Tables Turned

Yes, Dan Bongino is a carpet-bagging professional congressional campaigner who has a profanity-laced meltdown in talking to Politico reporter Marc Caputo. But after listening to the tape of the call, Caputo comes of as bad as Bongino as a smug, trolling reporter goading Bongino into anger by pestering him and splitting hairs about whether he called a tweet or a story propaganda. 

No one comes out looking good in this exchange.

Higher Bill

I don't seem to recall it ever being mentioned in the primaries, but it is hard to believe that former President Bill Clinton's position and compensation as "honorary chancellor" of the for-profit Laureate Education colleges never got mentioned at all in all of the debates and conversations around student debt, Bernie Sanders' free college tuition plan, and the controversies surrounding Trump University. Perhaps even harder to believe is that the revelations about Hillary Clinton's husband came about because of the release of their tax returns. Truth really is stranger than fiction.

More Brexit Hysteria

The media elite love whipping up hysteria about the dire consequences of Brexit, esepcially on the poor bastard voters who supported it but didn't know any better (according to the elites' narrative).

The front page story in yesterday's Washington Post is a perfect case in point. The headline in the hard copy edition read, "Britain's Hot Housing Market Might be Making its Way Out the Brexit Door." (Curiously, the online edition of this story has a different, more accurate, headline - "London's lavishly high home prices take a Brexit hit."

First is the question of whether this story even belongs on the front page of the paper. Must have been a really slow news day.

Second, the story breathlessly warns that the "This is still the land of the $200 million condo, with prime central London real estate forming the foundation of British wealth. But a flood of price drops and canceled contracts is coursing through London's streets, hitting even the immaculate enclaves of celebrities and oligarchs and becoming the most tangible sign yet of economic trouble in the aftermath of Britain's vote to exit the European Union."

The story then goes on to cite several anecdotes of million dollar estates having to be sold for about 5-10% less than the asking price. Clearly this is a One-percenter problem as the story notes, "the uncertainty is pitting the megarich against one another in a high-stakes game of who blinks first."

And, indeed, it isn't till the 20th paragraph when the reporters reveal that, actually, the price drops might be a good thing because, "Unaffordable housing has beome a chronic problem here [London] - with a new report this week showing home ownership falling to a 30-year low."

Did you get that? Brexit is causing housing to become more affordable in London?! Egads! Of course, that doesn't fit the dire predictions of Brexit catastrophe and is certainly at odds with the portrait of Brexit voters as rubes who voted against their economic interests in supporting a British pullout of the EU. But the Post suggests, upon closer reading, that the voters knew exactly what they were doing and are reaping tangible economic benefits in the form of more affordable housing.

Why Does Girardi Hate A-Rod So Much?

Word now comes that Yanks' manager Joe Girardi denied Alex Rodriguez's request to play 3B in the final game of his career. It's the final indignity for a Hall of Fame player who also, inconveniently enough, is a world class jerk.

Which is why there isn't more outrage and questioning of Girardi's spiteful action. Girardi claims it's because A-Rod hasn't played 3B all season and the Yankees are "still in the business of winning games." And yet, Girardi continues to play Mark Texeira and his .197 average. Bizarre.

The disparity in treatment makes you wonder why amidst the Yankees' youth movement Texeira is being allowed to retire at the end of the season while A-Rod is leaving - abruptly - right in the middle of it. And what was the point of giving A-Rod a week of games between the announcement of his pending retirement and his final game if Girardi was only going to play A-Rod as a spot DH and sometime pinch hitter?

Of course, this isn't the first time Girardi's animosity toward A-Rod has come through - and also not questioned. During the 2012 playoffs vs. the Tigers, A-Rod was benched twice in favor of Eric Chavez. I'll say again, Eric Chavez. During that series, all of the Yankees struggled. Yes, A-Rod wound up hitting .111 but even the sainted Derek Jeter hit only .200. Texeira didn't get above .200. Russlel Martin hit .143. Curtis Granderson didn't get a hit, and Robinson Cano hit .057 (not a misprint). And yet A-Rod was benched twice and Granderson sat too. But, really, in Girardi's mind the biggest problem in the Yankees lineup was A-Rod? By the way, Eric Chavez went 0-8 with 4 strikeouts in the two games he replaced A-Rod.

I'll say it again, Alex Rodriguez is a very unsympathetic athlete, but there is no denying that he is a world class ballplayer. There's also non denying that Joe Girardi is treating  him - and has treated him - very shabbily. 

In his last game, A-Rod really does deserve better. Let him play.

Assassination?

There's a deserved uproar over Donald Trump's remarks about the 2nd Amendment, gun owners, and Hillary Clinton's safety. 

But am I the only one that remembers the controversy when Hillary Clinton cryptically suggested that Barack Obama could be assassinated? Apparently so, as I haven't seen any reference to the 2008 controversy in any of the stories on the current kerfuffle.

Here are excerpts from the NYTimes in 2008.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton defended staying in the Democratic nominating contest on Friday by pointing out that her husband had not wrapped up the nomination until June 1992, adding, "We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."
Her remarks were met with quick criticism from the campaign of Senator Barack Obama, and within hours of making them Mrs. Clinton expressed regret,...
Still, the comments touched on one of the most sensitive aspects of the current presidential campaign — concern for Mr. Obama's safety. ...
Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, which has refrained from engaging Mrs. Clinton in recent days, said her statement "was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign."
Privately, aides to Mr. Obama were furious about the remark.
Concerns about Mr. Obama's safety led the Secret Service to give him protection last May, before it was afforded to any other presidential candidate, although Mrs. Clinton had protection, too, in her capacity as a former first lady....
It was against that backdrop that Mrs. Clinton's mentioning the Kennedy assassination in the same breath as her own political fate struck some as going too far. Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, an uncommitted superdelegate, said through a spokeswoman that the comments were "beyond the pale."...
Friday was not the first time Mrs. Clinton referred to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in such a context. In March, she told Time magazine: "Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A. My husband didn't wrap up the nomination in 1992 until June. Having a primary contest go through June is nothing particularly unusual."

DNC emails

Apparently DNC officials emails read the way Donald Trump speaks. Awkward.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/us/politics/dnc-emails-sanders-clinton.html

PGA Tour and Diversity

With the news that the PGA is moving its tournament out of Donald Trump's Doral golf course to...Mexico of all places, is now a good time to talk about the lack of diversity among PGA tour players?

Clearly the move to Mexico is not just a dig at Trump but a giant F.U. There aren't any other US courses that could or would host such an esteemed event. Um, how about Aronomink outside Philadelphia - The largest city without a regular tour event. And they just happened to wind up in Mexico City?

The whole decision is reportedly being prompted by Cadillac pulling out as the sponsor. The unspoken but presumption is that Cadillac didn't want to be associated with Trump. But the bigger question is why Cadillac was ok being associated with an event and an organization with a shocking lack of racial diversity. Or why the PGA is more interested in moving an event to Mexico but isn't as concerned about diversifying its tour roster. 

Kentucky Derby

With 22 horses this thing is a crapshoot. So why not take lani or majesto as long shots. And mor spirit and / or exaggerator as two from the field that are just as likely to be in the money.

I've also heard a number of friends mention creator.

I do not like nyquist.

Times OK with Disenfranchisement?

Ordinarily, I would presume that the New York Times would oppose the disenfranchisement of primary voters. But in the latest example of Trump Derangement Syndrome, the fact that Donald Trump is not getting the appropriate number of delegates based on the primary vote results is ok by the Grey Lady. In fact, not only is it ok, but as delegates are being stolen from him, the NYTimes blames Trump for the situation and essentially calls him a cry baby. Nice.

If Only

Why is it that the federal government has the backbone and negotiating chops to put the big squeeze on Fannie and Freddie, but is incapable of securing similarly sweet deals for the taxpayers from previous wards of the state like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan? Indeed, this story about Fannie/Freddie comes on the heels of the ridiculous settlement the feds made with Goldman that isn't even a slap on the wrist to the Titan of Wall Street for all its fraud in mortgage backed securities in the run up to the 2008 Great Housing Meltdown.

For comparison purposes this case is just another indication that not only Washington, but Democrats - including the Obama administration - are in thrall of Wall Street and nothing can break their iron grip.

No Winners Here

The press may have think it found some winning point against Donald Trump in the sordid situation about his campaign manager's arrest for "battery," but the reality is that no one - Trump, Lewandowski, Michelle Fields, the press generally, or the police- comes out of this looking particularly well.

Yes, Trump is standing by his campaign manager after sort of denying the incident. In his defense, it now appears that Trump is denying that the incident is more serious than it is (which is true).

Should Lewandowski grabbed a reporter's arm? No. Should he be arrested for it? No, even though I understand the strict definition of "battery" supports the charge.

Michelle Fields filed a police report after having her arm grabbed. She said she did it to seek the truth after Trump denied it. If only all reporters went after the truth about campaign tax plans and policy proposals with the same tenacity and intensity. 

As per usual, the Washington Post editorial page wrote about the issue, characterizing her as being "manhandled," "roughly grabbed," and "yanked down." Her arm was grabbed and she almost - almost - lost her balance. She was not pulled down and never left her feet. And if a single "grab" is being manhandled then I guess I don't understand the term. Certainly, Fields can hardly be called a "brave" or intrepid reporter in the mold of war correspondents of yore like the deeply missed David Halberstam. Also, way to make yourself part of the story and insert yourself into the presidential campaign. So much for being a disinterested observer.

I suppose the police had no choice but to file the charge after Field insisted pursuing it. It is scary that what Lewandowski did could land him a year in jail according to Florida sentencing guidelines for simple battery. Wow - talk about overcriminalizing boorish behavior. But I doubt we'll be reading a Post editorial about that public policy issue any time soon. 

The Best Thing

Here's the best thing about Villanova being in the Final Four. All of the media coverage your team/college gets. You get to read plenty of stories about the history, the season, and the players. It's the same thing with your favorite pro team in the playoffs. The farther they go, the more (and exclusive) media coverage you get. It really is like re-living the season or seasons past.

When it clicked for Villanova this year.

Great things should be expected, not a surprise for Villanova.

Why Villanova can win it all.

Outta the East

In hindsight, it was probably best Villanova wasn't put in the East bracket. Notwithstanding playing at the Wells Fargo Center, the Wildcats match up better with Kansas than they do UNC - a team that appears to be really hitting its stride.

Villanova vs. Iowa

I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Villanova's 19 point win over 7th seeded Iowa was just what was needed to help purge the Wildcats' second round demons. It was a very good win, and much needed. But I'm not as gaga over Villanova's play as Verne and Spanarkel were, or just about any national commentator and the Philly.com sports writing staff.

I only tuned into the game at halftime. I was thrilled (and relieved) by the 25 point lead. But when I watched the first half on Tivo after the win, I was expecting to see a team on an unstoppable tear. Instead, what I saw was a team that hit a lot of deep 3s and played good defense. It wasn't the "explosive" or dominating play I anticipated.

In fact, their play was pretty ragged. Sure they had a good shooting night, but can you count on that every game? They shot 52% on 3 pointers. Sure their defense forced Iowa into 29% 3 point shooting - but even if they had made their season average of 37% Villanova wins.

All of this is to say that while I'm hopeful versus Miami am not entirely entirely confident.

Some other thoughts:

* Can 6'6" Kris Jenkins dunk? It sure didn't look like it when he tried a 2 handed stuff on a breakaway.

* Josh Hart had about 4 plays - maybe more - where it looked entirely possible that he was going to turn an ankle or blow out his knee. Amazingly, he didn't Knock on wood.

* It's been so long now I can't remember. Does Daniel Ochefu always play as if he is running with one peg leg? Hopefully he is more mobile in another 4 days.

* Fran McCaffrey - local boy nicknamed "White Magic." Who knew.

* Saw the big Villanova banner on the side of the Wells Fargo Center (along with the Sixers and Flyers logos of course). Was that wishful thinking? Villanova isn't the local college sponsor of the second round games are they? The NCAA still doesn't allow that, right?

March Madness

A couple of thoughts about the NCAA basketball tournament selection process:

* Is CBS insane? A 2 hour show to reveal the 68 teams in the tournament. Dear God, the show used to be a half hour long. An hour is plenty. They dragged that thing out forever. No wonder the bracket leaked early. Serves the NCAA and CBS right.

* Speaking of CBS, what was the thinking of completely submarining their regular college commentators and their big moment of maximum national attention in favor of turning over most of the broadcast to the TBS NBA guys - Ernie Johnson, Barkley, Walker, et. al.?  And nothing screams amateurism and college basketball like NBA announcers. 

* Having said that, I thought Barkley was spot on in his assessment of the selection committee. They really didn't want to make Villanova a #1 seed. Heck, I'm not even sure winning the Big East tourney would have made the Wildcats a #1 given that Mich. State was the top #2 seed (in front of Nova).

* It's also hard not to see the 'Nova snub as a slight to smaller schools and the Big East. The NCAA has a habit of doing this to some teams - like Gonzaga. They were an emerging power for years and the NCAA kept screwing them by always giving them an extra hard bracket. And when Gonzaga lost, they would just shrug and say, "see, we told you Gonzaga wasn't ready for prime time." 

That's the way it is looking for Villanova right now after they got moved out of the East and given a second round matchup vs. city rival Temple or Big 10 power Iowa. Pick your poison. Until Villanova can show it can get out of the first weekend expect more draws like this. Oh to be the basketball royalty of Duke, UNC, or Kansas.

* There really should be a limit on the # of teams each power conference can send. The magic of the tournament is David slaying Goliath, not Syracuse trying to upset Dayton. I only wish the mid-majors would at some point rebel against the selection committee's tyranny. (speaking of which, when do you think a mid-major AD will chair the committee? Never?)

For the mid-majors it's Lucy pulling the football from Charlie Brown. Monmouth did everything it was asked to do. Play a hard out of conference schedule - UCLA?! Georgetown. Rutgers. Notre Dame.USC - twice! And yet, when it comes down to it, the selection committee found some nitpicky rationale to deny Monmouth. Because their mid-major in conference losses were just too unfortunate. Give me a break. I'd much rather watch Monmouth play this week than a middling Michigan or Syracuse team. And that doesn't even take into account that entertaining bench! 

As Donald Trump would say, "Sad!"

Chip Kelly's Team

How weird is it that the Titans (and not the Eagles) will now have both Marcus Mariota and DeMarco Murray? Chip Kelly's dream backfield is ready to start 2016 in....Tennessee.

Ochefu

I still haven't seen any coverage much less explanation as to why an obviously lame Daniel Ochefu played - and played significant minutes - vs. Depaul the other night. The announcers at the time rightly explained the nearly invaluable role Ochefu will have in Villanova's tournament success as they were observing his clearly gimpy gait. But there was no information about why Wright put him in the game and kept him in the game, especially against an opponent where he 1) wasn't needed and 2) right befrore the Big East tournament and March Madness. Most frustratingly, there was nothing about in the reports after the game.

Media Love-fest

The least surprising development from last night's debate? The media's hagiographic praise for Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly. The Post's Paul Farhi's big wet kiss of an article complimenting the super hot, super smmart (she's a lawyer Farhi interjects!) is a prime example.

The media loves its own, especially when a mean old politician attacks one of the troops. But has the self-love gotten out of hand? Has the desire to promote Kelly and at the expense of Trump blinded the media to its proper role in the presidential debates much less the campaigns?

Farhi for instance, describes the Kelly-Trump interaction thusly: 

During the primetime debate Thursday night, Kelly landed a series of blows that seemed to leave the GOP's front-runner reeling....
At one point it appeared that the debate was between Kelly and Trump, not among Trump and rivals Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and John Kasich.

Farhi doesn't ask the obvious questions and, indeed, it's not even clear he gave a thought to them. Is it the appropriate role for a moderator/journalist to "land blows" in a candidate debate? Hasn't a debate gone completely off the rails when it appears that the "debate" is not between candidates on stage but a candidate at the podium and a journalist by the cameras? 

These are legitimate questions about the role and responsibility of journalists and news organizations. It's almost laughable that the Post's media reporter doesn't see Kelly's combativeness as a problem worth exploring but the very reason to congratulate her.

Winners?

Gov John kasich and Megyn Kelly's false eyelashes. Curious if Chris cilliza agrees.

Highly Suspcious

If the timing of his accident weren't enough - one day after being indicted - Aubrey McClendon's care "accident" is highly suspicious given that it was a one-car accident, in an obscure area, he wasn't wearing his seat belt and the car burst into flames upon impact. Modern cars rarely "burst into flames" when involved in a one-car straight on collision..