The Consortium

Leadership

MLB 2007 Predictions

And now, my predictions for the 2007 Baseball season sure to be wrong by June:

AL East: Yankees, Red Sox*, Blue Jays, Devil Rays, Orioles

AL Central: Tigers, Twins, Indians, White Sox, Royals

AL West: Angels, Rangers, A's, Mariners

ALCS champion: Yankees

NL East: Braves, Mets, Marlins, Phillies, Nationals

NL Central: Brewers, Cardinals, Reds, Astros, Cubs,Pirates

NL West: Dodgers, Diamondbacks*, Padres, Rockies, Giants

NLCS Champions: Braves

World Series Champion:  Yankees

* Wild Card

There you have it.  The Yankees will reclaim the title for the first time in seven years.  To get there, they will have to get some pitchers healthy and, while waiting, pound the piss out of the ball in April. Nonetheless, it is the Yankees year.

I acknowledge some surprises on the list.  Many would question how I could put the Cubs in fifth place in the NL Central after blowing $300 million on talent.  The problem with the Cubs lies with its pitching and defense.  Its pitching continues to suffer under the weight of injuries and simply does not contain enough talent to keep opposing offenses under 5 runs on a nightly basis.

Another potential surprise is my choice of the Braves to win the NL East over the Mets.  Once again, I think it is a matter of pitching.  While the Braves are clearly not a pitching-stacked team, they have a very good 1-2 and perhaps number 3 as well with Smoltz, Hudson and James.  The Mets on the other hand don't have much of anything with an aging Tom Glavine as their staff Ace followed up by a few other less than stellar unnotables including el Duque and Oliver Perez.

Go Brewers!

-Matt

Game Over

With the shocking (!)  news now on Drudge that burly, former tennis champion Billy Jean King has endorsed Madame SheBeast, how can the competition even compete?!?!??  Will fellow Prince of Tresses Bruce Jenner throw his decatheletic support behind John Edwards?  Will Obama be endorsed by  Jimmy Walker? 

Ms. King expressed pleasure in Mrs. Bill Clinton's strong leadership in women's causes (whatever the hell those are?), her ability to soak up airtime despite having never actually sponsored any legislation in her 7 years as Senatrix from the Empire State, her sensible and inspirational hairstyle, her sturdy gait, as well as her slacks-informed fashion sense.  The feminist athlete asserts she does not speak for her whole community (Wimbeldon winners?  the visually challenged?  supertall chicks?  manhands?) but she would leave that up to Rosie O'Donnell. 

No word yet on who Martina Navritalova supports but we'll do our best to keep you posted on these crucial developments.

BORU

Trafalgar

In 1805, the British Navy was the greatest military force ever to grace this Earth.  Like the 21st century American Military, the early 19th century British Navy had no peers.  At the Battle of Trafalgar, Lord Nelson's 27 ships of the line annihilated a numerically superior French and Spanish armada without suffering the loss of a single ship and, afterwords, survived a near hurricane to bring its sailors and officers home. 

Last week, the once might Limeys surrendered their pride.  The loss of pride did not occur when the presumably outnumbered fifteen capitulated.  It was not their fault that their commanders had directed Rules of Engagement that prohibited the fifteen from defending themselves.  Rather, the blame for Brittania's humiliation lies with its spineless leaders and its refusal to stand up for itself. It is a sad, sad day when a fellow member of the Anglosphere loses its will to survive.

What hath the modern-day emasculation of the West wrought?

-Matt

Bottom of the Ticket Speculatin'

When he first threw his (in the words of Senatorial colleague Joe Biden) "clean & articulate" hat in the ring, I (and I surmise a few other political junkies, as well) believed that freshman Senator Barack Obama was really running to be inevitable Democrat nominee Hillary Rodham's Vice President.  Well, after Geffen-gate and the "1984-Big Sister" YouTube ad, we now know that in Clintonland, the junior Senator from the Land o' Lincoln need not only be defeated, he must be destroyed.  Carville & Begala will be dispatched to the Situation Room and Anderson Cooper 3way69 to repeat and repeat and repeat as many unsubstantiated derogatory claims on the man until one sticks and even when proven wrong or unfounded, will throw out a one-time dismissive apology.  "Ooops, we're sorry we said he molested kittens - we were mistaken, our bad!"   

Then they'll bring David Rodham Gergin in to say just how much the mere implication has tarnished the Obama mystique and that Madame Hillary is the only viable candidate for the Democrat Party.  He will follow this up by mentioning for the 11 billionth time that he has worked for every President since Garfield as if that has any bearing whatsoever on the topic at hand.  Then he'll fall asleep on air while Anderson plays footsie with John Roberts.

Which brings me to my real reason for this post:  do you think the Clintons may have another - as the LA Times put it the other day - "Magical Negro" in mind?  Might Mr. & Mrs. Clinton tap Harold Ford, Jr. to balance the ticket?  He was recently named chairman of the DLC - a post once held by none other than William Jefferson Clinton - and one that keeps him in contact with big money business donors who may be put off by Hillary's necessary pandering to the lefty loons during primary season (which is now longer than a full television season - I smell a reality show...).  He was also recently made a FOXNews contributor which gives him national exposure until such time as she taps him to be her house.....oh wait, I'll let Harry Belafonte  deliver that line.  In addition, he is from the South while she is from New York City, Arkansas, Chicago's tony suburbs.  And he kinda looks like Derek Jeter so they'll wrap up the part of the female vote that finds her completely repulsive.  Not to mention he will deliver a marked uptick in the ticket's likability factor.

Yes, I believe SheBeast may have found a mighty fine partner for her 2008 dance card since Barack will be a shell of his former self by the time the War Room is done with him.  Some may claim Bill Richardson is the one running for VP right now but I think his Bill-esque handsiness will keep him off the ticket - the eventual nominee will not want too many reminders of the sexual depravity of the 1st Clinton administration.  Besides, after the two-for-one Bill n' Hillary show in 1992, do you think her PR people are gonna let her have a ticket of "Hillary n' Bill"??!?

So Clinton/Ford 2008?  You heard it here first.....

BORU

Keep SheBeast out of the White House

VETO!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this $124 Billion pork-laden abomination coming out of the House right now is perhaps the worst piece of legislation I have ever seen.  Not only does it shamefully call for defeat in Iraq at a time when we are seeing success, but it buys this cowardly goal with pork.  It is sickening and deserves to be vetoed.  I understand that the military needs its funding, but it cannot be permitted to go through like this.  My question, and I don't know how to answer it, is can the President veto this filth or will his hands be tied?

The Gore Doctrine

The Earth's on Fire! The Earth's on Fire!  Big Al shrieked his unsubstantiated warnings before both a House and a Senate committee yesterday (and while wearing a striped shirt w/ a patterned tie;  where's Naomi Wolf?  I thought the gays were on the liberal side - they couldn't help Big Al get dressed for his big show???).  According to Gore this is a huge emergency and we must declare preemptive war on fossil fuels.  But what if he is basing these assumptions on faulty - or worse yet trumped up - intelligence?  What if Big Al is misleading us into an unnecessary war against oil, and coal, and methane, oh my? 

There are skeptics to this preemptive war strategy.  A French former global warming bandwagoneer has jumped ship (to mix an already murky metaphor) and now contends that maybe the Sun's increase in temperature has led to the very very slight increase in the Earth's temperature.  He supports his assumption with the silly fact that Mars (about the size of Earth but lacking man's fossil fuel usage) has experienced a similar warming.  Should we perhaps listen to the French(man) and postpone this preemptive war on fossil fuels and its potentially disastrous economic and social costs?  Shouldn't we let the UN have more time to send inspectors to Mars?

Will we turn a deaf ear to patriotic criticism (cuz it's patriotic to critique our supposed leaders, right?) and be lead into a preemptive war by an egomaniac and a compliant press? 

BORU

Shocking News from the Captain Obvious File

Kathleen Blanco will NOT run for reelection as Governor of Louisiana!  Also, this just in the sun WILL rise in the East tomorrow!

Go Bobby Jindal!

The NPR and then a flurry of blogs/"news" organizations acted as though this were some sort of Earth shattering announcement.  "Ummm, no monotone host, "Blanco said, "I will not be entering the race to win an election that I stand absolutely no chance of winning."

Today, however, I have a feeling a big announcement is in the air somewhere.........yup, I can just feel it.

BORU 

What the Chuck Hagel?

I am writing this post to formally announce that I may or may not write a post about Chuck Hagel's political future someday.  I am consulting with family and friends and compiling information and may feel compelled to complete such a post.  I may, however, decide it best not to.  Please stay tuned for further announcements about the possibility of a Chuck Hagel post.  Thank you.

BORU