authority and are thus intolerable.

We can honor his service, the way we honor the service of General Curtis LeMay, or the way we honor the service of General Douglas MacArthur — forever blemished, forever compromised, forever instructive that how ever much credit each heroic soldier deserves, he and his comrades are not the masters of this country, but its employees.
It is the fundamental tenet on which this nation rests; it is what has kept us from any serious dalliance with a militaristic government in all our long history; it is the simple balanced poetry that has saved us from the threat of military overthrow and dictatorship for 234 years while nearly all the other great nations of the world, from Germany to Japan, have succumbed to it.

And what happens next should be no surprise to anybody: General McChrystal will walk into the White House tomorrow and offer his resignation, not just from his leadership position in Afghanistan, but from military service itself.

And that, Mr. President, is when you should thank him for that service. And you should thank him for whatever admission he makes about the chain of command. And that is when, Sir —presuming he recognizes his rank stupidity and his erasure of that inviolable line between the military and the civilian — you should say you are heartened that he realizes the depth and breadth of his idiocy.

And that is when, Sir, you should take General McChrystal’s resignation, and fold it up, and put it in your top drawer, and tell him that that is where it will remain, and that as of now you are not accepting it. Correct.

He tenders his resignation. You tell him to get back to Afghanistan because he’s not getting out of this morass he helped create, and tell him to make sure we get the surge troops withdrawn on time or faster if he can. And then, Sir, you sit back and watch the political world’s collective jaw drop.

This would not be mere contrariness, nor even the satisfying destabilization of the entire political climate — although those would be fun, too. Consider the last Administration. Let’s look at the list alphabetically.

General John Abizaid of CentCom. Expressed public skepticism about the Bush surge in Iraq. Replaced. General George Casey, Iraq. Expressed public skepticism about the Bush surge in Iraq. Replaced. Admiral William Fallon, ex-head of CentCom. Told Esquire Magazine we should not use force against Irahn. Retired by Mr. Bush.

Dr. Larry Lindsey, director of the National Economic Council. Told Mr. Rumsfeld estimated that war in Iraq would cost 60 billion dollars. He said, no, $200 billion. Rumsfeld called that “baloney.” Lindsey was fired. It was “baloney” — it cost three trillion dollars.

General Eric Shinsecki, Army Chief of Staff. Warned that the Rumsfeld troop estimates were disastrously low, hundreds of thousands would be needed for occupation. “Villified, then marginalized” by Bush.

General Anthony Zinni, Marines, Retired, Middle East Envoy. Said that the President had far more pressing foreign policy priorities to face than Iraq, and that the trouble would start in Iraq after the war itself ended. Not reappointed.

Remember, this, from the previous President whose empty, but lovely-sounding catchphrase, was ‘I listen to the commanders on the ground.’ It was true. He did listen. And then he fired all the ones who dared to tell him the truth.

It cannot be argued that General McChrystal has said anything as controversial, as jarring, as upsetting to the status quo, as any of the men Bush ignored, and in ignoring, led to the deaths of Americans, and to the wasting of money and international goodwill.  McChrystal made, to be blunt about it, a fool out of himself.  He called a lot of people names.  He has previously been involved in the leak of his own complaints demanding more troops and faster decisions in Afghanistan.

And most heinously — and this is the toughest part of this pill to swallow — he was the facilitator in the cover-up of the friendly fire death of Pat Tillman.  It is difficult to bypass an opportunity for retribution against such a man. But more opportunities for that will come in time.

It is not McChrystal that matters right now. It is doubtful he is an irreplacable general officer.  It is doubtful he will influence Afghanistan much one way or the other — that mistake has been made already by this military and this President.

But Mr. President, consider the after-math of McChrystal’s resignation or firing. If, in the America of 1951, the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur, a strutting peacock of a soldier with a corncob pipe and a messianic complex, could turn the politics of the time on its head because Harry Truman had had the temerity to fire him after he said we should use nukes against the Chinese and create an impassible radioactive zone in the Far East.

If that happened then what exactly will the ouster of General McChrystal provoke, in our stupid, under-informed, constantly propagandized America of 2010? Who will be the first to identify McChrystal as a martyr to the evil Obama Administration? How many Americans, still looking for a rationalization to justify their rage at a Democratic president, or a black one, or an intelligent one, will have new fuel to feed their blind hatred?

Keep him, Mr. President. will not merely neuter the political blowback, you will present a front of force, and calm, and intelligence, and a willingness to, dare I use the phrase Sir — a willingness to listen to the Commanders on the ground, even when they shoot off their big brass-covered bazoos.

You can own him, Mr. President, and own the political aftermath, now pregnant with opportunities for your critics. The General can be your voice to speed up the de-escalation. My goodness, he could be your mouthpiece if you suddenly saw the morass for what it is and decided to declare victory and get the hell out now. Who would fight you on that, Sir?

You would be the President who defended General McChrystal after he humiliated himself. You would be the leader sensitive to the military, and its needs, and its failures, and its pressures.

President Obama has pushed the Abraham Lincoln thing from the day he declared his candidacy. It may serve him well tonight to consider the third of the eight generals Lincoln employed to run the Union Army during the Civil War. After the Antietam disaster, Mr. Lincoln cashiered General McClellan — “Young Napoleon” —  and promoted John Pope of Illinois. His advisors were horrified.

Pope, as Shelby Foote recalled in Ken Burns’s documentary, was a liar and a braggart. Yes, said Lincoln. In fact I knew his family back in Illinois. All the Popes were liars and braggarts. I see no particular reason why a liar and a braggart shouldn’t make a good general. Pope did not win the Civil War, but in appointing him, Lincoln made it plain that what he needed from his Generals was usefulness, not etiquette.

And which is more useful to this President and this nation right now? A martyred ex-General, around which an irresponsible and potentially dangerous opposition can coalesce? Or a spared and humbled General, surely no worse than any potential replacement, whose retention can recalculate the political formula… without a drop of blood, or a drop of teers, being shed?

You don’t have to be a Black President to have a problem with this Republican position.

“I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday,” said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) during a hearing on Thursday morning with BP’s CEO Tony Hayward.” I think it is a tragedy in the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown — in this case a $20 billion shakedown — with the attorney general of the United States, who is legitimately conducting a criminal investigation and has every right to do so to protect the American people, participating in what amounts to a $20 billion slush fund that’s unprecedented in our nation’s history, which has no legal standing, which I think sets a terrible precedent for our nation’s future.”

“I’m only speaking for myself. I’m not speaking for anyone else, but I apologize,” Barton added. “I do not want to live in a county where anytime a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong, [it is] subject to some sort of political pressure that, again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown.”

Airing criticisms against the notion of forcing BP to fork over $20 billion in liability revenue would seem like a fairly risky proposition considering just how reviled the oil giant is in the current political environment. And Democrats quickly jumped on the congressman’s remark, as well as those from other Republicans, as evidence of a lack of sensitivity for the victims of the spill.

The folks hollering about the spill should look to those responsible, not the President.

United States of America in and of itself is not in the business of producing oil. It is a country. Our military have extremely high technological capabilities that do not include the same duties and responsibilities as of those who work on oil rigs. Therefore, as simple as I can spell it out for you who don’t understand, we don’t have the expertise to take this operation over and correct the damage being done. The Bush Administration allowed thru the deregulation process for this type of damage to take place by manipulating the regulations in order for exactly what is taking place in the Gulf to happen. Measure your anger and distain toward those responsible for letting this happen. This lies at the door of the Republican Party and the deregulation they forced upon the country stating the need for business to have the freedom required for true competition. This is the results of that deregulation just as was the failure of the markets on 2008 that damn near brought down the world’s banking system.

This needs to be national policy.Share

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 6:25pm | Edit Note | Delete
Registry on the sex offender list now permanent in KS

Those convicted of certain sex crimes in Kansas will now get a life sentence on the sex offender registry.

Previously, convictions got you on the registry for 10 years, though the state could extend the registration requirements.

But registration is now permanent, under a bill, HB 2468, signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Mark Parkinson. The rule applies to any conviction for the following crimes: the attempt, conspiracy, or criminal solicitation to commit aggravated trafficking, rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child, aggravated criminal sodomy, promoting prostitution if the prostitute is less than 14 years of age, and sexual exploitation of a child.

“Keeping our communities safe is one of my utmost priorities as governor; therefore, I am glad to sign this legislation that helps keep Kansans informed about people living in their neighborhoods,” said Parkinson in a statement announcing the bill’s enactment. “Sex offenders commit some of the most heinous acts in our society to many times the most vulnerable. It is critical that these offenders remain registered for the rest of their life in order to better protect Kansas families, and I appreciate the swift work of the legislature in getting this bill passed.”