An Open Letter to Glenn Beck

Dear Mr. Beck:

This is a stern warning, you'd damned well better not use this weekend's horrible tragedy as a prop to power up your fear and paranoia machine. I was thinking of you yesterday as your network started to broadcast some of the sick rants of the supposed killer. He had a warped sense of doom. He cited the constitution being ignored. He also spoke of the currency trouble and necessity of gold. These are issues you've tried to scare people in to accepting your warped vision. You're both insane. We're only talking about a matter of degrees, and at least so far, you haven't picked up a gun yet.

We can almost see what's coming in the week ahead. You're going to use this as one more sign of the apocalypse you keep insinuating is on our doorstep. Even if you're careful enough not to blame specific political entities, we've learned how to follow your inferences.

Your frothing madness, mean-spirited sarcasm, holier-than-thou self-righteousness, and rabid demagoguery will be seen in a new light this coming week. Now it's time for us to put the scare in you. You'd damned well better watch what you talk about and what you say especially when you try to work your audience into a fearful frenzy. We've caught on to your "magician's tricks" used in your narratives and how you use books as a prop to take things out of context you surely don't have the analytic abilities to express rationally.

Perhaps some of the positive reflection and the extent to which tragedy can bring the good out in people, this horrible tragedy will mark the beginning of the end for the Glenn Beck fear-monger machine. Folks are going to start saying enough is enough for those who engage in mad exploitation of that which scares them and look for reassurance, consideration, and communion.

You're a one trick pony and your race has been run. Find your seat next to Morton Downey and Joe Pine.

-RMF

Sarah Palin's Latest Enemy: Barbara Bush

CLASS versus TRASH

Sarah Palin: Thin-skinned as ever.

Few American figures are more beloved than Barbara Bush. She’s known for her folksy way of expressing herself and shooting straight from the hip unfiltered and unapologetically. So is it any wonder that in a Larry King interview when asked about Sarah Palin, the former first lady opined bluntly, “I wish she’d stay in Alaska.”

Naturally, in the next interview situation involving Sarah Palin, generally a daily occasion on Fox News or on programs by people closely associated with Fox News, she would be asked to react to Mrs. Bush’s remark. Laura Ingraham’s radio program provided just that forum.

The former governor of Alaska who attempts to cultivate an image for her straight talk said the following of the esteemed Barbara Bush:

"I don't want to concede that we have to get used to this kind of thing, because I don't think the majority of Americans want to put up with the blue-bloods -- and I want to say it will all due respect because I love the Bushes -- the blue-bloods who want to pick and choose their winners instead of allowing competition.”

How about that?

How much evidence does the public need that Sarah Palin is a lightweight, a classless moron, and one who lacks any kind of tact, humility, or ability to deal with criticism.

There are so many ways the Wasilla Wench could have responded to Mrs. Bush’s tart remark. Here are some suggestions.

“Laura, I really don’t want to comment on that.”

“Well, I really like Barbara Bush. I’m sorry I haven’t won her over yet.”

“Ouch, that hurts. Still ol’ Mrs. Bush doesn’t mince her words does she?”

In any case, this was a situation a mature public figure would have immediately sought to defuse and not intensify.

This also reveals how transparent Sarah Palin’s hypocrisy is. Sarah Palin would never miss a chance to criticize the Obama forces for fermenting a sense of class warfare, but what is she doing when a highly respected figure from a dedicated Republican family ruffles her big hairdo?

She appeals to a sense of class warfare between a perceived Republican establishment she chose to identify as blue bloods and that they somehow thwart the public will in some sense. It’s interesting to note where Palin backed candidates were ones drawing significant reservations from the so-called “establishment,” the results were a disaster.
Consider that there were at least three choices in Nevada who were quite capable of being Harry Reid whose defeat would have been a huge victory for American conservatism. Sharon Angle committed one embarrassing gaff after another showing a person truly not ready for prime time. The Republicans had a rare opportunity to pick up Delaware, a very liberal state, but the Palin factor brought in a total embarrassment, Christine O’Donnell, a candidate whose supposed resume was littered with patterns of irresponsible behavior and living proof she was not intellectually capable for the job.

Meanwhile, how embarrassing can it be to the Palin faction that they could win the primary in Alaska ousting incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowsi in favor of Joe Miller? Seeing what was in play and that so much of Palin’s intervention in the Alaskan primary was her personal vendetta against the Murkowski family, Ms. Murkowski chose to run as a write in candidate and it appears it’s just a matter of time for the appeals process to run its course and she will return to Washington as Alaska’s Senator.

Naturally, none of this is the way Sarah Palin would address these situations. It’s all about her and those who persecute her. She cannot refute substantive issues directed against her because quite frankly she lacks the intellectual capability to do so. As such her attacks consist of insulting her opponents or using sweeping generalities supporting her ideology to attempt to brand them.

For someone who makes a living insulting and belittling others, isn’t it amusing how every little insult finds Palin popping off screaming fowl and just like that every remark against her becomes a national story at least on Fox News and supportive talk show programs.

It’s a shame Fox News doesn’t recognize how their organization has been duped into being a persistent shill for Sarah Palin. While they may see ratings and advertising dollars in pandering to an audience willing to support Palin, it seriously compromises their integrity as “fair and balanced.”

Here’s to the former first lady, Barbara Bush. We couldn’t agree with her feelings more.


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"Cojones" Come On!!!

"Jan Brewer has the cojones that our president does not have to look out for all Americans…”
                                                                         -Sarah Palin, Fox News Sunday, August, 1, 2010

Okay, that’s the kind of stuff blogs like this one might say in speaking of the immigration issues in Arizona. This forum is opinion driven and seeks to be purposefully provocative on some issues. This is an informal setting.

However, if the forum were a Sunday morning news program directed to a general audience, a program such as Fox News Sunday, would this be appropriate speaking for a major national figure, one who is attempting to assert that person’s leadership in one of the major parties, would such talk still be appropriate?

Of course not. Such speech on a major show by a major national political figure would make that individual seem like a classless rube.

While Democrats are often crude and insulting, this faux pas was committed by none other than the Wench from Wasilla, herself, Sarah Palin.

To what political constituency would such a comment impress?

Remember, a little over a week ago, the Caribou Barbie excused her lack of skilled use of her English vocabulary arguing her inadvertent use of “refutiate” put her in the same class as Shakespeare whose brilliant language artistry is the stuff of legend. Sarah, you are no William Shakespeare. You are an unsophisticated wench.
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A Master Complaint

What's with the stinking "Dungeons and Dragons" style orchestration CBS is using for its music package for the Masters this year?

This writer rather liked the gentle piano led instrumental fills that were so befitting of the gentle southern environment in Augusta, GA.

At least the new version for "One Shining Moment" was an improvement for the NCAA Championship this year.

The White House Press Room: Floundering in Incompetence

Flounder......................................One Who Flounders

“Fat, lazy, and stupid is no way to live your life, son.” How well we remember Dean Wormer admonishing Kent “Flounder” Dorfman in Animal House. However, today, we have another “floundering” character who needs a similar scolding, something like, “Pompous, arrogant, and clueless is no way to serve as White House Press Secretary, Mr. Gibbs."

How else can one describe the current White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs? While some recent secretaries surely excelled on the dullard scale, case in point Scott McClelland, who the Washington Press Corp enjoyed using to mop the press room floors, Gibbs has a remarkable quality of vacillating between sucking up to the press assembled or hectoring them for having even the slightest gumption to dare seek further clarification of what in his mind must be divine edicts, pronouncements from the great enlightened President for whom he serves.

Certainly our expectations for White House Secretaries must be set rather low. Their job is to present what the White House staff wants the public to hear in as non-specific terms possible and to keep reporters from probing too deeply wanting to control the message so as to present the President and his mission in the most favorable terms possible. Some have done so with a remarkable flare. Mike McCurry, who served from 1995-1998 during some of the most difficult times of the Clinton administration was sharp witted and possessed a friendly demeanor that was most effective while exerting enough control not to let press briefings turn into inquisitions on the Monica Lewinsky affair. While the press was certainly predisposed to loathe President George W. Bush both Ari Fleischer and Tony Snow conducted a very upbeat and professional press room despite each gentleman having very different personal styles. While not as polished or possessing any special flare, Dee Dee Myers for Bill Clinton and Dana Perino for George W. Bush represented their Presidents professionally and handled some of the toughest members of the press without getting rattled.

Enter a new administration with Barack Obama setting the expectation of grand transparency, open communications, and sunshine everywhere. From day one who would not have felt being snookered by the appearance of Robert Gibbs?

Early on, he seemed like the second coming of Scott McClelland, dull, quivering, and easily rattled by tough questions. How many times did the camera catch the fumbling, bumbling boob with the deer in headlights dull gaze muttering, “uh, uhm, uhhhhh, ah……” too rattled to articulate even a brief phrase with any thought content.

While this typically dull response remains a possibility on any given day during the White House briefing, Gibbs has added some new elements to his cold oatmeal personality adding political commentary scolding critics who’d dare question the supposed brilliance of the Obama vision or worse attempts at humor – almost always dull wisecracks aimed at the administration’s critics.

While Sarah Palin’s antics are certainly fair game for late night comedians as she surely gives them endless material for some nasty putdown humor, one does not expect a Press Secretary to have a planned little antic designed to mock a political adversary. Sarah Palin’s little goofy stunt of writing some talking points on her hand to guide her through a Q&A session sure gathered a firestorm of putdowns, negative comments, and ridicule from her opponents. While we condemn some of the most vicious and personal attacks directed at Palin and this episode is a relatively minor issue, we might not like some of the putdowns directed at Palin, but did she not truly bring it all on herself?

Fair enough – such is the realm of political commentators and late night comics. However, for the White House Press Secretary to scribble something on his hand waiting for the right moment in the daily press briefing to take a stab at Palin is as inappropriate as it is unprofessional clearly revealing what a total doofus the man is. His little note had “milk, bread, eggs, something crossed out, and hope & change.” HAR-HAR-HAR a much more advanced comic than Robert Gibbs would have bombed with that one.

Upon his presentation, there was a mixture of sneering laughter as surely this assembly of journalists are no fans of Palin but others were more sneers of contempt as if to say, “Here we go again…oh this is supposed to be … well it’s not really … he doesn’t know how to be funny.”

Let’s put it straight and let it all flow from this. It is no place for the White House Press Secretary to ridicule a political adversary under any circumstance. A press secretary can certainly refute the claims of a political foe. It is his job to correct misinformation with correct information. The White House Press Room is a place for professional conduct where the White House agents act above the political fray. In past administrations some reporters might have asked for a response to some insulting comment an adversary or public figure might have made directed at the President. The professional press secretary would just say, “No comment.” or find some other way to stay focused on the issues at hand.

Later Gibbs attempted to defend his behavior suggesting that even the White House Press Room needs a little humor to lighten things up. Fair enough, figures like Mike McCurry, Ari Fleischer, and Tony Snow knew how to do that quite effectively and the humor was often self-mocking. Robert Gibbs display was far from those standards.

The real casualty of Gibbs terrible performance is that he becomes increasingly difficult for anyone to take seriously and thus all information being made public through him regarding the administration is not taken seriously either.

We see a person who is truly a total lackey for the administration incapable of adding any kind of personal insight or integrity who further fails to understand the importance of his position or to take his job seriously.

For those who feel the Obama administration is a joke, one need go no further than listening to the daily press briefings for exhibit A as proof.

It’s not for us to call for Robert Gibbs dismissal. If this is how the President wants his administration to be presented, that’s his business. We’ve chosen to dismiss taking this character seriously long ago and hope others will do the same.

Some Highly Professional Local Reporting as Winter Storm Brings Out the Best and the Worst in Crab City Residents

We congratulate WBAL-TV, Channel 11, for their highly professional, honest reporting on the horrific snow conditions facing the Baltimore area. While we have not seen too much reportage from the other channels, WBFF-TV, Channel 45, likewise, appears to be doing a most responsible job as well.

While not spending much time watching WJZ-TV, Channel 13, it was no surprise that their schlock personality driven style of news fell short of true professionalism. While 11 and 45 worked hard to put the safety message and citizen responsibility first and foremost, the segments we saw on 13 were the “whoa is me” and “why isn’t the city looking out for me” kind of coverage that reflects badly on the station’s story selection, the Baltimore area residents who come across as crybaby idiots, and the impression one might get of the public at large for how these whiners come across.

The bottom line is we’re all in this together and it’s not going to be easy. This is the time to give our state emergency workers the benefit of the doubt. Most of them are working their asses off to clear off snow and make road conditions as safe as possible. Once things are under control, mistakes will be identified and inadequacies in the system revealed.

We cannot possibly expect perfection in a situation like this. How many millions should the city, counties, and state be prepared to pay for winter storm emergencies when on average for the entire winter, the Baltimore area gets around 18” of snow where most years we get less than that but a few big storms like the ones we’ve seen this year skew the numbers upward?

This is nothing like New Orleans being hit by Hurricane Katrina. For most folks, it’s just a big nuisance. It will surely cause pain for hourly workers not able to get to work and be paid. Some will have property damage to contend with, but almost certainly those who have prepared and respond responsibly will get through this mess just fine even if they didn’t buy two pallets of kitty litter.

We did see one disturbing bit of coverage on Channel 11’s 6:00 pm program. One of their “on-the-scene” reporters (Deborah Weiner) interviewed a couple of men in a luxury SUV inquiring if they were aware of the Snow Emergency Phase 3 warnings that all vehicles without specific authorization are banned from the highways. These Baltimore residents showed a “could care less” and “so what” attitude as if the law doesn’t mater to them. Immediately as their car pulled away, she confronted a Baltimore City Police officer in his patrol car. She asked if he was charged with enforcing the Phase 3 restrictions, and this particular officer gave her an incredibly rude response evading taking responsibility for anything rambling on saying no one’s given him any orders and came across as obviously irritated he was being questioned. As the interview concluded the camera man pointed back at the street showing a few more civilian cars zipping by. This took place on North Avenue near the Pennsylvania Avenue intersection, where two of the city’s major thoroughfares intersect.

While there are plenty of idiots to be found around town at times like these, it was sad that on this particular occasion, one city officer behaved so unprofessionally when the response of other officers, snow plow truck drivers, firemen, and all the folks working so hard to make things right have shown such upbeat spirits and desire to do the best they can. Episodes like this should be followed up on when the snow melts away too.

A week from now, life should be getting back to something resembling normal. Everyone will be inconvenienced and oh my, some of us might not be able to have exactly what we want for dinner or dag-gone-it not have our preferred desert topping for our ice cream. When we look at the big picture, almost everyone has a reasonably safe home, adequate food to eat, and a source of heat.

This is a time to enjoy the company of family, to call those who live alone and count their blessings. Remember those who whine and complain and don’t pitch in to be part of neighborhood efforts to deal with things too. They might just find indifference and lack of attention when their situation might require a little neighborly kindness.

Let this be an adventure that appeals to our better angels.

Dem Baw-Lee-Mur Sportz Fans Will Drive Yew Crazy, Hon

Why are so many Baltimore fans so blue and crabby?

We don't call our hometown Crab Town for nothing, hon. This writer will be the first to defend his hometown for the many fine things we enjoy or if we're unjustly criticized from afar, but darn, while we do have some great sports fans, just witness the roar at any home Ravens' games, listening to local sports talk over the years reveals a subclass of sports fans that are uniquely Baltimore and uniquely terrible.

Every home town has its dumbass sports fans. There are the ones who are self-appointed geniuses who think they know everything. There are the ones who live in fantasy land who think all the star players are readily available at some great big Sam's Club where its just a matter of team owners and GM's picking someone who the fan thinks belongs on the home team, and boom, just like that done deal. Somebody in the Orioles' organization screwed up with Mark Texeira for example. Some fans are just plain dullards. No explanation needed.

In Baltimore, we have a unique form of paranoia that pervades a significant percentage of sports fans. Tune in to any of the local sports-talk stations any given day, you'll hear them. Some of the talk show hosts could be part of this cult. Hello Nestor Aparacio whose radio station has all the power of an average light bulb.

There's a canned speech that preludes most discussions of the Orioles. Peter Angelos, the team owner, is the villain. The speech begins with "He fired Davey Johnson and Jon Miller..".and then lists whatever crimes Angelos might have committed against Baltimore baseball. Hmm, does anyone think Jon Miller's ability to return to his home town and broadcast for the Giants had an appeal for him? Okay, Angelos screwed things up big time for many years. He also inherited a depleted organization. Still, these Baltimore blockheads must have missed the headlines about Andy McPhail's arrival as team President and not witnessed what he's attempting to accomplish. The Orioles are a frustrating mess, but there's an intelligent, informed point of view and there's the weird conspiracies. Don't hold your breath for the day Cal Ripken owns the club.

The paranoia around the Ravens is more surreal. Okay, no city has ever dealt with the heartbreak and insult the Baltimore football fan suffered on that snowy night in March, 1984 when the Mayflower vans packed up the Colts and moved them to Indianapolis. Ask fans in Cleveland how they feel about what happened to the Browns. Sure Cleveland got a better deal than Baltimore, but who won a Super Bowl first? The Ravens or the Indianapolis Colts? The Ravens did. The Ravens are one of the ten best teams of the last decade. Ooops, the Colts are #1. Baltimore fans must accept that Peyton Manning will deservedly be mentioned in the same breath as Johnny Unitas. Deal with it.

Baltimore, we have a football team. They've been here since 1996. They're not going anywhere, and they're pretty darned good.

Oh, but the league officials are out to get the Ravens. The national media doesn't respect us. Wake up, if we heard the sports talk or listened to the radio broadcasts of other cities, they'd surely cite calls that went against them too. There are some pretty sloppy crews, but the crew who handled Sunday's game in New England was superb.

As for the national media, does anyone really care what Colin Cowherd has to say? He's a west coast pretty boy who could just as well be a tabloid or entertainment reporter. Consider the source. Chris Berman tends to dis the Ravens, but he's a front runner. When the going gets good, all of a sudden, he'll be making all his sound effects and weird noises ring true for the Ravens. Are we going to let something Keeshawn Johnson had to say matter? Truth be told, Baltimore gets treated pretty decently. We're developing the kind of reputation fans in Oakland and Pittsburgh enjoy. The only way to enhance it is to have more home playoff victories. The Ravens post season play has largely been a road show.

The Ravens have the opportunity that only seven other teams currently enjoy, a chance to advance to the Super Bowl. Right now, what else matters? We can relish our win last week or look ahead to Sunday's game. The Ravens weren't "supposed" to beat New England. They did. They're not supposed to beat Indianapolis. They can.

That's good enough for this fan.

The Fox and the Tiger

We generally approve of the fine work Fox News provides us given they are the one news source that actually acknowledges there is an alternative point of view besides the self-proclaimed progressives who inhabit all the rest of the news outlets. However, we've documented our concerns about Glenn Beck, but we have another grievance, Tiger Woods coverage, particularly as presented by one of the news media's worst scoundrels, Geraldo Rivera.

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On its Saturday, December 12 broadcast, Geraldo's program spent at least the entire first half hour of his program going into intimate detail on the specifics of Tiger Woods' misadventures including showing interviews with prostitutes and madams. In one interview, Geraldo's brother Craig, asked a Hollywood madam whether Tiger Woods wears a condom when having sex. The madam answered.

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Through out its programs this week that we've watched so we can't speak of Glenn Beck's show (we won't watch his nonsense), virtually every program has given its share of coverage aside from the 6:00 pm Fox Report. When there is major news such as Congress getting ready to spend large sums of money for who knows what, the medical system debate, the war in Afghanistan, the Copenhagen climate change summit, and other real news items, it is unprofessional and unwarranted to give so much fancy to Tiger Woods' fall from grace.

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Sadly, the public now knows Tiger Woods is a womanizing cad. The extent to which his transgressions have gone and the number of mistresses involved is alarming. How much of any of this does the public need to know? That this story generates so much interest is a bad reflection as much on those who are attracted to watching coverage about it as it is on the news media itself whose opportunism is already well established.

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If Fox News seriously wants to be the cable equivalent of the National Enquirer that's one thing, but most of their programming presents itself as serious news. Gawking over a celebrity's downfall is not serious news. It's sick news opportunistically broadcast to attract the prurient interests of some viewers. Naturally, Geraldo Rivera would relish the roll of sleaze journalist gleefully. Considering some of the programs he served as front man for before coming to Fox, no one should be surprised. He is capable of stooping to darned near Jerry Springer's level.

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While we commend Fox News for giving conservatives, libertarians, and independent thinkers a voice including commentary programs like "The O'Reilly Factor" and "Hannity," they cheapen themselves to providing fuel for their credits by too much emphasis on gawker TV.

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Leave the sleaze to channels like E! and other gossip channels. Serious news must know what to avoid to maintain its credibility. Fox News can, should, and must know better than to participate in such garbage.

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Another Jihad Against Fox News: Those Silly Liberals

This story comes from Columbia, Maryland that if there were ever a progressive community by design, it would be Columbia; nevertheless, there are plenty 80's style conservatives living there too. So a local Liberal wingnut is offended FNC is the station of choice on some televisions at her health club. Cry me a river, however, if she works out when Geraldo or Glenn Beck are on, who could blame her? If that's not the case, we forward her case to Bill O'Reilly. We think we found a pinhead.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/bal-md.ho.columbia25sep25,0,3749654.story

Kill the Messenger!!!

I have had ENOUGH of Glenn Beck. Conservatives could generally proudly assert that spokespeople for their movement are civil, rational people when constrasted to the antics seen on "Air America" or from mouthpieces like Keith Olbermann or Janeanne Garafulo.

Glen Beck is beyond obnoxious. He juvenile smart assed behavior is intolerable. He'll be the punch line as the excuse for lots of leftists attempts to discredit the right thinking person.

You'll hear it, "Oh, they're just getting riled up by Glenn Beck." If folks are sitting on the fence and see how this fool carries on, how can anyone not want to dismiss the message because the messenger is beyond reason.

Besides that, some of his sweeping generalties are simply dangerous. This week he made the concept of "social justice" another one of his whipping posts like "the progressive movement" which he presents like some monolithic conspiracy. Beck has a limited range of topics repeating the same tirades night after night, same issues, same whipping posts, same gripes, no thoughtful insight, no intellectual scrutiny, just surly mouthing-off.

He's the kind person if he were in your presence it would all you could do to restrain from hauling back and slipping him across his smirky face.

Let's hope he's used up 14 of his 15 minutes of fame.

RANT: Maybe RMF Watched Too Much Sports This Weekend

Advertisers think this asshole can sell us pickup trucks

and DirectTV. God help us!

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Two Orioles games, four NFL games, two college football games (HOORAY FOR MICHIGAN!), and two NASCAR races while wanting to be able to watch some of the PGA action, more baseball, and USC versus Ohio State, it was just another typical weekend for the All-American guy in Chesapeake Country, but damned those damned advertisements are getting more annoying every season.

Sports Fans: Who Do They Think We Are?

Advertising is supposed to influence our opinion of products and motivate us to but them. However, when we consider what’s going into the marketing behind the ads, what better way to judge what a sponsor thinks of its customers?

Corporate America spends billions on market research to figure out who buys their products and what their interests and push buttons are that could be manipulated to get customers to buy everything from beer to health insurance.

Look at the advertisements you watch on your favorite television programs, and you’ll get a good snapshot of how they assess us, what their opinion is of their viewers.

I conclude particularly for sports fans, they think we’re boorish and stupid. How else can you explain Dennis Leary selling Direct TV with its special NFL programming and Ford F-150 pickup trucks? Excuse me, I don’t want to have anything to do with Dennis Leary. I hate his public persona. Why would anyone find such an insensitive, rude, lout so appealing?

Beer commercials used to be a riot. Remember the Budweiser frogs and lizards or the cat fight in the fountain for Miller Lite? Of course, they were blasted for using cartoon like figures for they might entice children to want to drink beer and surely the feminists went bonkers over the cat fight.

These days, beer ads are more inclined to show the kinds of fellows they think drink their beer and these aren’t exactly the sharpest fellows. They come across as Animal House rejects who’d never make it into the frat because they’d never get accepted to college in the first place. Think of the Heineken Light ad where two goofballs spill their beer, are pitied by the usher, led to the fancy seats, served a couple Heinekens, and then a sharp brown-eyed girl asks, “Hey guys, pass me one. PLEASE!” You get the impression they’re so into admiring their victory and guzzling their brews they’re going to completely blow off this lovely lady. Of course, we could talk about the Coors Light ads where the yahoos question pro-football coaches. Again, they’re not exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer.

Locally in the mid-Atlantic, MASN has been airing their “defining moment” series to promote Orioles and Nationals games on TV. In this series, MASN presents typical fans standing in front of a video display that looks a little like Camden Yards’ scoreboard raving about something that makes them worship their hometown team. The selection of characters provides a broad cross section ethnically, by age, and gender supposed to show the wide appeal of baseball. Fair enough, but obviously most of them were white males from teen to golden years.

How could they find such obnoxious specimens to represent Chesapeake area baseball fans? We’ll even go as far to say that the Washington Nationals fans are definitely more appealing than the Orioles fans. While watching these ads, it wasn’t hard to think of those folks out at the ball yard who think they are the world’s greatest and smartest fans ever to show up with their sacred Elysian Fields before them sitting way too close for comfort who are all too eager to engage every paying customer sitting near them as subjects to their lectures about all they know (or truly don’t know) about baseball as if the very fate of mankind rested on their words. One could also think of the boorish blabber mouth at the local watering hole or sports bar who won’t stop blabbering in a loud obnoxious voice acting like everyone in the facility is his best buddy as long as those persons just quietly nod and bob like a bobble head as long as the self-appointed sports expert feels some kind of enabler’s support for his blathering. These are the kinds of folks, as so well depicted in these ads who make the unwilling subject of their rants just think, “Where can I run and hide?”

If fans made the association these are the kind of people who pack the stands at the ballparks in Baltimore and DC, is it any wonder attendance is so low?

Advertising has always run spots that completely miss their marks, but there are certain trends today that give rise to particularly offensive advertisements. First, the media is so detached and elitist; it feels far superior to its patrons whether it’s how the media covers the news, its programming or advertising. Second, the culture of political correctness and identity politics has invaded Madison Avenue where it’s just as damaging as it is to Wall Street. The only certain result is bland mediocrity and intellectual vapidity.

The irony is the audience for sports consists largely of male viewers in the prime demographics where customers for everything from beer to pickup trucks to financial services are riveted to football, baseball, basketball, and hockey games, NASCAR races, and the PGA tour. Few audiences are more steady viewers. However, in this new multicultural society where all hell breaks loose every time someone of a particular identity is offended, the only people who are allowed to be portrayed as idiots are white men or very attractive blonde females. Yes, men are the dum-dums who depend on their daughters to know when they need to touch up their gray hair and learn how to tie their neckties. Of course look at the burglars portrayed in ads for home security systems. They’re all white guys from 20-40 generally needing a shave. Imagine if an African American were portrayed as a home intruder?

Get the picture. Soon we’ll have the technology to push a button on our TV’s to program in quickie little videos that we can punch up every time there’s an ad break during our favorite telecasts. What device is more personally empowering than the remote control?

ESPN: What's Happened in 30 Years

Here’s some things to think about that have happened since the first Sports Center broadcast on ESPN

In 1979…
Jimmy Carter was President.

No Space Shuttle had been launched into outer space.

Iran held hostages at the US embassy in Tehran.

19” was a big television. 25” for a console.

The personal computer was little more than a dream.

There was no Internet as we know it.

In 1979, the Rolling Stones were considered old – their latest album from 1978: “Some Girls.”

In 2009, the Rolling Stones are still considered old – they do plan future albums and tours.

In 1979, we listened to our music on records and cassettes. There were no compact discs yet. Disco was very popular music with punk rock and new wave bubbling under the surface.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes….

In the NFL, the Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens, and Houston Texans did not exist. The Colts played in Baltimore. The Rams played in Los Angeles. The Oilers, now the Tennessee Titans played in Houston. The Raiders hadn’t moved to Los Angeles then back to Oakland. The Cleveland Browns hadn’t moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens and be born anew. The Cardinals played in St. Louis. All the teams in today’s AFC South either did not exist or played elsewhere.

The following cities have new football stadiums: Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New England, Miami, Indianapolis (two), Tennessee (Nashville), Houston, Jacksonville, Denver, Philadelphia, Washington, Dallas, Detroit, Chicago, Minnesota, Carolina (Charlotte), Tampa Bay, Atlanta, St. Louis, Arizona (Phoenix), Seattle.

Los Angeles has not an NFL team since 1994. 1979 was the era of the Pittsburgh Steelers dynasty with Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, and the Steel Curtain defense.

In Major League Baseball, the Florida Marlins, Colorado Rockies, Tampa Bay Rays, and Arizona Diamondbacks did not exist. The Expos still played in Montreal before moving to Washington, DC to become the Nationals.

There only six baseball stadiums still in use from 1979. They are Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Kaufman Stadium, Oakland Alameda Coliseum (considerable renovation for NFL), Anaheim Stadium significantly renovated for football then redesigned as baseball only park after Rams left to St. Louis, and Dodgers Stadium. It’s hard to believe that Orioles Park at Camden Yards is technically among the older parks in the game!

Among the top players in the game: Reggie Jackson, Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, and Steve Carlton

NASCAR was just becoming a household word outside of the southeast and select gear head territories. In 1979, Dale Earnhardt was rookie of the year. Richard Petty won his 7th championship. Cars had not been downsized and truly looked like and shared metal with their showroom equivalents. General Motors fielded Chevrolet Monte Carlos and Oldsmobile Cutlass’s while Ford raced Thunderbirds and Mercury Cougars.

Happy Birthday - ESPN

30 years....it's hard to believe ESPN has been around for so many all their lives!!!


Thirty years ago today marked a historical beginning but what did folks think of it on the time?

From a tiny studio in Bristol, Connecticut ESPN signed on with its first Sports Center broadcast beginning the first 24 hour cable TV network dedicated exclusively to sports. On September 7, 1979, however, how many households much less sports fans had cable television? Sure in remote cities “pay” television had been available for a long time given only medium and large cities are likely served by all the major networks, but as the 1980’s were on the horizon, at that was about to change.

In its early days, ESPN was a rather quirky experiment. Sure Sports Center brought viewers national sports highlights several times daily with far more detail than fans typically got from the sports segments from their local news. In its early days, ESPN broadcast such things as pro wrestling, Australian Rules football, and boxing, but quickly they found a niche from which they could build a substantial audience picking up on college football and basketball not carried by major networks.

In 1980, ESPN began broadcasting the NCAA Men’s Basketball providing substantial coverage through the season then filling out the Tournament giving full coverage highlighting games from all elimination rounds giving fans access to the event as never covered before. The tournament’s success grew tremendously during ESPN’s reign which included Michael Jordan’s victory shot to give University of North Carolina the championship over Georgetown in 1982. The following year provided one of the tournament’s ultimate Cinderella stories, NC State’s run to the Championship under Coach Jim Valvano. While the finals were shown on CBS, the lead up helped create a following the sport had never seen. ESPN’s success would be its undoing as the tournament became so popular, CBS assumed full broadcasting rights in 1991 for the entire tournament, an arrangement in maintains today.

In its first year, ESPN would be drawn to quite a Pittsburgh affair with the Pittsburgh Pirates who are on the verge of setting the mark for seventeen consecutive losing seasons beat the Baltimore Orioles, now losers of thirteen consecutive seasons, in the 1979 World Series. The Steelers would win the first Super Bowl during ESPN’s reign.

1981 saw ESPN’s first NASCAR broadcast from North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham. EPSN would contract with individual tracks for broadcasting rights showing the majority of races with some on TBS, TNN, and over air networks until 2001 when again their success lead to the sport being so big others would jump in with the national contract putting NASCAR on FOX, NBC/TBS. Since 2007, though Sprint Cup racing is on ESPN and ABC from the Brickyard forward and ESPN, mostly ESPN2 carries the Nationwide series for the entire season.

After the famous CBS broadcast of the 1979 Daytona 500, the sports world was ripe for NASCAR coverage and ESPN was instrumental in feeding that hunger. They covered the building rivalry between Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip who dominated the 1980’s. They saw Bill Elliot win his championship, set the speed record at Talladega, and win the Winston million. ESPN covered the meteoric rise and fall of Tim Richmond all in the first decade which concluded with Rusty Wallace winning his loan championship.

As ESPN grew, soon there was no room for quirky sports like Australian Rules football, but it was fun while it lasted. ESPN also showed society was overcoming many limitations of the past as female anchors joined the team from Gayle Gardner in its early years, then Robin Roberts and Linda Cohn just to name a few. Sports Center anchors and other ESPN personalities became as well known as sports commentators with the traditional networks. Chris Berman (ugh!) and Bob Ley have been with the network since its beginning.

In 1983 an upstart football league, the USFL which had spent big bucks on big talent became another one of ESPN’s big draws feeding fans’ year round appetite for football. In hindsight the USFL did a better job of promoting ESPN than ESPN did helping the USFL become a legitimate sport, but bigger fortune was on the horizon as in 1987, ESPN began its Sunday night football coverage shared with TNT during some of the early years but expanding the extent to which the nation watched select games.

Jon Miller and Joe Morgan were teamed together as a broadcast team in 1989 marking ESPN’s start broadcasting Sunday night baseball. EPSN would maintain a schedule of weeknight telecasts which continue to the present.

ESPN had a brief run with the NBA in the early 80’s before their current engagement and covered the NHL at times as well.

The 1990’s saw ESPN’s popularity explode as cable television had spread to become almost a household necessity. In 1992, they launched ESPN radio which would start grabbing up events held by the traditional networks eventually providing 24 hour a day sports programming to local stations. ESPN2 was born in 1983 originally attempting to target a younger hip audience with such programming as the beginning of extreme sports, largely an ESPN creation. ESPN Classic became a sports oldies station – some games just being days old. ESPN provides instant sports highlights and news 24 x 7. Soon ESPN was worldwide.

ESPN.COM began operation in 1995 quickly becoming one of the web’s most popular sites with scores, team rosters and information, player biographies, and commentary.

By 2000, ESPN was truly a cultural institution.

It’s hard to imagine how any sports fan can avoid a steady diet of ESPN thirty years after its beginning. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, ESPN personalities like Dick Vitale, Chris Berman, Stuart Scott, and many others while stirring up pro and con passion have added their share of catch phrases to the sports vocabulary.

As popular as sports programming is, it’s remarkable to note that ESPN remains the only long lasting nationwide sports network with both ESPN and ESPN2 providing full coverage of live events and original shows. Turner attempted to launch CNN-SI, essentially the same concept as ESPN News. It was short lived. Now Comcast is attempting to make the former Outdoor Life Network (OLN) network into a legitimate sports network branded as VERSUS which carries the NHL, IRL motorsports, some college events, and even the Davis Cup tennis which helped launch ESPN. VERSUS also got on the map with extensive Tour de France coverage. Ironically, they moved their headquarters from Comcast Corporate in Philadelphia to Stanford, Connecticut not far from ESPN’s domain in Bristol. As VERSUS attempted to go primetime, they could not seize ESPN’s Major League Baseball.

Love ‘em, hate ‘em, or a little bit of both, sports fans are drawn to ESPN every week. ESPN served as one of the networks that originally helped make cable television such a desirable commodity along in the early 80’s. We admit we love them, but GADS CHRIS BERMAN, we’ve been sick of him since around 1990!!!

Ernie Harwell: WE LOVE YOU!!!

We were heartbroken to see the news that Hall-of-Fame broadcaster, Ernie Harwell, 91, suffers from inoperable cancer. Harwell was the voice of the Detroit Tigers for most of 32 years from 1960-2002 always noted for his friendly laid-back delivery, knowledge of the game, and loads of stock expressions. Living on the east coast, baseball fans cruising the dial could often pick up Tigers’ broadcast on open channel WJR-AM, but he was also frequently called upon to call post season games to a national audience.

Chesapeake area fans have a special affection for Harwell since he was the voice of the Baltimore Orioles from the team’s beginning in 1954 to 1959 with Chuck Thompson, the legendary Orioles voice and Hall-of-Fame partner, working with him for part of that time before a short gig with Washington before becoming the Orioles lead announcer until Jon Miller’s arrival.

Ernie Harwell hails from Washington, Georgia and would begin his as career a play-by-play announcer working for the Atlanta Crackers, a minor league team in the Southern League where he had been a bat boy since being a young child. His service impressed Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey, who traded catcher, Cliff Draper, for the broadcast contract for the young Harwell in 1948. For trivia freaks, Harwell is the only broadcaster ever involved in a trade!!!

Harwell was broadcasting for the Dodgers in the famous 1951 sudden death playoff game between the Dodgers and Giants for the National League Pennant. The game known for Bobby Thompson’s homerun, the shot heard ‘round the world, with the Giants’ announcer frantically screaming, “The Giants won the Pennant!!! The Giants won the Pennant. The Giants won the Pennant!!!” Harwell was broadcasting for the Dodgers, the victim of the famous homerun so his call is far less significant being on the losing side.

While his other accomplishments add spice to an illustrious biography, it’s his work for the Detroit “Ti-guh’s” for which he will always be most remembered.

Let us celebrate Harwell’s remaining days. Few of the legendary great broadcasters of the Great Generation are still with us. Harwell is part of the unique fraternity that includes Vin Scully, still alive and well calling a limited schedule for the Dodgers, but many more who are just a memory now: Red Barber, Mel Allen, Chuck Thompson, Harry Kalas, Jack Brickhouse, Harry Caray, Curt Gowdy, Herb Carneal, Jack Buck, Russ Hodges, and Bob Prince just to name a few. Before cable television when radio was the main source for baseball, we all learned the game through our hometown storytellers and none did it better than the humble Georgia Gentleman, Ernie Harwell.

Glenn Beck: Who Needs Him?

Finger pointing is one skill Glenn Beck has mastered.


Glenn Beck: Bad for Conservatism

Glenn Beck shouts, rants, raves, calls names, and breaks down crying every weekday afternoon on Fox News. He’s held that time slot since January 19th.

While Mr. Beck can be most perceptive at times, his extreme emotionalism, obsession with some issues, vicious overstatement, and tendency to see the world in apocalyptic terms destroy his credibility on REAL issues. His outlandish emotional outbursts show at very least a lack of maturity and possibly much more.

How can anyone take him seriously on REAL environmental issues when he goes crazy over false issues and then makes sweeping insults about environmentalists in general as among other things being pot smokers? The REAL issue involves the government cutting off water to a valuable stretch of California’s best farm land to preserve some dinky little minnow type fish species. This is a subject that people should know about and debate. He then launched into a rant even dragging out Joni Mitchell’s song “Big Yellow Taxi” for its line, “Hey Mister Farmer put away the DDT now…” then launched into a tirade about how much good DDT used to provide and spoke of studies that as far as he was concerned no human had ever died from DDT exposure. Okay, fine, maybe DDT did help eradicate malaria for instance, but were there not alternatives that were safer pesticides? The answer is yes. Further, in Beck’s eyes, is something only an environmental issue if it kills humans? If so, the man is a total fool. For those of us who grew up along the Atlantic coast, we know that in the 1960’s the pelican population had been all but eliminated. Now they thrive along coastal Maryland and the Carolinas where they were once a very rare sighting.

You’d have to be pretty stupid to suggest environmentalism is a bad thing. Yes, we do question the radical fringe of the movement, those who try to create global warming hysteria, or attempt to integrate attempts to preserve the environment with far left wing politics. It should be every society’s goal for mankind to leave as small a footprint on the environment as possible but all environmental considerations need to be thought through in careful risk/rewards analysis that accounts for both short and long term results and at what economic and social costs.

Beck is obsessed with tracing modern liberal and radical politics to the progressive movement that exploded at the dawn of the 20th century. While surely that is true in many ways, it’s not as if there was some master conspiracy launched by leaders like Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson crossed the Atlantic to create Mussolini’s Fascist state and the Nazis, created the philosophy behind FDR’s “New Deal” and is the secular faith of both Republicans and Democrats alike today.

Yes, there were many “progressive” ideals that grew in the early 20th century, some beneficial, some bad, and some that have long been dismissed as ridiculous. However, in Beck’s world, the Progressive movement is presented as this monolithic threat as if all today’s leaders from Barack Obama to George W. Bush secretly study their progressive playbook to determine how to corrupt society. This is all part of his bizarre apocalyptic vision which becomes a paranoiac delusion to where even John D. Rockefeller’s artistic flourishes in his New York architecture are secretly coded with socialist messages. Talk about overstatement and grasping at straws.

For every factual assertion Beck is able to present, one must first endure long rants and raves about how important his findings are and how overwhelming and terrifying the consequences are, then once his true tidbits are made clear comes the name calling and overstatement sometimes leaping way out-of-bounds such as on the DDT issue that his whole presentation becomes pointless.

The problem for serious conservatives is how the Democrats, media, and left-wing bloggers seize upon Beck’s insanity and through similar approaches to those which Beck himself employs attempts to portray him as a true spokesman for all conservatives when as time passes and we get to know him better, he is coming across much more like a nutcase like Michael Savage and not like more mainstream figures like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

Finally, a common assertion is how Beck lumps the Democrats and Republicans together asserting there is little difference between the two. Perhaps if one is standing as far from the reality of the American political scene as Glenn Beck such an assertion holds true for him. While the Republicans deserve substantial criticism particularly how quickly they became entrenched big spenders looking out for special interests who they rewarded with rich earmarks and how in its final months, the Bush administration went too far too the left in supporting some economic relief measures, they are far better alternatives for the United States than the Democrats.

First, can anyone imagine a Republican attempting to seize private health care for the government? There is no question the Republican Party is strong on supporting anti-terrorist activities, effective intelligence, and strong defense. The notion of “an overseas contingency plan” or “man caused disaster” would be unthinkable in GOP circles. While excessive spending hard part to do with the deficit Bush ran up, look at where the Democrats have spent money in the name of “bailout.” Examine the programs funded, how ridiculous many of them are, and think would this ever happen on the Republicans’ watch.

To lump Democrats and Republicans together as pawns to a secret doctrine of Progressive values which Beck applies from various sources as they are convenient contrivances to support his notions is absolutely out of touch with the hard realities our nation faces right now.

For a fellow who promotes “common sense” what’s most obvious about Glenn Beck’s world is how lacking “common sense” is as a vital commodity.

He’s far more useful as a whipping post and signature stooge for the left to exploit than he is as a source to stimulate productive pragmatic and realistic solutions to the hegemony of the elitist left.
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Remembering Robert Novak: A Voice of His Own

Right Minded Fellow sadly notes the death of Robert Novak, long time Washington political columnist and pundit who provided a compelling conservative voice long before the talk show became the medium for expression. Not only were his column insightful and his opinions sharp, he stood out as a rugged individual, a tough spirit, never afraid to go against the tide of the establishment view in Washington, DC.

Novak’s first big exposure came when he teamed up with Liberal journalist Rowland Evans to create the Evans-Novak Political Report, a six times a week column syndicated to newspapers nationwide. He was originally a Democrat supportive of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, but learning the ways of Washington and seeing the abuses of big government, he became a powerful advocate of limited government and low taxes much more in the Libertarian perspective than that of the conservative Republican outlook. Reflecting this viewpoint, he championed the campaign of Ron Paul for President in 2007.

For many, he was first introduced to them on the Evans/Novak program in the early days of CNN, not as confrontational as Crossfire, as both men had a long established working relationship; it was more like the granddaddy of Hannity and Colmes, two professionals who had lots of positive energy despite their opposing points of view. He was a frequent right-side voice on Crossfire and a regular panelist on The Capital Gang, both landmark programs in the growing cable news industry. Catching Novak’s commentary and observations was one of the few places in nationwide media where a strong conservative voice could be counted on.

Early in his career, a fellow journalist dubbed him as “the Prince of Darkness,” a legacy he’d affectionately carry as an identity. Novak was a truly independent voice never towing any implied conservative party line. He was his own man in recent years who was sharply critical of the conduct of the war in Iran.

Novak became embroiled in the Valerie Plame episode where he revealed her role in the CIA. This revelation led to the makings of a major scandal speculating on who revealed her identity to Novak. The Washington left-wing media and Democrats were screaming for blood sensing Karl Rove could be brought down in the process. It yielded the neck of Vice President Chaney’s Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby who got caught in a perjury trap under very aggressive prosecution. For all the intensity of this scandal, it sure petered out unceremoniously when the real source of the leak, Richard Armitage. While the whole incident was one blown way out of proportion, it did have the effect of tangling up the Bush White House in devoting tremendous resources to defend itself against the all out press of its critics attempting to implicate everyone in the White House food chain. All the while, Novak stood his ground professionally and maintained his journalistic stance refusing to name sources.

Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Now....

Billy Mays

"and the secret is in the ..... "

Television's loudest pitchman died in Florida for reasons unknown other than he was on a US Air flight that experienced some serious inflight turbulance and Mr. Mays might have suffered a bump on the head. Sometimes, those bumps can be not as innocent as they seem as recently witnessed by the untimely passing of Natasha Richardson after a seemingly uneventful stumble at the Quebec Mont Tremblant resort.

Mays has been seen on television selling everything from laundry products to ESPN programming and has probably been the number one source of TV viewers pressing the "mute" button as his approach was loud, louder, loudest.

As obnoxious as Billy Mays' pitches could be, there was something undeniably friendly about the guy that garnered some measure of sympathy no matter how annoying his ads were.

So now the advertising torch gets tossed to a new "hawker." Step forward Vince Shlomi, the infamous "Shamwow guy." This guy is surreal!!! Unfortunately for him, his marketability might be compromised by a late winter encounter with a prostitute who beat the crap out of him and apparently vice versa after a little rough recreation.

Make a Wish

Never argue with a kid who knows his or her stuff on sports. You can bet whatever that kid's passion is, he or she will know all the details of what his or her favorite team has done recently right down to every last stat on a player's baseball card.

We just saw a lovely story on SpeedTV where a young kid from Pittsburgh was granted a wish to serve as a NASCAR reporter at last week's All Star race in Charlotte. This happy-go-lucky red-headed kid interviewed most of the major drivers, some crew chiefs, and sports media figures with more enthusiasm and insight than many real professionals, but even more special was to see this stricken child just loving life fulfilling a dream come true.

The Make a Wish Foundation works with volunteers to make wishes come true for children with terminal illnesses. Athletes and entertainers kindly volunteer to help this special children enjoy a very special gift.

Here's a link to the foundation's website. Check it out. It will warm your heart!!!

http://www.wish.org/help?s_kwcid=make%20a%20wish%20foundation917760391

We salute young Zack and pray for his health and happiness. This young fellow asked a hot question in the NASCAR press booth of Jeff Gordon, when he might consider retirement. He was also right on the money questioning Tony Eury Jr.

Here's to Fox and Speed for helping Zack realize his dream. His enthusiasm was so inspiring.

G Gordon Liddy Hawking Gold

Is it just me? Somehow having a convicted felon, G. Gordon Liddy as the front man to sell buying gold as an investment doesn't seem like credible advertising to me? On what authority does this criminal have to be the proper frontman for financial advise.

He's certainly become popular on the talk show circuit still heard on over 160 radio stations nationwide. Conservatives who find him an informed spokesman surely should do some careful soul searching.

What is Liddy's excuse for his roll in a criminal ploy that was one of the most disgraceful events in American history? "I was just following orders" certainly doesn't fly. We know that in the aftermath of the ravages of Nazi Germany.

Liddy is a sleazy opportunist. He capitalizes on certain feelings of alienation and distrust of the status quo, but is there any figure in recent history who contributed more to promoting the public's distrust of the American government than Mr. Liddy?

After Watergate, the public will be forever more skeptical of our government and its institutions often to a high state of paranoia as shown by how some attack the CIA and the intelligence profession for what they did in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

One must realize, the label "right wing talk show host" is a broad brush. Some figures like G. Gordon Liddy and Michael Savage downgrade the profession contrary to the much more learned and targetted work of others.

So you want to buy gold on Liddy's say so? We have some great investment opportunites for ocean front resort property just outside of Hagerstown, Maryland. Let us know if you're ready to invest!!!

Tony k. We'll Miss You

It might be sacrilegious for a Baltimore sports fan to say this for his occasional barbs at Crab City sports, but we will miss Tony Kornheiser on Monday Night Football. We agree with him a lot of the time, disagree with him frequently, and are left just saying, HUH??" many times, but Tony is a very knowledgeable fellow not afraid to express his opinion with a dry sense of humor. He's a true original, not a dull-witted pretty boy who is glib with the stats. His daily show with Michael Wilbon, Pardon the Interruption, is aways entertaining, a great transition from the working day into the evening.

As Tony would say, "Good night, Canada!"