Earnhardt Junior: The Next Kyle Petty

The names of Petty and Earnhardt are wed in NASCAR history. Only Dale Earnhardt Sr. and and Richard Petty have won seven championships dominating the sport during their times like no other competitors. Both were born with racing in their blood as Lee Petty and Ralph Earnhardt were North Carolina racers from humble backgrounds. Both Petty and Earnhardt passed racing on to their sons, Kyle and Dale Jr. The family business would be much different for the third generation racers as unlike their fathers, they live in the shadows of world famous fathers whose names are well-known far beyond the world of NASCAR fans.

This year's race began with a sad note when the green flagged dropped to begin the 31st Daytona 500 that this was the first time no one named Petty had entered “The Great American Race.” Pity Kyle Petty, clowned prince son of the King. No figure is more synonymous with a sport the way Richard Petty is associated with NASCAR, not Tiger Wood, not Michael Jordan, not Babe Ruth. It seemed only natural Kyle would follow in the family business just as his father did who followed his father, Lee Petty, also a NASCAR champion. Kyle looked brilliant winning his first major race, the 1979 ARCA 200 at Daytona. His early career had its shares of triumph and tumbles, a constant threat to finish in the top ten but not to bring home the big prize, but in 1985 a big opportunity was presented Petty when he was able to run with the Wood Brothers winning his first Cup race the following year at Richmond that year. Kyle took the prize for the Coca Cola World 600 in 1988, but fell off to 13th in points for the 1988 seasonwithout a single win. The Wood Brothers dismissed Kyle leading him to the most successful tenure of his career with Felix Sabates, SABCO racing initially part time for 1989, then with full sponsorship riding full time in 1990 winning at Rockingham and knocking on the top ten in points in 11th position. The ’91 season began with high hopes with sponsorship from the Coca Cola company with a “Days of Thunder” inspired, “Mello Yello,” paint scheme. While racing to 11th position again in points, Petty’s season was all but ruined after sustaining a broken leg at Talladega.

Kyle Petty ascended into the true upper echelon of the Winston Cup field in 1992 winning two races and finishing 5th in points. The ’93 season would be almost as respectable with another 5th place finish in points but only qa single victory. After 1993, Kyle Petty’s career would head straight down hill falling to 15th in points in 1994 then losing his Mello Yello sponsorship. Coors would sponsor Petty in 1995, but the downward spiral continued dropping to 30th in points even failing to qualify for the second Bristol race but achieving his final victory at Dover. ’96 would show a slight improvement in points to 27th but Kyle failed to make the field three times, twice due to injury and once for not qualifying at the end of the season after which he was released by SABCO racing. Petty would never be a real factor in NASCAR’s top circuit again despite having a permanent ride for the next decade.

Though Petty had a brief boost for ’97 racing for his own, Petty Enterprises 2, affiliated with his father’s team with two top five finishes and a 15th position in points, he dropped back to 30th in ’98 with just two top 10’s. ’99 was a helter-skelter year with nine top tens but also a slew of wrecks.

2000 was a year of tremendous hope for the Petty family. Kyle’s son, Adam, was tearing up lower divisions of racing joining the Busch series where his potential was obvious. Adam resembled his grandfather more than his father in many ways leading Kyle to joke that Adam was referring to his relationship with his grandfather, “the son he never had.” Young Adam bore a haunting resemblance to a young King too. At just 19, young Adam was the hope of the future for the Petty brand continuing a Petty into the next generation quickly achieving four top tens in the early 2000 season. The future looked bright when the Busch series travelled to Concord, New Hampshire, but tragedy struck as Adam’s car spun out of control causing a fatal head-neck injury beginning one of NASCAR’s darkest chapter as promising young Winston Cup driver would die of a similar accident at the same track then suffering its greatest tragedy, the death of Dale Earnhardt going into the last two turns on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

Kyle Petty was devastated by his sons loss but vowed to continue his racing career in his son’s honor. He abandoned his #44 ride to continue onward in #45 which was intended to be Adam’s number for years to come in Cup racing. Kyle would assume #45 as his permanent number in 2001 switching to Dodge. Petty would have the worst final position of the regular touring entourage of Winston Cup regulars finishing a lowly 43rd in points failing to qualify 11 times. He’d rebound to a 22nd spot in points in 2002 but would never finish close to that high again as his on-track performance continued to deteriorate as the whole Petty Enterprises operation struggled to stay current with the rest of the NASCAR field even with past champ, Bobby Labonte, and champion crew chief for Jeff Gordon, Robbie Loomis supporting the #43 car.

In 2007, Kyle Petty began his preparations for what could be a natural spot for him after concluding his racing career signing on to be the late former champion, Benny Parsons’ replacement, as color analyst for the six Cup races broadcast by the TNT network. Petty planned to follow that commitment for 2008, but after completing his time in the booth he seldom raced again making his final appearance sputtering to a 38th place finish in Phoenix leaving many to wonder if his driving days were over.

Though never officially retiring and still talking as though he intends to race, Kyle Petty was squeezed out of Petty Enterprises when his father sold major equity in his famous operations to Boston Ventures. Still looking for solid footing, what remained of Petty Enterprises merged with Gillett/Evernham racing relying heavily on George Gillett’s resources. The joint venture would be named Richard Petty racing, but there would be no place for Kyle Petty or Bobby Labonte.

In many ways, Kyle Petty became the laughing stock of NASCAR after leaving SABCO racing. Many questioned his commitment to racing even earlier in his career as Kyle had alternate interests performing as a country rock singer. His lack of performance and laid back fun loving personality made Kyle lack seriousness compared to his famous father whose shadow he could never dream of living up to.

While Kyle Petty’s driving career had turned pathetic, his contributions to the greater good in the name of auto racing stands unrivaled after his son, Adam’s, tragic death. Noting that Adam was interested in using his future in racing to help children in need, Kyle Petty and his wife Patty formed the Victory Junction project that would build a residential care village for children with fatal and chronic illnesses and disabilities. Kyle’s popularity in the NASCAR garage would gain him substantial commitments from other drivers on the circuit. The entire sport would instigate fund-raising activities where drivers like Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, and many others would contribute substantially. The list of drivers who serve as Camp Partners reads as a virtual “who’s who” of NASCAR drivers from recent years in all three of the sport’s top series. Drivers and their organizations use their sponsor building savvy to help find donors to build the camp’s success.

Perhaps a career in broadcasting has always been Kyle’s calling for the best spot for him to be related to his father’s sport. Petty proved most capable of replacing the vastly popular Benny Parsons loved by fans for his television work first with ESPN then NBC/TNT after NASCAR’s huge television deal to begin the 2001 season. Like Parsons, Petty offers a keen critical perspective refusing to play homer for his sport but generally assuming a good humored upbeat personality in the booth.

Sadly, to call Dale Earnhardt Jr. the second coming of Kyle Petty would hardly be seen as a compliment. Both are sons of NASCAR’s greatest drivers, the only two to ever have won seven championships a feat still far away from Jeff Gordon standing in the background at four championships and Jimmie Johnson, still a young driver, holding three consecutive championships and counting. Jeff Gordon is the only driver besides Petty and Earnhardt with more than three championships yet he'd have to win an additional three more to equal them.

Much was expected with Junior’s move to Hendricks Motor Sports leaving the organization his father setup in part to promote his son’s career to begin the 2008 season. While he got his long winless streak off his back, judgment lapses, careless mistakes, and poor communication with his pit crew led by his cousin, Tony Eury Jr. created many embarrassing finishes often in races where the #88 car looked like a winner earlier in the race.

Dale Jr. burst upon the racing world after finishing school and attending junior college at his father’s insistence. Junior wouldn’t rattle around in the feeder series for long before racing full-time for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated winning back to back championships sporting his father’s famous #3. His second year in the Busch series was presented as a tune up to run for Winston Cup rookie of the year in 2000. His car was unveiled with Budweiser sponsorship sporting his grandfather Ralph’s number from his racing days, #8.

Racing full-time on the Cup level in 2000, NASCAR was not used to rookies winning at all though Tony Stewart has started to turn heads the previous season, his rookie campaign. Even Jeff Gordon with all the hype surrounding his rookie season racing for Hendricks did not achieve his first victory until the Coca Cola 600 in his second year. Junior would show much of his father’s racing talent from the beginning but racing more as a careful craftsman more like the styles of Mark Martin or Darrell Waltrip once he settled down into championship form. Junior won two points events and the Winston All-Star race. His playful, friendly personality stood as making him his own man in stark defiance to his father’s often sarcastic always competitive persona on and off the track. Dale Earnhardt Jr. learned the media relations side of the sport so well.

Nothing could look more promising than Junior’s 2001 season. Despite racing only one year, he was chosen by many to give his father the race of his lifetime for the Daytona 500 trophy. DEI racing was now a three car operation with Dale Jr. #8, Steve Park #1, and long time veteran, Michael Waltrip #15. That Daytona 500 would be NASCAR’s most fateful day. Going into the final laps, it was all Earnhardt, with Michael Waltrip and Dale Junior battling for the win while Dale Senior held back the field in third. Fans wondered if the veteran Earnhardt could pull together a drafting train to rival his two entries just in front of him. No draft developed as Sterling Marlin, Ken Schrader, and other drivers struggled for position behind Senior going into the final turns on the last lap where Marlin’s car and Earnhardt Sr’s car made incidental contact but that was just enough to destabilize Earnhardt’s ride crashing hard into the wall and suffering a secondary crash from his long time friend, Ken Schrader piled into his car. While Dale Earnhardt lost his life enjoying his one sanity zone, behind the wheel of his familiar #3 Chevy, two of his drivers were crossing victory lane. Could Dale’s last memory be that he was the winning owner for the top two cars in that infamous race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. would soldier on the following week in Rockingham, North Carolina finishing in a dismal last place after sustaining a vicious accident that bore haunting resemblance to his father’s fatal crash at Daytona. Despite having the whole racing world’s attention trained on him, Dale Jr. competed with grace and courage winning two races, one at Dover and the second at Talladega securing a Winston million dollar bonus for his team. Earnhardt Jr. was an overnight sensation becoming NASCAR’s most popular driver inheriting his father’s fans while developing a hip new generation of fans of his own.

Hopes were high for Junior in 2002 though he raced most of the season possibly impacted by a concussion suffered in the Fontana, California race. Junior furthered his reputation as the king of restrictor plate racing, however, winning both races on the 2.55 mile track at Talladega. He finished in 11th, one position short of a seat at the Waldorf-Astoria winners banquet.

2003 was the year that Dale Earnhardt Jr. established himself as the true heir to his father’s throne shaking his reputation as just a restrictor plate genius taking his gains to the one mile tracks in Dover and Phoenix. He finished 3rd in the championship standings, now a true contender.

No longer just the kid, but a mature racer in his own right, the 2004 season started with high expectations and the younger Earnhardt delivered accomplishing in his 5th season that which would prove so elusive for his old man with a brilliant Daytona 500 win. He’d win a career high six races in 2004 while ending the season in 5th place in the standings. His season was severely threatened by his competing in a Grand Prix event in mid-July at Sonoma’s road course where he crashed and sustained severe burns that required him to enlist the help of backup drivers. Despite the injuries, Earnhardt roared back to dominating form in Bristol where he won both the Busch (Nationwide) race and Nextel cup fender-bender-fest. As the curtain fell on the 2004 season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had legitimized himself as one of the sport’s top driver whose performance was starting to equal his vast popularity.

2005 would see the DEI operation descend into apparent chaos as Tony Eury Jr. was sent to sure up the #15 team with Michael Waltrip and Junior struggled through out the season scoring one win in Chicagoland. While continuing his high popularity with the fans and becoming increasingly successful in many off the track ventures, Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished an embarrassing 19th in the final points standings.

2006 would be the first of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s “prove it” years. He’d score only one win, but achieved a 10 top 5’s, and 17 top 10’s putting him back into contention with a May victory at Richmond and a finishing in 5th place in the final standings.

As if 2005 wasn’t troubling enough, 2007 would be Dale Earnhardt Junior’s season of discontent. He was racing as a free agent with his contract with DEI set to expire at the end of the season and negotiations proved contentious with his step-mother and father’s widow, Teresa Earnhardt. On May 10, 2007, Junior announced he would not return to DEI indicating he did not feel the team had the resources to support his desire to win a championship. Speculation ran wild where he would wind up the following year with Childress and Gibbs appearing to have the edge before. Speculation would only last a month when the big announcement was forthcoming, Dale Earnhardt Jr. would race for Hendricks Motorsports nudging out young racer Kyle Busch who quickly signed with Joe Gibbs racing for the next season. Neither Budweiser sponsorship or Dale’s family number of car #8 would stay with him. Budweiser broke ties with DEI and Teresa Earnhardt refused to relinquish #8 to Dale Jr.’s effort hoping the #8 would retain some marketing value with a new driver and new sponsor for 2008. On the track, 2007 was a miserable season as Earnhardt and his sidekick Eury Jr. were destined to Hendricks the following year. Junior finished the season winless for the first time with one pole, 7 top five finishes, and 12 top tens only good enough for a weak 16th in final standings.

Now racing in car #88 for the monolithic Hendricks team responsible for seven championships from 1995 forward, much was expected from Dale Earnhardt teamed with Tony Eury Jr. as his crew chief but with the vast resources of the Hendricks garage behind him. How would Earnhardt perform as the third driver behind champs Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson who welcomed their new teammate with much anticipation. His tenure started off brilliantly with his new team dominating the Bud Shootout and a strong victory in his bracket in the twin 125’s but this would only catapult him into Victory Lane for the Daytona 500 finishing in 9th. The second race of the season proved costly. The California racetrack was drenched in rain leading up to the race which was ultimately interrupted by lengthy rain delay. finally when the race resumed the pavement still appeared to be “weeping” with water oozing through seems in the racing surface. In 21st lap, teammate Casey Mears wrecked, collecting Junior’s drive in the process. Dale Jr. was quite outspoken in his criticism of NASCAR for allowing competition in such horrible conditions. Quickly, the new #88 rebounded having a brilliant spring with multiple top 5’s and top 10’s culminating with the first Michigan race in June breaking Dale Junior’s long winless streak where a brilliant fuel conservation strategy helped him pull off a green-white-checkered victory. His only noncompetitive finish during this run was a 35th finish at Dover with a 12th and 15th place finish representing his only finishes outside the top ten. After the Michigan win, Junior would only enjoy five top ten finishes, three top fives, as the mistakes, miscommunication problems, and bad luck overwhelmed the team. Nevertheless, they stood in 4th place when the chase began with only Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Carl Edwards ahead of him. He’d begin the chase with a 5th place finish in New Hampshire but the following week in Dover, a 24th finish, would drop Earnhardt to 9th effectively ending his quest for the championship. Only a 2nd place finish in Martinsville showed any flair of a true contender in the final stretch with but one other top 10, a 6th place finish at Phoenix.

The move to Hendricks showed much potential in the first half of the season where mishaps could all but be written off as bad luck, but as summer heated up the disturbing lackadaisical chaos returned even requiring Rick Hendricks to summon his racer and crew chief to mediate what was becoming a dysfunctional relationship with far too many communications breakdowns. Two major goals were accomplished, breaking the winless streak and making the chase, but by the time the field was set after the September race in Richmond, despite still holding on to 4th place, late race mishaps and pit row booboos became an all too familiar theme.

2009 becomes another “prove it” season for Dale Earnhardt Junior and his cousin Tony Eury Junior. The Bud Shootout, usually an exhibition for Junior’s mastery of Daytona did not go well for #88 with a mediocre 18th finish in a field of 28 cars. Having qualified 12th for the Daytona 500, they could only achieve a 7th place finish in their segment of the Twin 125’s.

This year’s Daytona 500 was an Earnhardt Junior’s fan’s worst nightmare. First were the pit errors, a devastating theme from last year, missing his pit stall on one round and then failing to position his car within the lines during the second. These miscues put Earnhardt a lap down. In racing to gain the “lucky dog” spot, the first spot one lap down, Junior battled Brian Vickers for the spot. Though Vickers raced unusually aggressively for this point in the race throwing the block on Earnhardt, his efforts were just tough, hard fought racing. Earnhardt looked to have only marginal control over his car dipping down over the yellow lines though he could surely argue he was forced there, but then when Earnhardt bumped Vickers it looked way too similar to an event from the Nationwide race the previous day when Jason Leffler was given a five lap cool down penalty for his infraction. Earnhardt’s move eliminated Kyle Busch and other drivers from contention in what turned out to be this year’s big one. However, Earnhardt’s follies weren’t over. Attempting to go three wide after a restart Junior forced Jeff Burton, a skillful and cautious driver into the wall.

For fans who were looking for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to show new discipline and determination in his second year with the Hendricks championship mill are surely scratching their heads and ready to scream in frustration as the 2009 Daytona 500 served as a microcosm for all that has troubled Dale Junior in recent years giving him no one but himself to blame since Tony Eury Jr. is his handpicked choice to serve as his pit boss, but in fairness to Eury, the team’s foibles seldom seem to rest in his hands.

Surely, Rick Hendricks has far too much invested in the sport’s most marketable driver to allow such dreadful performance to continue. Hendricks is a great motivator and with the highly respected veteran, Mark Martin, on board, Junior has plenty of guidance to maximize his driving talents. His off the track efforts continue to flourish including the success of JR Racing as one of the Nationwide Series most competitive operations. Despite his multiple racing mistakes often ruining the fortunes of other drivers, Dale Junior is still one of the most well-liked personalities in the industry.

Time is running out for Dale Earnhardt as a serious contender in Sprint Cup competition. How much time does he have left before he develops the “nice guy – so-so racer” reputation that Kyle Petty endured. Expectations have been higher for Junior than Kyle and the personal cost has been higher having lost his father just one spot behind him on the race track in 2001. Kyle never was expected to compete for a championship though he did have some good seasons. From when his first season in Busch competition looked championship-bound, talk surrounded Dale Junior as to just how far he could follow in his famous father’s footsteps. From day one, he was being groomed to be a future Sprint Cup championship. There is nothing to suggest that Dale Jr. doesn’t have the talent to do so as he has shown the ability to win on every kind of track besides a road track achieving his victories using almost every imaginable strategic approach there is from fuel mileage, to careful time play and partnerships, to just plain all out fender banging aggressiveness though still polite compared to his dad.

It’s all about winning, Junior. His attention deficits and at times displaying a certain arrogant indifference to accepting responsibility for his mistakes appear to be the main deficiencies separating him from being a good, slightly above average driver, to a truly great driver.

Everything is in place for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to have a breakout season. Can Dale Jr. find the tough as iron single-mindedness that made his father perhaps the most skillful driver ever to compete in NASCAR. While Richard Petty is unquestionably the most successful driver ever to compete in the sport his resources compared to the rest of the field generally far exceeded anything his competition had to offer where Dale Sr. had highly supported operations like Junior Johnson’s, the Wood Brothers’, and Petty to face early in his career and then raced against today’s modern powerhouses of Roush, Hendricks, and Gibbs.

Dale Earnhardt still has the potential to become remembered as one of the sports’ greatest drivers, maybe not in the top 10 but the top 25 or Hall of Fame potential for sure. No one would ever mistake Kyle Petty for that kind of driver. Dale’s father’s generation is down to just Mark Martin racing full time with part time rides from Bill Elliot and an occasional cameo performance from Bobby Labonte still in competition. Even Ken Schrader is nowhere to be found in the garage though his latter years were embarrassing. Dale Junior will find his mark depending on how he sizes up against teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson, obvious top 10 all-time candidates and a field of drivers including his peers, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, and Kevin Harvick. The next wave of great drivers is starting to arise with Kyle Busch as the current leader of that pack. Among Joey Legano, Sam Hornish, Scott Speed, and Juan Montoya could be the next true contenders.

Stevie Waltrip, Darrell’s wife, always gave Junior’s father a verse of scripture before each race. Perhaps no wisdom could be more appropriate for Dale Earnhardt Jr. than the Biblical wisdom of Luke 12:48, “to whom much is given, much is required.” While this quote has become widely quoted in the speakers’ circuit, its ageless wisdom applies so succinctly to Dale Earnhardt’s plight in 2009.

Kyle Petty has accepted he has been given much and Victory Junction shows his realizing his obligations to the world at large. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s mission still hasn’t been completely defined, but for now, he must live up to what is expected of him on the race track.

Kyle Petty and Dale Earnhardt Junior share bonds that will never escape them trying to deal with the automatic expectations of being sons of famous fathers both who won seven Cup championships. Both suffer the sorrow and emptiness of losing their flesh and blood in racing, Kyle losing a son and Dale losing a father.

From a character standpoint, for Dale Earnhardt Junior to be compared to Kyle Petty should be seen as an honor; however, as racers that comparison suggests a person with limited talents not up to the rigors of the highest levels of competition where his father excelled heroically.

We believe Dale Earnhardt Junior has the talent and the character to be one of the sports’ most famous drivers. At 34 years old, his destiny is in his hands but no one should ever suggest being Dale Earnhardt Jr. is easy. His jovial personality, quick wit, and wide catalog of active interests disguise he’s a man who will always have his father’s legacy and premature horrible death to contend with while having a contentious relationship with his step-mother who inherited his father’s family business leaving Dale Jr. no seat at the table.

Matt Kenseth, Jack Roush Racing Backup Car to Win First Daytona 500, But…

Somehow a rain-shortened victory doesn’t seem quite as sweet as when fiery competitors are going at it side by side going for the win down to the last lap as the races the last two years, but when the season ends in Homestead, Florida next November it will count as a win and 190 points regardless.

There were some disappointing moments in today’s race. With Brian Vickers in the #82 Red Bull Toyota and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88 Amp Chevrolet) were a lap down, in a poorly executed dual, Vickers attempted to block Earnhardt who then in turn tried to move Vickers out of the way causing “the big one” that took Kyle Busch out of the race. No matter how one scrutinizes this scene, Junior's decision making at best was questionable.

Winning the race gets a big monkey off Kenseth’s back who failed to win a single race last year racing well enough to make the chase but looking weak in the final ten weeks of the season. It is also a well-deserved victory for the Roush/Fenway team. While winning in virtually every imaginable circumstance, restrictor plate wins have been rare, and the Daytona 500 Harley Earle trophy elusive despite fielding some of NASCAR’s most productive teams in the last 23 years.

Elliot Sadler surely deserves much credit for his fifth place finish having led most laps between the big wreck and Kenseth’s move to take the lead. Sadler was being pushed out of his ride as a result of the Petty/Gillett/Evernham merger to place A.J. Allmendinger in his ride. Putting that behind him, Sadler gave up a spot to advance Allmendinger in their 125 race to assure him a starting spot in the race. Allendinger finished third and Reed Sorensen 9th while Casey Kahne finished deep in the field toward the tail end of the lead lap. These results find this new merged operation looking strong in the first race of the year.

Rounding out the top five were two Childress teammates, Kevin Harvick in a backup car finished second and Clint Bowyer for the new #33 Cheerios Chevy finished fourth. Roush placed another car in the top ten with David Regan finishing 6th with his new UPS sponsorship. Michael Waltrip continues to improve from a disastrous debut for Toyota two years ago in the 7th spot. Tony Stewart finished in 8th for his new team in his backup car. Stewart was the highest finisher for Hendricks horsepower. Sorenson and Kurt Busch rounded out the top ten. Pole-sitter, Martin Truex Jr. finished 11th and David Reutimann showed more strength for Michael Waltrip racing in 12th. Jeff Gordon was the top Hendricks Motor Sports finisher in 13th.

Last year’s champ, Jimmie Johnson, had a terrible ride today finishing next to last on the lead lap in 30th position. Mark Martin could only master a 16th place finish boasting he had plenty left if the rain delay would have ended. Rousch teammates from last year’s chase, Carl Edwards finished in 18th and Greg Biffle finished in 20th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. got off to the kind of start that was exactly the kind of performance he needed to avoid to overcome the kind of problems that put him low in the chase last year. Looking strong early in the race, Junior fumbled on pit row failing to get his car within the white lines for his pit stall resulting in a penalty that put him a lap down. Rightly or wrongly, many fans will see his moves as responsible for today’s big wreck. Momentary lapses and mistakes destroyed Junior’s season in 2008 as the year got into the money rounds that really count from the late summer until the end of the year.

A mishap among rookies, Scott Speed and Joey Logano wrecked the #20 Home Depot Joe Gibbs Toyota finishing in dead last. Kyle Busch finished in 41st being the worst victim of the “big one,” making opening day a disaster for Joe Gibbs Racing with Denny Hamlin their top ride in 26th spot.

Ryan Newman, last year’s winner, finished a frustrating trip to Daytona in a 3rd car buried in 36th place.

We identified five crucial factors to watch for in determining the outcome of the Daytona 500. Our first factor, the weather proved to be the most significant as did our fear of “The Big One.” Backup cars proved not to hinder the top two finishers. There were some tire problems, but nothing out of the usual though bad rubber helped contribute to a bad day for Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson leading to our final consideration, Hendricks horsepower which did not show up strong in today’s event.

The big stories from this year’s 51st running of the Daytona 500. Congratulations are due Matt Kenseth and Jack Roush for their first Daytona 500 win. One can hardly say that Ford showed restrictor plate dominance however. The strong showing of the new Richard Petty Racing team will make this year’s chase for the chase a much more contentious field beyond the big four who have dominated the chase so dominantly in years past. Also, Michael Waltrip’s team with both cars in the top 12 shows them ready to compete as true racers not just trying to hang on to secure a spot in the top 35 to be locked into the field. the final story, of course, is the miserable finish for Joe Gibbs, but given Kyle Busch led the most laps until his accident, they’ll be back in short order.

The Sprint Cup caravan travels the distance of I-10 to Fontana, California next week where the field will face much more typical competition, the kind of racing all teams must master to have hopes of the ultimate trophy, the championship trophy in Homestead with Thanksgiving right around the corner and the NFL chase for the playoffs well underway.

The first course of what the Obama Presidency joining forces with the Harry Reid/Nancy Pelosi congress has been served and the long term economic and social structure of the United States of America is at stake.

Gone is the campaign happy talk of hope and change you can believe in replaced with threats of catastrophe and doom. In a measure full of fat and lots of sweets for the traditional Democratic special interests groups, what’s severely lacking is anything of substance that will truly help stimulate the economy. In less than one month of the Obama Presidency, American society has been transformed more substantially moving toward a caretaker state than the total of the entire Great Society of Lyndon Johnson essentially undoing all the reforms achieved by Ronald Reagan’s visionary approach toward expanding the economy through expanding free enterprise opportunity and a strong national defense and gains achieved in the early stages of the house and senate turning to Republican rule under the “Contract with America.”

Here’s the epitome of the classic Obama supporter in full overdose mode on the Obama stimulant. This is from the President’s trip to conduct a so-called “town hall” meeting to push his dopey legislation last week. This is NOT a skit from Saturday Nite Live. It is real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO3kHC61I88

Doesn’t that punk make you glad you’re not a Democrat? And what flavor Kool Aid was he gulping?

The welfare reforms achieved by a Republican congress and Bill Clinton’s approval have all but been eliminated. Substantial funds are going to social welfare and reengineering programs consisting of a laundry list of social causes and pet projects that have long been the stereotyped image of the loose spending nanny state. Aid has even been targeted to the film making industry in Hollywood. How is that for undisguised rewards for blind loyalty as the celebrity crowd not only paid generously during the last eight years to discredit the Bush Administration through slander and misinformation through their mouthpieces like MoveOn.org and DailyKOS, but also went head over heels in their support for the Obama campaign like a love struck teenager high on sniffing glue, Diet Pepsi, and pop rocks?

That a measure with so many funding provisions with such a high price tag would be rushed through as quickly as it was with no time to be published for public reaction defines what it means to “pull a fast one.” In providing the final draft of the bill after clearing house and senate conferees, the Democratic leadership would not even provide the bill in electronic form to allow for easier research and searching for details. The Obama/Pelosi/Reid Socialization Act of 2009, weighed in over 1,000 pages. In the amount of time between finally being approved and presented for vote, no legislator could possibly have read the whole measure much less delegated it to staff and had ample time to confer and follow up on concerns over specific provisions. “The Devil is in the details” couldn’t be more appropriate as given the far reaching impact of where this spending is directed will surely result in “hell to pay” in the future both in terms of the actual cost of paying for the obligations it creates but also in expansion of the size and roll of government which permanently alters the ratio of money between the public and private sector. The private sector creates capital while the public sector squanders it. Further, as in any measure where public funds go to bailout or stimulate private sector entities, substantial requirements, the proverbial strings attached, divert private sector activity from productivity to documentation of compliance that government regulations are being adequately implemented.


Even for the sake of discussion, the pork barrel provisions in the government stimulus, we should say narcotic, bill are far too numerous to even begin to articulate but some of them are such powerful illustrations of the abuse and arrogance of power. The government nationalized passenger rail service in the 1970’s when it created Amtrak which constantly loses money while reducing the quality and level of its service. Harry Reid represents Nevada. Pork for the big pig supreme, construction of a high speed railroad from Los Angeles to Las Vegas is one massive Federal program in the bill creating an umbilical cord making the huge palaces of excess for the entertainment industry interconnected. At a time when California is struggling economically, this provides a one-way ticket for California money to be spent in Nevada on glitter and gambling.

The supreme arrogance of power is astonishing beyond anything seen in American politics. The shift to the extreme left is also especially disturbing as it reveals the true nature of the so-called “Blue Dog” Democrats who ran on a sense of fiscal conservatism mocking the big spending habits of the GOP during its majority rule. As shameful as those GOP excises were, they are but chump change compared to what the Obama Abolition of Free Enterprise as We Know it Disguised as a Stimulus program offers.

Going into the efforts that resulted in this bill, Obama was portraying himself as a consensus builder looking for a bipartisan seemingly centrist approach to attempting to breathe life into a dormant economy but the real Obama, the sweat talker who addresses the public in carefully measured surely focus group confirmed language, condemns the bill’s opponents and Republicans sounding like an angry Negro, and revealing through and through here’s a guy who never worked in the Senate long enough to properly understand how spending measures can snowball out of control and the content of the bill he so eagerly embrace likewise upholds his reputation of having been the most liberal member of the Senate from 2006-2008. Be nervous whenever Obama tries to sound African-American, as it’s all a put on for a fellow who never was immersed in an environment where such speaking habits could be learned until much later in life after his Ivy League education. It’s all an act to try to shake off his image as an ivory tower elitist.

Though the connection might not be immediately seen, it is not ironic from the big picture point-of-view that while the Obama-Pelosi-Reid Stimulus-Should-Be-Called-Narcotic Act of 2009, the Obama Administration is moving functions of managing the census from the Commerce department to the White House making the census count a much more political and less administrative activity. While attempting to cast a bi-partisan veneer on his administration by nominating Republican New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg after their golden boy nominee, Bill Richardson, former cabinet official in the Clinton administration, was forced to withdraw as a Federal corruption probe was inching ever closer to the sitting governor’s fat neck, the clear intent was that Gregg be Secretary in name only, vanity window dressing for an administration with other plans. The real agenda was political in moving the census to White House control. Is it any wonder Gregg withdrew his nomination? Gregg also voted against the Stimulus/Narcotic Bill.

Why is the census so crucial? Representing far more than just gathering data on where the United States population resides, these figures are used to determine representation in the House and the dispersal of targeted Federal Funds based on identified populations documented by the census count. Since the census does not represent a hard count of actual citizens and employs sampling and other statistical techniques, the methodology and how it is employed can be manipulated to create predetermined desires for certain outcomes. Besides that, political decisions determine who is and is not counted as shown by the last census. In North Carolina with its huge military population, its military bases were established as the residence for soldiers whether stationed there or overseas. In Utah with its substantial Mormon population, thousands of Mormons were serving overseas to fulfill their missionary commitments. They were not counted. North Carolina gained a congressional seat. Utah would have gained a seat had their overseas population been tallied. Further decisions can be made to help award population in certain parts of certain states where politically friendly governors can supervise redrawing congressional districts favorable to the party in power.

Politically drawn congressional districts are nothing new to the Mid-Atantic. There is the famous Interstate 85 corridor where a North Carolina congressional district was essentially the width of that Interstate highway to connect two predominately African-American population centers, one in the Raleigh-Durham area, the other in Charlotte, to create what would be a sure Black seat in congress. Meanwhile in Maryland, traditionally, its 1st, 2nd, and 6th congressional districts have trended Republican. Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore are primarily rural and small town populations strongly Republican. The 2nd district represented wealthy suburbs and exoburbs in Baltimore and Harford counties, strong conservative territory. Under the corrupt and incompetent leadership of Parris Glendenning, Governor of Maryland in 2000, the Maryland congressional map was radically manipulated to dilute the strong conservative populations for the West (5th district) and Eastern Shore (1st district) while rearranging districts surrounding Baltimore to ensure strong Democratic representation. Now the 6th district extends from western Maryland all along the northern boundary to the Susquehanna River dipping into the Baltimore suburbs along the York Road and Reisterstown Road corridors, both major arteries around which suburban population centers grow.


The 2nd district was pushed deeper into the industrial and more impoverished east side of Baltimore County. The 3rd district, one of two which took in much of Baltimore City begins in the Annapolis area, then twists and bends northward through Baltimore taking parts of the York and Reisterstown Road communities. A slice of the 1st district cuts east/west across Baltimore County crossing York Road into Owings Mills and Reisterstown. The Second District, now follows the western shore of the Chesapeake crosses the Patapsco River to take in Northern Anne Arundel County and South Baltimore while having another meandering strip through the north suburbs crossing the York Road and Reisterstown Road corridors snaking around to comprise about 1/3 of Baltimore County’s western boundary with Carroll County including the community of Randallstown. Maryland’s 3rd District snakes its way from Annapolis to Reisterstown at one point only being the width of Northern Parkway in Baltimore City to connect Parkville with Towson two adjoining suburbs which have a huge wedge cut between for Paris only knows what. Finally, the firmly minority district representing most of Baltimore City, the 7th District now extends far west of Baltimore including Catonsville, a very conservative traditional community, Columbia, and the largely semi-rural parts of western Howard County, largely white middle to upper middle class. Given the Afro-centric politics of minority districts, Catonsville and western Howard County have essentially no representation of their interests in Congress.

The absurdity, one can travel up York Road within a few blocks of Cockeysville and travel through three districts, only a small part of the 2nd district which once represented this community in total passes through while most of this large bedroom community is split between Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore. Travel south on York Road to the county seat of Towson, another District, the 3rd then back into the 2nd and then moving into the 7th only three blocks into Baltimore City.

The effect of Maryland’s redistricting is two fold. First, regions with similar needs and concerns are sliced up so that the real purpose of what the House of Representatives was supposed to serve to represent the people has instead been converted to one of political opportunism. Baltimore’s two most populated surrounding counties effectively have no clear voice in Congress. Harford County, one of Maryland’s fastest growing districts has no local representation. Effectively divided into thirds, the top third is lumped in with Western Maryland, the middle third is set with the Eastern Shore, and the southern third which includes substantial military population is lumped in with the industrial region of Baltimore County.

The second effect was to give the Democratic party a death grip on Republican congressional representation in Maryland. Most of the Democratic strength in Maryland resides primarily within the Beltways of Baltimore and Washington and the corridor between the two cities. Now only Western Maryland’s district which takes on the northern populations of Baltimore and Harford counties, likewise Republican strongholds, remains intact. The Eastern Shore could be a toss up but has been diluted by carefully adding strong Democratic areas on the western shore of the bay. In the last election, a Republican from the western shore ran against a Democrat from the other side of the bay and lost. The second district once represented the northern suburbs of Baltimore, most of Baltimore County and most of Harford County. This area was Republican, though a little more moderate than the strongly conservative west and Eastern Shore. Drive from the Baltimore City line ten miles north through the county seat of Towson and one would pass through four congressional districts, but once north of Towson along York Road, the main drag, at the outer end of the suburban sprawl rests Cockeysville, where in less than a mile, what’s left of its old district, one that represents the eastern shore, and one that represents western Maryland. This is all within one zip code, one elementary school district, just a handful of stop lights!!! As such, Maryland was a state with three strong Republican districts and a 4th district that belonged to a Rhino (Republican in Name Only). Now Maryland has only one strong Republican district and another that can easily be reduced to a toss up which turned Democratic in the last election. An honest mapping that reflects easily defined geographic areas with populations with similar interests and concerns would make Maryland a state with three certain Republican seats and four Democratic seats with one area that could possibly be designed to go either way, is so obvious. An honest application of census data would only involve moving boundaries a little bit one way or another based on balancing out the population. What was never intended is the farce cynically created by crass political opportunism that is the Maryland map today.

There can be little doubt that the kind of political use of the census is exactly what the Obama administration intends by moving the Census lead to the White House. Remember, Barack Obama is a product of the Richard Daley machine of Chicago politics one of the most corrupt and manipulative political enterprises in the country. The state of Illinois has long been famous for its manipulated districts. Maryland is in many respects a little Illinois. Outside of Chicago, Illinois is a largely conservative, heartland state. Maryland is much more like old Virginia the further one gets away from the Beltway regions. Speaking of Virginia, with a governor who is a close Obama ally and the rapid growth of the Washington suburbs, Virginia is a state that has been strongly Republican until recently that could easily be manipulated to create some new strongly Democratic regions. One can only imagine an I-95 corridor connecting the Alexandria region with Richmond or how the I-64 corridor could be used for political purposes to link Hampton/Newport News with Richmond. Hopefully, we’re not giving the scoundrels any ideas by mentioning this.

What’s the big deal can easily be summarized, the future makeup of the United States House of Representatives. This is the prize that has Obama’s eyes in his politicizing of the Census.

Take the worst of the Lyndon Johnson years and add the worst of the Jimmy Carter years, multiplied then add some hardy scoops of the Richard Daley Machine and the recipe for Obama politics is complete. With Nancy Pelosi, the San Francisco treat and man-in-need-of-strong-enema, Harry Reid leading congress the recipe for disaster beyond belief is coming to a boil. The first big serving has been tossed on America’s plate, and that’s just the appetizer.

Daytona 500: Some Final Thoughts

We’re rooting for Mark Martin to win the Daytona 500, but coming up with a good choice of possible winners has never been tougher. Here are some of the factors that will play out in tomorrow’s race:

First, the weather, there is a 40% chance of thunderstorms through out the afternoon. A Daytona 500 has never been postponed but has been shortened because of rain. The track is now lighted so the race can withstand significant rain delays. Regardless, all strategy goes out the window when rain delays occur. Last year, Kurt Busch won the first New Hampshire race because the race was called early for rain. Michael Waltrip’s second victory in the Daytona 500 was also a rain shortened event.

Second, tire problems. Through the Speed Week activities, Sprint Cup cars have had trouble with right rear tires. Goodyear withdrew a series of tires by serial number. The tires are apparently “delaminating” where the tread separates from the body of the tire. Today in final practice, last year’s winner, Ryan Newman, had a tire explode which not only pushed him to run a backup to his backup, but he also collected his teammate and owner, Tony Stewart, who will also run in a backup car.

Third, backup cars. Several drivers are running in backup cars and will have to move to the rear of the field. Not only will Stewart and Newman be pushed back but so will 2007 winner, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Scott Speed, John Andretti, and Sam Hornish Jr. will all relinquish their starting spots and have to struggle up through the field.

Fourth, Hendricks Horsepower: Six cars will be racing with Hendricks power and chassis. What kind of teamwork will Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, and Ryan Newman display. Four of them are former winners. Mark Martin almost won in 2007. Tony Stewart has become the new Dale Earnhardt Sr. winning everything in sight in Daytona but not winning the big one. Beyond that, the Childress/Earnhardt-Ganassi power plants have won four Daytona 500’s since 2001. Beyond that, who else is there to contend? Kyle Busch looks strong but will anyone work with him as he probably has more drivers who have scores to settle with him than anyone else in the Sprint Cup garage? Fords last trip to victory lane was in 2000 when Dale Jarrett won his second 500 for Robert Yates. The entire Ford and Dodge stables have looked weak in practice, qualifying, and the 125’s so far.

Fifth, “the BIG one. Fans and drivers alike nervously fear the inevitable, a huge multicar accident that collects several cars often some of the major contenders for the win. Having seen a lot of episodes of cars running three rows wide and questionable tire condtions, somehow “the big one” appears more ominous than ever. We pray there will be no injuries just twisted metal and hot tempers as a result.

Finally, the unexpected. No one would have bet on Ward Burton to win in 2002 or Ryan Newman last year. Surely, Kevin Harvick’s win in 2007 was seen as a surprise by most. We’ve identified the variables we think will influence tomorrow’s race, but suppose someone has stayed out in front to get five bonus points during a caution flag. The race resumes but then is quickly called for rain. Any dog could have his day.

We’re pleased to report that the effects of a bad economy and the multiple team switcheroo’s is not showing any significant influence on competition so far. If anything, born of the off season chaos could be another strong Ford team will Hall of Fame racing allying with Yates and snapping up the owner points from the defunct #38 operation. With Todd Parrot as crew chief and past champ, Bobby Labonte, as driver, they have an excellent chance to compete though a lot of remarkable things would have to come together for any Ford team to win the race unless above all else, the fifth factor above prevails.

This is perhaps the toughest Daytona 500 in recent memory to pick a favorite. Finally, a sad note, this is the first Daytona 500 ever that no one with the last name Petty was entered to compete in the Daytona 500. Kyle Petty is out of a ride with no suitors. King Richard is but a co-owner with a minority stake in the operation that bears his name.

Why do the names Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson seem so haunting as most likely winners?

Profiles in Left Wing Loonies: Janeane Garofalo, Mindless Twit

Janeane Garofalo is a mindless twit who takes herself way too seriously, but has become a much more outspoken figure than the run-of-the-mill Hollywood activist crowd having served on the ill-fated ultra-left, Air America radio network. The irony is she is a comedienne by trade but never a very effective one having enjoyed a short tenure on Saturday Nite Live where she didn’t last long as a part of the 1994-1995 season, back when the show was still occasionally very funny citing that their material was “weak” and “sexist.” How ironic is it now that she appears on Fox Network’s blockbuster show, “24” which is one of conservative America’s favorite TV shows for its robust anti-terrorist, assertive fight the enemy style. Perhaps for Garofalo, lack of work and lack of talent leads to a minor roll on a show that would seem to be a total sellout to her political beliefs.

Still she’s never shy about her opinions. We hate giving her any more publicity, but her words are so typical of a psychotic self-righteousness that also reveals extreme hatred and bitterness toward their perceived enemies. One has to wonder what her knowledge of neuroscience. Surely, she has zero knowledge of the hard realities of political science.

So here you can read it for yourself. The twit speaks. This is sourced from interview posted on “Ecorazzi” website, “the latest in green gossip, February 12, 2009.


…..since it is clear and has been clear since Reagan that the republicans, the “conservatives” will NEVER play ball…NEVER…fu%$ um.


Their policies have destroyed us and most of the world – that’s a fact not an opinion. Their policies of deregulation, pre-emptive strikes, unmitigated support for Israel to the detriment of the Israelis, Palestinian’s, Americans, the British. Every single policy that “conservative republicans” have put forth since Reagan has destroyed us. And we affect most of the world, so why do they still get a say? That’s what blows my mind. It’s almost like self-flagellation or masochism in some way. We keep going to that portion. They are NEVER going to compromise. The thing is that the more you give in to something like that, the more they take advantage.


The reason a person is a conservative republican is because something is wrong with them. Again, that’s science – that’s neuroscience. You cannot be well adjusted, open-minded, pluralistic, enlightened and be a republican. It’s counter-intuitive. And they revel in their anti-intellectualism. They revel in their cruelty.


I don’t know if you heard me talking to Jenny a while ago, but I was saying that first you have to be an asshole and then comes the conservatism. You gotta be a dick to cleave onto their ideology.

We will not dignify these remarks with any specific response other than to say we hardly revel in our cruelty but what is she doing in speaking in this kind of a harsh voice? I’d be interested in how much money she donates to charities that actually provide help to others. Time and time again, surveys show conservatives are far more generous than liberals who have so often be shown to be absolutely niggardly in their contributions as shown by the IRS data on Joe Biden and Al Gore.

It should be easy to dismiss Garafalo’s comments as just those of a hot-headed extremist, but this is the kind of talk that is posted daily on sites like The Daily KOS, MoveOn.Org, and the Huffington Post. While not stooping to the same kind of language as it would be inappropriate for the Speaker of the House, such sentiments are at very least implied in just about every public presentation Nancy Pelosi provides the news media.

The endemic underlying hatred and resentment of the radical left is hard to ignore. For a movement that attached itself to the “peace, love, and flowers” in the 60’s, the loony left is grounded anger and a complete detachment of what makes the real world work whether on economic policy or what it takes to keep our country free. Their contempt for free enterprise and a strong defense are cornerstones of their warped ideology.

Business as Usual on Capitol Hill

So what's the rush? At 11:00 pm the final version of the so-called stimulus bill was completed bringing together the house and senate versions. How fast was this whole measure created? What's the rush? At over 1,100 pages, our fine elected leaders on Crapitol Hill are being forced to commit to quick passage.

Should we not be terrified that our Senators and Congressmen see fit to commit to a cursory rush job on something that will cost our society well over a trillion dollars including the expediture, interest, and most other costs this bill will cause.

Something this thorough, as wrong as it is, demands critical investigation before passage. The very nature of our economic system is being permanently revised by this fiasco.

How much worse can it get? Remember, this law started in the house largely a product of Nancy Pelosi.

More on "The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008"

We recently reported on an issue raised by former Assistant Secretary for Post Secondary Education, Diane Auer Jones found in The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HR 4137). All institutions of higher education that provide student housing must now report students who are vacant from their dorm space for 24 hours or more as missing. We decided to take a look at this legislation for more outrages. First, this measure was buried deep in Section 488. However, the total measure consists of 431 pages of gobblety-goop micromanaging virtually all aspect of higher education other than explicity addressing cirriculum or tenure.

This shameful prime example of legislative excess was established simply to provide federal support for helping low and moderate income students attend college but in doing so tramples on virtually every square foot of every college campus.

What struck us as most concerning about this law is the depth and range Federal regulation extends its grasp upon how colleges and universities conduct their business simply as the strings attached for the schools accepting students who receive Federal loans or other measures of Federal funding.

Read all about it if you have too much time on your hands or have a real fetish for reading about government abuse. Do you think any of our elected "leaders" read this whole measure. Here it is courtesy of govtrack.us.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-4137

These provisions are unbelievably specific in some instances and require tremendous resources to impliment, monitor, assure compliance, and report upon. As such, the overhead to the schools is enormous from having adequate legal counsel either on staff or contracted to interpret the legislation and make sure the school is compliant in every aspect. On top of that, the manpower and resource requirements to manage these requirements is substantial. On top of that, just by the size of the task load imposed by this law, so much administrative and leadership time is devoted to simply following this ridiculous work of bureaucratic interference run wild instead of focusing on the key issues that all schools should be devoted to promoting: quality education and a good learning environment for students; expert, timely, creative, and far-reaching research for the benefit of society, business and industry; and recruiting, developing, and retaining the best, most challenging faculty possible.

Is it any wonder that college costs have gone up so dramtically in the past 30 years far beyond the rate of inflation by multiple factors? Likewise, is it also not surprising that the college environment is being overtaken by personnel on all levels who have no problem with a big government approach to all aspects of the human condition. Is it any coincidence that college faculties have become the bastion of extreme left politics conservatives or those with traditional values need not apply.

American leadership has had quality higher education as one of its key foundations where our institutions of higher education were sought by the best and brightest around the world for their studies. Today, the product is increasingly being compromised, losing its sense of mission, and beginning to lose its lead over what is provided in other countries.

Our colleges and universities must be the best the world has to offer in providing expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics while continuing to provide an outstanding liberal arts education where schooling is not so much as learning the right answers for some master exam but asking the right questions about life in the real world.

Sadly, our great institutions are being reduced to essentially vocational traning facillities where every "i" is dotted and "t" crossed with fervent political correctness blindly complying with the multitude of overregulation by the Federal Government.

SPRINT CUP: Race 1: The Daytona 500, Can Hendricks Horsepower Be Beaten?

The off-season seemed morbid, teams merging, drivers out of rides, sponsors uncertain, but once Speed Week at Daytona was coming into focus, looking at the top, Hendricks, Gibbs, Roush and Childress – all was well. In the lesser ranks, the new DEI/Ganassi lineup looks competitive. A name game at Gillette/Evernham saved the exit of NASCAR’s most famous name changing their name to Richard Petty Racing and keeping the legendary #43 car, but gone is the familiar Carolina Blue color. For the most part, the also-rans are still the also-rans. They come and go every year. We’ll see a lot of the same familiar faces struggling to make the field. The real interest though will be the new life pumped into Hall of Fame racing, now functioning as a third Yates team with crew chief, Bud Parrot, and past champion, Bobby Labonte in the driver’s seat. They’ll start with Roush/Yates engines, but with Parrot and Labonte together, both with championship experience, this could be a team to watch and perhaps be the one Ford that isn’t a Roush car that could wind up in victory lane. The other new team, of course, is Stewart-Haas racing with Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman, proven winners, racing with essentially Hendricks equipment. Both have looked tough so far.

Martin Truex Jr. seized the poll demonstrating that old DEI touch in restrictor plate racing is alive and well in the new Earnhardt/Ganassi operation. Sharing the front row could be the sentimental favorite to finally get his Daytona 500 win, racing full time for Hendricks, Mark Martin. Row two features the winners of the twin 125’s. Jeff Gordon is looking to be this year’s comeback kid and cannot be ignored. Next to Gordon stands the most hated driver in NASCAR, the punk himself, Kyle Busch. Tony Stewart is off to a brilliant start looking for his first Daytona 500 in row 3 paired with Red Bull racer, Brian Vickers, who was starting to show real potential in his Toyota toward the end of the 2008 campaign. Last year’s champ (well last three years’ champ) Jimmie Johnson and Juan Montoya, another strong showing for Earnhardt/Ganassi hold down row 4. Rounding out the top ten are rookie, Joey Logano and his Gibbs teammate, Denny Hamlin. It is not until row 11 where Ford makes its first appearance with Bobby Labonte in the #96 Ask.com Ford. Dodge doesn’t make its first appearance until Kurt Busch shows up in row 7 in the 13th position. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in 14th postion in row 7. The next Ford doesn’t appear until row 8 with Carl Edwards starting in the 16th spot.

Looking the starting lineup, the field is dominated by Chevrolet that by numbers alone has far more cars in competition that the other makes given Hendricks and Childress are both teams that dominate the Chase and are now both four car operations. DEI/Ganassi adds three cars and Stewart/Haas adds two more cars. The Gibbs operation looks strong for Toyota with all three cars in the top ten but now Brian Vickers looks like one of the most likely breakthrough drivers for 2009.

Things look tough for Ford and especially Dodge. Roush/Fenway has struggled to figure out the Daytona 500 and restrictor plate racing, but with the five teams spread out in 16th (Edwards), 21st (McMurray), 33rd (Regan), 35th (Biffle), and former champ, Kenseth, in 39th. Meanwhile, Yates entries show Paul Menard in 19th and Travis Kvapil in 41st. Bill Elliott racing for the “legendary” Wood Brothers, who looked so powerful in qualifying and practice starts in 40th. One the Dodge slate, Penske starts in 13th (Kurt Busch), 21st (Stremme), and 29th (Hornish) after Ryan Newman won for them last year. The new Petty team catches 15th (Kahne), 20th (Allmendinger), 30th (Sadler) and 34th (Sorenson) the famed #43 car.

Small time operations who will enjoy their moment in the sun driving Toyotas fill-out the 9th row with Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield. Of the cars that did not qualify, there are no real suprises but one can surely see that “Front Row” Joe Nemechek’s career is in decline. Brad Keselowski, racing with a minor team, at least gained experience for future endeavors. His place to shine is running for a Nationwide Championship this year. The Cup series will be there in the future.

One more note, we’re not going to mince any words, NASCAR.com is an absolutely shitty site and does a terrible job being the first click for information on NASCAR’s top three series. We were hoping to find the Daytona 500 starting lineup, GOOD LUCK. The site is poorly organized. The most important information is not right at hand. The quality of reporting is average. For real detailed stuff but not the quick fix, jayski.com is a great site. The Charlotte Observer provides thatsracin.com which is also an excellent resource. For the regular day-in-day out quick fix, both Fox Sports and ESPN are far better than NASCAR.com. NASCAR.com has been junk, despite numerous revisions, since EPSN got dumped from NASCAR’s coverage prior to the 2001 season.

We’ll do our best to highlight each week’s upcoming race and comment on the results as best as possible. As much as we'd love to see someone else (Mark Martin, Carl Edwards, Dale Jr.) win the championship, what could possibly stop Jimmie Johnson? Hopefully not Kyle Busch. Has anyone ruled out Jeff Gordon?

GO MARK MARTIN!!!!

For the Problems of Today Maybe the First President Knows More Than the Last!!!

Consider these quotes from George Washington as they apply to today's world.

Few men have virtue enough to withstand the the highest bidder.

To contract new debts is not the way to pay old debts.

It is not a custom with me to keep money to look at.

The tumultous populace of large cities are ever to be dreaded.

Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation, for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company.

There is nothing so likely to yield produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy.

Let us raise the standard to which the wise and honest can repair, the rest is in the hands of God.

Barack Obama and the Ghost of Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan or Jimmy Carter? Through the campaign, even a hermit would equate the word “hope” with the Obama campaign’s rhetoric. That was candidate Obama. Today, we hear talk of “catastrophe” and “dire consequences. This is President Obama. We heard talk of reaching above partisanship while representing stances far to the left of even some of the most liberal members of his own party but the public heard the rhetoric but remained ignorant of the record. (Of course the news media did a good job of carrying his water and keeping his record relatively cloaked.) Now when we hear President Obama address the problems of state, particularly on the economy, we hear lots of finger pointing and blame storming much of it aimed at former President Bush but also at members of his own party. We see little of him taking responsibility for solving the problem deferring responsibility to crafting the “stimulus” bill to Nancy Pelosi, responsible America’s worst nightmare.

Ronald Reagan inherited a dismal economy with high unemployment and double digit inflation by cutting taxes and offering constant encouragement to every one of us to be confident and to act responsibly. When one thinks of President Carter, the architect of the absolute collapse of the American economic system reshaping the financial landscape of the United States permanently as entire regions lost industries or saw others dealt fatal blows that would take decades of a slow dance of death to complete. Look at the auto industry. Its crisis didn’t start with the last two years of the Bush presidency, it has been wounded and crippled since the days of Jimmy Carter. Travel through Pennsylvania and Ohio and wonder whatever happened to the United States steel industry.

Meanwhile, the Reagan administration provided the incubator from which the technology revolution flourished. New industries and jobs have been rising ever since until the recent economic meltdown brought on by policies, some of which began during Jimmy Carter’s watch.

“The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.” is blatant pandering to fear and is a bold-faced lie when we consider as bad as things are today, the economy has a long way to go before reaching the mess of the late 1970’s which would take most of Reagan’s first term to reverse.

While few would deny at his best, Barack Obama is capable of spectacular oratory skills, how quickly we see the difference between talking the talk and walking the walk.

Not everything is rosy and the economy is a mess. The economy does go through roughly twenty year cycles, but what we’re seeing now is more complicated than that as some structures of the economy have been seriously weakened by such things as years of issuing improperly supported home mortgage loans and lack of oversight of the dreadful mismanagement and corruption on Wall Street. Still, the American economy affords so many opportunities for success if only the public and the financial markets have the confidence to invest wisely. Given all the talk of doom, who can blame anyone for holding resources tight to the point of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The citizens of the United States have one legitimate fear, Islamic Terrorism. There is nothing else in the world brewing that has the potential of destroying more lives in the bat of an eyelash as what the Muslim fanatics are capable of thrusting upon us when we least expect it. In their world, human life means nothing where killing oneself to kill others is revered as heroic. How has the Obama administration addressed this concern? First, Obama announced his intention to close the terrorist prison compound at Guantanamo Naval Base on the Cuban island. He has also stopped the trial of the terrorist leader who instigated the attack on the USS Cole. Meanwhile, Pakistan has released one of its top nuclear scientists who has given nuclear secrets to North Korea. Yemen has released over a hundred prisoners jailed for terrorist activities. Have we heard a peep on those issues?

As reported earlier, it’s not too soon to talk of the “failed Obama Presidency.” His resume held the potential of a presidency far worse than that of Jimmy Carter’s as at least Jimmy Carter not only served as the Governor of Georgia, he ran his own business, and served in the Navy, while Obama has only limited legislative experience coming from the background of the Chicago political machine and the kind of community activism that filthy corrupt organizations like ACORN represent.

The public was seduced by the talk. Sadly, the folks seldom examine and question what the words say in favor of how the words sound. After eight years of President George W. Bush who could rarely speak a coherent complete sentence unless delivering a prepared speech surely made the public hunger for a more articulate President, but where President Bush was a man of principle and action; Barack Obama is not. We must still withhold judgment of the Bush Presidency as no one can clearly ascertain how his admniistration’s lack of necessary oversight allowed some of the horrible fiascos we are dealing with today to prosper. We do know that as early as 2002, his administration’s financial chiefs did report to the fools on Capitol Hill their concerns about problems with the mortgage industry practices particularly those of Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae whose meltdown helped provide the tipping point into recession. For the most part, few administrations have been more right on on policy matters than the Bush administration.

In Barack Obama, the American people have elected a President who is about as opposite as George W. Bush as could possibly be imagined though President Bush was essentially a centrist with some conservative sympathies where Barack Obama claims to be centrist but is a radical leftist through and through. In style and manner, the two men are about as opposite as two people could be. Obama is a capable talker whose actions are suspect. Bush was an oratory disaster who was heavy on action many of his successes such as aid to AIDS infested Africa being largely ingnored.

Thus we have a bizarre hybrid President, one capable of almost Reaganesque oratory skills with Jimmy Carter competence. If there was ever a recipe for disaster, here it is folks!!!!

Who Are the Real Bad Guys?

Who Are the Real Bad Guys?

Over the last two weeks, America has seen a lot of posturing and moralizing about Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer Mike Phelps’ being caught in a photograph puffing from a marijuana bong. Next came the revelation of steroid use by baseball’s arguably greatest talent, Alex Rodriguez. Capitol Hill figures like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank are up to their ears in responsibility for factors which helped bring on the current financial collapse. Wall Street big wigs and corporate executives who made faulty deals and ran their companies into the ground with little or no consequences and often gloriously rich far parachutes with little more than hand-wringing in reaction. How about a President who resorts to sheer demagoguery, threatening impending catastrophe, to justify support for the so-called stimulus package laden with pork, special interest handouts, and simply inexplicable wastes of money like funding for Frisbee golf courses!

In the span of just a few days, the Democratic party led by Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi with Harry Reid riding shotgun in the Senate as the pathetic whiner to reign in rivals for Senatorial control like Dick Durbin and Chuck Schumer are pushing through a massive transfer of wealth from the private to public sector while tightening the grip the Federal government holds over private interests some of which have acted miserably and irresponsibly that perhaps would be better off left to their own devices to sink or swim rather than to have all the rest of us as individuals and corporations who have performed successfully give up our hard-earned assets to reward the incompetent, corrupt, and greedy.

Something’s rotten in California that doesn’t directly involve politics but it demands the nanny state come to the rescue, but how will it respond? Will it support the cult of victimology rewarding the irresponsible or will it look out for those most in need of help while seeking justice against the guilty?

We are referring to the Nadya Suleman fiasco and what will become of her multiple litters of children. Any right thinking person who saw clips of her interview on “The Today Show” could hardly help but feel a horrible sense of disbelief while at the same time experiencing vicious anger toward the insane and totally self-absorbed answers this sick, deranged woman provided. She spoke with conviction that once she finished her college degree she would have the means to provide for all of her children without any sense of just how much responsibility and attention such child care involves. Meanwhile, commentator after commentator couldn’t help but see a chilling attempted resemblance to Angela Joile, a mother of multiple children through adoption and natural birth who has the millions to hire all the resources necessary to care for those children, many rescued from wretched circumstances. Good old Angela! Why Brad Pitt would have dumped Jennifer Annison for the sake of this post-modern cat woman is another strange perversion of "me-ism" though we don't think we're smart enough to figure that one out. Where did Ms. Soleman get those big fat collagen enhanced lips for instance. Those artificial looking lips alone make this woman look like a pathetic freak as they are far beyond anything that could be perceived as looking natural. This is yet another sign of the woman’s extreme vanity and inability to deal with the real world and her circumstances as they should exist naturally.

As each day goes by, more and more is being reported about the life this pathetic woman has lived and the needs of her children. It is gut-wrenching beyond believe and how one’s self-centered “me” generation attitude pushed to its ultimate extreme can create a situation so tragic and cruel pushes the limits of human tolerance. Three of her six, half of her existing children suffer disabilities. Whether this are birth defects or the result of improper care and/or nutrition has not been determined yet. Second she has driven her parents, bankrupt. Additionally, while receiving disability income for an alleged back injury while working for a state mental facility where it seems now this woman should have been a resident not a worker, the state’s welfare system is her source of income to provide for her children. Meanwhile, they reside in a small modest three bedroom house, this sickly breeder of suffering children, the children, and her two parents. This is where the eight children will live once their incubator care is completed. The children currently at home haven’t adequate living space.

Cruelty and destructive behavior can wear many faces. We recognize that which is born from outwardly aggressive and angry behavior, but that which is self-centered or pretends to be motivated out of kindness is possibly more dangerous as many cannot recognize the danger until the damage is already done. Nadja Soleman was not able to produce fourteen children on her own. The medical system broke down to enable this. Just as the Obama “stimulus” is cloaked in all kinds of language being designed to help the needy and the public at large.

The Suleman tragedy demands quick, decisive action. First, all fourteen children must be taken by the state. They are already being financed by the state so custody should be transferred as quickly as possible. All the children need careful medical evaluation and observation. The possibility of lifelong problems grows substantially for children born well short of coming to full terms. The state should then find loving parents who would joyfully adopt these children and provide them with the nurturing environment we’d hope society would feel all children deserve. Second, Nadja Soleman’s conduct and finances need to be investigated thoroughly while she is given exhaustive intellectual capacity and emotional stability tests. She speaks with significant language skills with considerable conviction, but what drives a person to such totally irrational behavior? Is she totally nuts or is it more a matter of how she has assimilated signals from society which justify the extreme applications of the doctrine of self, support excessive individual indulgence and vanity, and have plenty of structures that can act as enablers for those who aren’t motivated to take care of themselves. That this would happen in the Los Angeles area should come as no surprise, the home of the Hollywood culture where vanity and excess rule supreme. Just a glimpse at the local morning programs which air before “Good Morning America’ and “The Today Show” show a community with a very different orientation than those of us who live in "flyover country." KTTV, the local Fox station, presents network slut best known as the dim-witted weather girl for Fox NFL pregame shows, Julianne Reynolds with co-anchor status where she presents weather but also celebrity gossip which commands equal if not more attention than the soft news generally shown on such shows elsewhere.

Meanwhile, we return to the scene of another media circus, South Carolina, where Michael Phelps was photographed taking a bong hit. Sheriff Leon Lott is on a rampage to play tough guy showing just how tough his version of law enforcement can be in his jurisdiction arresting eight people, seven for simple marijuana possession, and one for apparent distribution, as he seems hell bent on leaving no stone unturned in his warped sense of pursuing justice. His grasp of reality is just as distorted as that of Nadja Suleman’s. Either this is a Podunk district where the law has nothing better to do than pursue such a farcical endeavor or vital resources are being diverted from much more pressing problems which might include such real human tragedies including child neglect and spousal abuse but such prosecutions don’t make headlines and require a lot of intelligent hard work. The way marijuana enforcement is conducted amounts to little more than small timey fascism as the force of the law far exceeds any possible damage to society the perceived crime could possibly cause. In South Carolina, simple possession is punishable by no more than 30 days in jail or a $500 fine. One more thing, eureka!!!, apparently the Barney Fife/Heinrich Müller hybrid and his deputies having the smoking gun, er uhm, bong in their possession. We’re not accusing all those who might be involved in this marijuana case as geniuses, as apparently the fellow who had the bong attempted to sell it on eBay for $100,000. How’s that for cheesy but utterly stupid opportunism?

It’s clear to anyone who understands this issue clearly who the real dopes are in Columbia, South Carolina and its not the kids who were doing what college students have done since Socrates gathered with his pupils in ancient Greece, PARTY! Sure, the fellow who tried to strike it rich by selling the bong on email is a dope, but that’s not for marijuana, it’s for the same unbelievable doctrine of self that corrupts society in so many ways.

Apparently South Carolina governor, Mark Sanford, one of the bright stars in a vapid Republican field in 2009 has no use for the actions of Sherriff Lott, telling Fox news intrepid expert on the joys of self, Geraldo Rivera, offering a mild rebuke, "I don't see what it gets at this point.."

Socialism is a system of heavy-handed state control where the individual cannot be trusted to make decisions for himself or accept the consequences of his actions. How fascinating it is how those in the American system most closely allied to the nanny state, and socialist reforms are revealed time and time again to be the most miserly when it comes to charitable contributions as tax data on Joseph Biden and Al Gore have so shamefully revealed. Further, from the political party that believes taxing wealth is the answer to society’s ills, and the basic tenant of socialism is state managed distribution of wealth, we’ve seen numerous nominees who have cheated on their taxes.

The basic ideals on which our Constitution and Bill of Rights were founded demands and rewards personal responsibility, but given the perverse decisions which have reinvented constitutional notions to fit their liberal dogma and public education has completely turned upside down and ignored the teaching of American history and the origins and meaning of the Constitution to the extent that students for at least the last 35-40 years since the leftist rewriting of curriculum has taken hold, how can anyone clearly understand what the structure of our society is all about?

From the foundation on which the role of government is defined in the establishment of the United States in the Declaration of Independence, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” the concepts of the first and second amendment provide the structure of law to provide such. Article upon article in The Constitution establish the rights and implied responsibilities of the individual. Providing the means for reckless procreation of fourteen children leaving the state to pick up the tab and the heavy handed reach of the law for something as simple as marijuana is a horrible perversion of those core ideals. Does anyone think Thomas Jefferson gave a damn about whether someone puffed on a little bit of a naturally grown weed?

How things have changed. We have a president who is a serial liar and a casual sophist, a congress full of extreme vested self-interests, and a court system that routinely oversteps its bounds time and time again. When dishonesty and irresponsibility runs wild at the top both in Washington and on Wall Street, we see the effects of trickledown immorality as it filters down to Main Street and how individuals develop such a perverted warped sense of self as demonstrated by Nadja Suleman and Sheriff Leon Lott.

Are Nadja Suleman and Sheriff Lott the bad guys or only the duped pawns of bigger players far more powerful and perverted in the highest center of power could provide for lively debate, but when reads the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and the Bible even just a passing review of the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule, all of us should know better. More so, all of us should demand better. As the words of Jesus Christ so often offer guidance in so many human dilemmas, perhaps we should consider, “Let who among us is without sin cast the first stone.” To some extent to the extent that we keep our outrage private, we condone the indefensible, and don’t speak out with outrage when we see gross public displays of immoral, inhumane, and oppressive behavior, “everyman” USA, each one of us, is the real bad guy.

Let’s get with it before that which soldiers have died and many have fought paying extreme costs to defend erodes right before our eyes. What is happening in California with the Nadja Suleman children and Columbia, South Carolina with the fascist tactics of the local sheriff show so clearly because we don’t have a grip on the affairs of state, the state is running amuck whether it is our tax dollars paying for a stupid insane woman to deliver a litter of eight babies when she already has six fatherless children with no means of support or a pompous self-serving sheriff overstepping any sense of legal sensibility in the Phelps case. That we have elected a radical extremist ignoring every aspect of his detestable background as our supreme leader shows how out of touch we are.

The bad guy can be seen looking back at each one of us when we look in the mirror.

Obama's First Press Conference: Grade F-

Right-Minded America's Worst Nightmare In a shameless attempt to sell the Nancy Pelosi spending spree misnamed as an economic stimuli, Barack Obama warned of a lost decade if action is not immediatly forthcoming for the Senate to approve a measure which puts little if anything back into the economy, is lean on tax breaks especailly where they will help the most, but spends money on such things as Frisbey Golf Courses, $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, $650 million for digital TV coupons, $200 million for spiffing up the National Mall, including sod, $400 million for NASA to research climate change, and millions go to various social activism causes including money that will wind up in the corrupt and notorious gang of thieves at ACORN.



The overall effect of the Pelosi Porker is to greatly extend the reach of government, to make private enterprise more subservient to government while doing nothing to stilmulate true market place solutions. If the billions of dollars devoted to mindless liberal social program were instead used exclusively for tax cuts, almost every cent in the proprosal could represent an investment in the economy by giving every member in society a measure of empowerment to correct the mess. We need to only remember the rhetoric of the Obama campaign and the constant harping of sneering negatively from Ms. Pelosi and her radical followers, to hear loud and clear their contempt for corporate America. However, while the economy teeters and totters, no institution is better equiped to move the economy forward than private enterprise. Putting money back in the taxpayers' hands to raise their spending power and cutting the corporate tax rate to be competitive with the rest of the world is exactly the kind of proactive support that would not only help the immediate situation but would help rebuild the nation's economic infrastructure toward a more responsive, efficient, and profitable economy. When corporate America wins, most Americans are the big winners whether it means better,cheaper products and services or the value of their stock going up thus raising the value of private investments and 401K's and stablilizing pension fund invenstments.



Government giveaways only affect limited targetted recipients putting almost nothing in the economy at large. Government giveways extend dependency on government further subjecting private industry to greater government regulation and control. The Pelosi Pork Project in one stunning almost one trillion dollar spending measure which will surely cost more when its impact on the nation can be assertaineed move toward European style socialism where the welfare state and high unemployment are permanent facts of life, but what's the big deal when much of society has no motivation to achieve anything when the government will underwrite their unnecessary dependency.

As a pure reflection of Obama's audacity of egotism, he warned Americans of a "lost decade" if the trillion dollar sell out is not approved. That amount reflects more government borrowing than all administrations through out American history up to and including that of Jimmy Carter's. With the US population standing at slightly above 300 million, divide that into one billion and see what the debt is on the head of each person in this country. Can you say 3.3 MILLION boys and girls?

America has already chosen the lost decade when it elected the inexperienced radical from the corrupt Chicago political machine, the same organization which created Blagomania, Barack Obama as President. If the citizens were stupid enough to believe his happy talk of change, are they equally gullible to believe his current rhetoric of doom, and impending catastrophe?

Socialism would be the end of the American way of life as we have known it. When looking at the efforts of Nancy Pelosi being urged on by a President who counts among his long associates the mad bomber, admitted communist, William Ayers, surely their intentions are unmasked. The ironfisted unyielding way Ms. Pelosi runs the House shows her contempt for democratic principles in the very organization which is supposed to be the seat of the peoples' democracy, the House of Representatives.

Obama is failing badly and so is America. One should have much more faith that America can solve its problems than Obama will push the right buttons to have a successful, properly directed Administration. An American society that believes in free enterprise is inherently a nation of problem solvers. The sooner the American people accept the power rests in them not Washington, DC, the quicker the current recession will be history.

A-Fraud?

WHOA! Stop the presses. Alex Rodriguez is coming forward not only acknowledging that he used performance enhancers in 2003, but also for the two previous seasons, 2001 and 2002. Given the dope drenched environment the Texas Rangers were at that time, who could be surprised, but don't we somehow always hope for the best?

Let's hope so, because the alternative is so much worse.

How ironic it is that reports have surfaced that Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez used steroids according to multiple sources while playing for the Texas Rangers. At the time, it was not explicitly forbidden by Major League Baseball, but some administrations of such drugs is legal. Others are not. It wasn’t that long ago that Major League Baseball saw A-Rod as the night in shining armor who would eventually surpass Barry Bond’s homerun record removing his tarnish from the record books. Now, even if the allegations against “Pay-Rod” or “A-Fraud” are never substantiated, the innuendoes and rumors will persist, and should he reach the mark for that ultimate achievement their will at least be angry and suspicious whispers.

Let’s not get caught up in the legalize and lawyer speak on this issue. Taking steroids except for specific medical treatments where such therapy is appropriate as deemed by an ethical and responsible doctor is absolutely, positively wrong. Using steroids to enhance one’s performance ability in sports is dishonest and immoral. While we might be somewhat sympathetic to someone like Andy Pettite who admitted his use immediately saying he used the drugs to help him overcome an injury more rapidly or Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts who said he did so once as a young player being duped by peer pressure at a time the Orioles locker room was dripping with drugs, these are substances that cause severe long term consequences for users. Have people forgotten the horrible death and long painful struggle former Oakland Raiders star, Lyle Alzado, suffered from thanks to his steroid use?

How ironic it is that this story should surface the same year that Michael Phelps was shown taking a powerful puff of marijuana from a bong.

How does a parent have a sensible discussion on drugs with this insanity going on? Marijuana really isn’t that bad, but don’t use it because if you get caught the legal consequences could ruin your life. Well, you can buy things that are legal, but they can really mess up your body and cause horrible problems in the future. Some might opt for a zero tolerance stance, but any kid with an IQ above 85 can see the hypocrisy of that.

With hypocrisy being one of the key words, and all the insane moralizing, double standards, and mixed messages, the best thing adults can do with young people is just be honest. Talk about the subject as openly and truthfully as possible. It’s hard to talk to kids about the legal hassles of marijuana prohibition when respect for the law is one of the core values parents should stress, but teenaged kids should be trusted to understand that, as we’ve written earlier, just because something is illegal doesn’t make it wrong and likewise not everything that is wrong is illegal. While our political institutions are worthy of respect, the people who serve in those offices are just as human as anybody else and must earn our respect. We’ve had good presidents and bad presidents, and only we as people can change that for the better.

When one thinks these issues through honestly and openly, none of them are that complicated. Getting the political establishment to behave likewise and respond appropriately is a whole different discussion.

In a Politically Correct World, Public School Teachers Don't Have Second Amendment Rights

Betsy Ramsdale , a middle school teacher, was fired, “put on administrative leave,” for posting a picture of herself aiming a rifle straight at the camera. School Superintendent, Donald Childs, acknowledged that he was not aware of any “sinister” intent in posting the photo simply that it “appears to be in poor judgment.”

There are two little problems with this case, the first amendment, that nasty little document which guarantees free speech and press and that horrible second amendment that lets the people own guns. It looks like if a person is going to be a teacher in the Madison Wisconsin area, kiss your constitutional rights goodbye! University of Wisconsin, of course, is one of the bastions of political correctness and faculty infatuated with 9/11 conspiracy theories.

We will admit that had the teacher made this posting involve her teaching career and had a caption like, “You’d better behave in class or else?” or “Okay talk, did the dog really eat your homework?” that would be very wrong but as bad as even that would be, the correct action would seem to be a reprimand and an apology from the teacher. Such is not the case with the Ramsdale case.

Let’s be clear on something. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH GUNS. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH OWNING OR SHOOTING A GUN.

Killing people is wrong. Killing animals not permitted to be hunted is wrong. Using a firearm to intimidate others or destroy their property is wrong.

Tens of thousands of Americans own guns, use them recreationally, and have them to protect their homes as it is not the police department’s job in modern society, simply to enforce the law.

Not making light of urban violence where on any given night, the odds are better than not a young black man will be shot dead through the use of ILLEGAL guns, we are much more worried about politicians and the purveyors of political correctness shooting off their mouths than we are of the likelihood good working and middle class citizens will ever shoot a gun inappropriately.

Somebody owes this teacher an apology. She immediately removed the picture at the first hint of trouble. Why should she be denied her right to free expression? Is the discussion of the proper use of firearms taboo in schools today?

We’re afraid that in today’s public schools where political correctness and liberal ideologies run amuck, there is no room for intelligent discussions on responsible gun use. The NRA runs an outstanding educational program that can be utilized in schools that teaches gun safety and responsibility. Many of us are old enough to remember when high schools routinely had marksmen clubs and competitions. Now, not even ROTC’s are welcome on many campuses.

More and more, the public education experience is becoming institutionalized, government sanctioned, child abuse.