A Smattering of Applause

In a year in which the average American's attention was threatened to be distracted by events in other countries (natural disasters, coups, faux elections), we were once again saved by a supreme and divisive issue: health care.

Personally I've never seen this many people get in this heightened an uproar over an issue which a) they don't understand, b) doesn't involve terrorists, c) might actually help people, and d) doesn't directly affect everyone. Nevertheless, a legislative bill that draws support and opposition strictly across political lines (not a single house republican voted for the most recent incarnation) is sure to fire up somebody. So who's mad?

Poor people? Nope. Citizens striving for better health care? Na. The disenfranchised, disabled, or sick? Eh. Instead anger seems to stem mainly from one group, that of the historically marginalized, the great victims of American society: middle-aged white men. Ah, you guys have taken the brunt of our country's problems for too long, finally you stood up and declared as loudly as possible: "No more!"

Truly I thought most of the criticism of this bill would be that it took too long to become law, that this bill didn't go far enough in improving a problem long overlooked and ignored. Most of all, I thought the great fury would arise from the lack of a public option, originally thought to be at the core of this "solution". Public option health care is at the root of all the health plans implemented in other countries that we are so jealous. Even when I was a little kid, I knew Canada and Sweden had sweeter deals than us.

Aside: My favorite response to the idiotic claim from the last decade that 9/11 occurred because people in third world countries hate our "freedom" is, "Well, then why didn't they attack Denmark?"

In fact the uproar stems from those who ALREADY HAVE health care. Not from me, the guy who will be fined if I don't find some private plan to latch onto, or a great dearth of our society that's still going to be shut out or given a really nasty deal. I don't know if these "protesters" (it goes beyond teabaggers, unfortunately) actually believe their health care will be taken away, or if they are that upset that existing health care might actually start working for people. Perhaps they like sticking up for the little guy: big insurance companies who clearly had no voice in this debate...

Frankly, it's about them valuing something more knowing other people don't have it, and their subsequent anger at seeing the possible ease at which people can now get health care. It doesn't really matter if one worked hard to obtain their own health care, the point is they have it, so they can say they earned it through the grit and determination embodied by generations before.

Seriously, who actually understands this bill? I'd be surprised if more than 5 people in America actually read the whole thing. It's really sad that there's this much opposition to something that might not be that significant, but then again, it has given millions of uninformed white people the opportunity to blame all of society's ills on people who take welfare. God knows welfare encompasses 96% of our country's budget.

Also, what's up with people who scream "Don't take my medicare away, you big government liberals!" Fuck you, when have you said anything good about medicare or medicaid before? You realize this is a government subsidized industry right? Small government proponents usually end up sounding like asshole, mainly because the ones who get on TV actually do everything they can to expand government (bonuses to companies, banning abortion, sinking trillions (what's the next #, quadillion?) of dollars into "defense" (look out, Germany is bombing us).

I actually consider myself a proponent of small government ideals, which allows me to fit comfortably in with zero of the 2.14 American political parties. I'm pro-choice, pro-gambling, anti-war, don't like most cops, pro-agriculture, hate people who cry about taxes, pro-gay marriage (not that I actually try and force two gay people to wed, but evidently not really caring and getting all worked up about people I don't know dumps me in this category, i.e. fuck you for thinking you can control people's lives). Couple this with actually having some ideas of how this country could be less in debt, means I could be libertarian, except they're so very, very confused, and my general level of resentment isn't polished enough.

Despite the lack of any effort on my part, politicians don't seem to be listening to me. We are heading down a road of having school vouchers, religion increasing (regaining, extending, swallowing?) its influence on everything decision based, crappy jobs, no small businesses, no farms, no quality or affordable food, shitty infrastructure, and a total and inspiring effort to denounce anything that comes close to having the term "science" in it.

The silver lining of course, is that I was born during Reagan's 2nd term, and came of age with Presidents dipshits Bush, Clinton, and Bush. Basically I feel like we've spent 40 years trying to undo the New Deal, and now maybe we have the chance to move on. Then they brought out the fucking Prius, and uptight white people have another reason to get mad about stuff.

It's hard

Say what you will about professional athletes - they're selfish, immature, irresponsible, bad role models, etcetera - but you can't call them lazy. With the exception of fat baseball players and Eddy Curry, athletes damn near kill themselves to look the way they do. Being that strong and looking that good is about more than protein shakes and lifting weights; it's a lifestyle commitment.

When was the last time you heard about Kobe Bryant's social life? Every day Kobe works out more than some people do in a whole year. And then he eats breakfast. It might be a cliche, but I'll lay 3 to 1 that Kobe is the first person to the gym and the last to leave 90% of the time. Peyton Manning is well-known for his diligence in the film room. He's been married for nine years but has no children. I won't leave out the possibility of him and his wife being unable to conceive, but I find it much more likely that they have decided to wait until he retires. It takes a lot of sacrifice to be the best.

Simply put, greatness requires discipline. I would love to look like a basketball player. I'll crush my body and workout harder than I ever thought possible. But I won't do it every day. I don't have the willpower to do it day in, day out and eat exactly what a nutritionist tells me. In the words of Vincent Vega, bacon tastes good, pork chops taste good. I don't think I'm willing to give up cheeseburgers for that extra little bit of definition. If somebody paid me millions of dollars to do it? I would take all my food in pill form for a year if enough money was on the line. Anybody want to take that bet? I reckon I can make cheese fry pills.

We play for the glory

My gripes this week have to begin with the series Planet Earth. Initially, this sounded like some kin of foo-foo artsy modern day feel good story about plants narrated by Morgan Freeman. Some of this may still be true. Nevertheless, Mr. Freeman is noticeably absent, but since he was unavailable the producers clearly chose a Brit to fill his place. How many famous Attenboroughs are there? Not enough, apparently. It's a fairly remarkable skill to be able to convey tension, joy, and fear without ever raising or lowering your voice. Stupid accents.

This project seems to be mainly focused on animals, clearly a boon to me. Furthermore, there is a heavy presence of marine mammals, obviously my favorite. Have you ever seen a river otter? Easily tops my list of favorite animals. Still, the nastiest mother fucker I saw on one particular chapter of Planet Earth was the Nile Crocodile.

Over 5 meters long! No, I don't know what that means either. But I'm pretty sure it's like 3 humans worth of crocodile. Furthermore, the biggest concentration of these beasts is at the exact spot where herds of wildebeests travel ever year. To top it off, the wildebeests have to travel these god knows how many hundreds of miles because there is absolutely no water where they live. Shameless crocs. Still, it's hard for me to empathize with these wildebeests, because how do you run from 4 crocodiles when you travel like 30,000 deep? Liberals.

Thus begins me quest to pinpoint the biggest, baddest, meanest animals in the world, of course excluding humans and their incredible ability to manage poseable thumbs and guns.

I don't gleam these ranking from any kind of head to head tournament, but I still maintain they are far beyond accurate. If you need further explanation, imagine that each animal battle occurs in a weird stasis state where each animal is comfortable in their separate environment. For instance, that's how one determines how a lion fights a shark, or how a grizzly bear battles an anaconda. Forget temperatures, that's a man made concept anyway.

This is my pre-research top 5 list of whack and terribly mean and deadly animals. We'll see later how it matches up with the final decision (Blue Whales are out).

5. Huge Crocodile

4. Great White Shark

3. King Cobra

2. Hippopotamus

1. Colossal Squid

Am I healthy yet?

They tell me I've got health care now. I'm optimistic enough to avoid saying I'll believe it when I see it, but I'm skeptical/realistic enough to know it's still not a good idea to go jumping across rooftops or picking fights with mountain lions. I'm just gonna call it cautious optimism for now. I can't deny the small degree of campaign slogan actual hope that despite all of the hooting, hollering, kicking, screaming and lollygagging from the opposition, our government seems to be inching closer to that refreshing left of center point of compromise I like to call the sweet spot.

We're still ages away from anything resembling a harmonious government. Truth be told, it's hard to see a way the cyclical nature of the two party system doesn't eventually destroy us or possibly cause the United States to disappear into some paradoxical political black hole. (Assuming the Large Hadron Collider doesn't  get us first.) But there's no real harm in playing the role of idealist. If we really are condemned to stay in a perpetual two party loop, then we might as well enjoy being on top.

Let's try dimension #36

Amid the hoopla of the NCAA basketball tournament, the rest of American sports take a backseat for half a month. This is nothing new, it happens every year; the attention span and bandwagon jumping of most sports fans rival that of a 19th century prospector. What's different about this year, or at least potentially different, is the fanfare surrounding the ladies' college tournament.

Originally, I thought the excitement might come close, and by close I mean not really that close to that of the men's tournament. Instead, the women's tourney is again dwarfed, if only because of the best efforts of the media, who started crowning Thursday the greatest single day in basketball history at 12:45 pm. It's like people have never seen close games before.

However, even those who vocalize their support for women's basketball are easily marginalized, for one has to question how authentic or helpful excitement can be when it revolves solely around one team's quest (UConn). I still feel it is more popular than hockey though, but hopefully that will change so that people actually realize there is a good sports team in D.C.

Sports Breakdown and Predictions:

NBA:

It looks as though nearly all the 16 playoff teams have sports locked up, but the matter of seeding remains to be determined. There is a mathematical chance that either Toronto or Portland could be caught, but unlikely. Chicago is only 2.5 games back of the #8 seed in the East, but they problem is they suck. Not that the Raptors are any good either, an I'd be surprised if one of them doesn't become at least a 10-1 dog against the Cavs. Portland doesn't have to play either of the teams chasing them, and thus it appears we know how will be in the playoffs. Here's how I see it shaking out.

I don't believe any of the clear cut best teams in the East will lose in the 1st round. The only chance I see of that happening is if Miami played Boston, but I still doubt it. Cleveland, Atlanta, and Orlando are all really good, and the bottom 4 east teams float somewhere in the average to slightly above range. Additionally, I'm pretty sure I called the Bucks making the playoffs before the year season started.

In the west, I believe the Lakers, Nuggets, Suns, and Thunder will move on the 2nd round. I don't know what the consensus opinion is, but a Denver/LA rematch in the West finals seems to be quite possible to me. The Suns are 1-3 against the Lakers this year, but I think beat them the last time they met in the playoffs. I could also see the Spurs pulling some shit and getting to the finals.

Orlando will win the NBA title. Book it.

NHL:

Na, I'm just kidding.

MLB:

AL East-New York, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Boston, Toronto

AL Central-Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, Cleveland, Kansas City (this has to be one of the 3 consistently very crappy sports franchises out there right?)

AL West-Seattle, Texas, Los Angeles, Oakland

NL East-Philadelphia, Atlanta, Washington, New York, Florida

NL Central-Chicago, St. Louis, Houston, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh (mandatory last place predicition)

NL West-San Francisco, Los Angeles, Colorado, Arizona, San Diego

NASCAR:

The guy who won the last 4 championships has won 60% of the races this year. I hope he wins like 19 titles in a row, and really fucks up the sport.

Hungry going on hangry

Having the lady friend in town has provided me the perfect opportunity to get off the fitness high horse and indulge in some of the finer things in the name of romance. Thank god for that, I wasn't going to last much longer without a burger in this town. Nobody has explained to me how it came about yet, but L.A has almost as many burger joints as it does taco trucks. I was happy to oblige my lady's request for some In-N-Out and she had no complaints about accompanying me to the highly touted Golden State. Right across the street from overhyped "deli" Canter's, Golden State has the courage to only have one burger on its menu, simply called "The Burger." While it didn't quite live up to the hype, the burger was moist and flavorful and came with thick, delicious bacon and a healthy slice of cheddar. It went well with the BLT with avocado (BLTA) we shared. This sandwich wasn't put together too well, but I give Golden State props for acknowledging the magic that is a BLT with avocado and making it a permanent part of the sandwich instead of an overpriced add-on.

As if we didn't get enough bacon at Golden State, we made it a point to head to the Nickel Diner in hell downtown just to get a donut. Oh yeah, it had bacon on it. Although it might be more novelty than gourmet breakthrough, you can only do so much wrong in serving a maple-infused bacon donut. Same goes for the chocolatey, peanut buttery cake with crumbled potato chips dotting the buttercream icing. It was a salty-sweet party and it's no surprise that we quickly descended into a food coma after escaping downtown. Still, their desserts can't rival one of my favorite spots in L.A, Milk.

Milk makes some of the best ice cream in town, which is good since their desserts are sold well beyond the small shop conveniently located in the center of L.A where, you know, humans actually habitate. I've had the explosions that they call milkshakes before. I took this opportunity to try one of the ice cream sandwiches people rave about so much. You know what helps an ice cream sandwich? Using a macaron instead of a cookie. I don't want anything to do with ice cream sandwiches. Except of course for the half dozen or so other falvors they have at Milk. We had the strawberry one which means I wouldn't be doing myself desssert justice if I don't get around to eating a more chocolate-centric one. And then there's the blueberry yogurt bar and the blueberry flavored blue velvet cake. Oh, I can't forget the chocolate croissant bred pudding. D'oh, so hungry! I guess it's time for fish tacos, although I'd trade all these great meals for a genuine New York deli sandwich.

Today's Picks

Northern Iowa (9) over Kansas (1)

New Mexico (3) over Washington (11)

Baylor (3) over Old Dominion (11)

Brigham Young (7) over Kansas State (2)

Wake Forest (9) over Kentucky

Madness

Yesterday I correctly picked 4 out of 4 upsets for the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Not to say I picked every upset (didn't see Georgetown losing, but then again I don't do research), just that every one I did pick came to realization. I was completely certain Murray State would defeat Vanderbilt, and I don't even know what state the former is located in. As I write this, Temple is plummeting against Cornell, yea Andy Bernard's Cornell, and combined with Villanova's escape yesterday, it seems like the Philadelphia college teams must have gotten an impromptu tutorial on how to suck from the 76'ers. Or the Knicks. New York sure does blow yet again, for the 1,876th year running. Of course, my Wizards are also terrible. Frankly the I-95 corridor just isn't holding its own.

Today's upset picks:

#13 Siena over #4 Purdue
#12 New Mexico State over #5 Michigan State
#10 Georgia tech over #7 Oklahoma State

Final Four Predictions: Butler, Ohio State, West Virginia, Duke

Domino Effect

Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) recently changed stances, dropping his (overt, at least) opposition to the current Health Care bill in the House of Representatives.

So you might think, well good, fuck this blue dog or whatever congressman and women in "purple" states call themselves because House races are every 2 years and they're sissies. Except...

This is Dennis Kucinich, former Democratic candidate for President in 2004 and with a little less steam, in 2008. By far the most left wing candidate in 2004, and maybe tied for the top in '08. I remember volunteering for a Kucinich rally in a D.C. church in late '03, at a time when an anti-war, anti-deficit bloating, pro-civil rights candidate was considered to the left of mainstream, an idea not just perpetuated by the media, but probably created by it. Perhaps little has changed along that line.

Nevertheless, at the time Howard Dean was a frontrunner, and some saw a hijacking of populist principles as a method of shifting a block of Democrats over to Dean. Even seven years ago, 2003 was war time, and the easy analogy to reach towards is the 1968 Democratic contest, when Robert Kennedy took the anti-war, youth vote away from McCarthy (Nixon eventually won).
As it happened, Kucinich and Dean were both marginalized on the national front, and Kerry and Edwards became the tag team to carry the mantle of the donkey. A short time later, they were named the "two most liberal senators" (a title later switched to Clinton+Obama), and today, Kerry is not a punchline if only for his work in the Senate and Edward's obvious decline.

Returning to the original topic of this post, Rep. Kucinich voted against the Health Care bill last year, because it didn't go far enough, in lamens terms. Kucinich has long (before any elected national figure of recent memory) championed a national health care system, "medicare-for-all" as the news has recently dubbed it. His concept, as far as I know, is not just to give some people in the lower class, or lower middle class or whatever health care, but for everyone to have health care. The impoverished, the working class, middle class Americans, people who are not broke. Now that he has given way, I see no way this version of the bill will not pass.

I don't even think rich people would need to have the same health care as the rest of the population, and I'd have a hard time being convinced that the fury of the haves is driving the current wave of hatred towards the have-nots. I've heard arguments that claim, quite convincingly, that a wider health care plan would cost nearly the same amount of money as we are already losing with the current system.

Honestly, it is both bizarre and shameful to see these middle aged white people yelling, hurling insults and epitaphs at, what, town hall meetings? So many of these people, I guarantee you, already have health care. Do they really fear that they will just lose their health care under the proposed bill? It's simply ridiculous. I earnestly believe that in these people's eyes, knowing other Americans, especially non-white Americans, do not have the health care they do is a fulfilling and eerily satisfying feeling, enriched only more if these people believe they had a hand in the process. People might not have even appreciate health care that much in the past, I don't know, but a part of human nature is the sudden bitterness at realizing that people you deem below you now have the same things you do.

Waiting in vain

Oh March, or as I like to call it, Hollywood's purgatory. We've survived the dog days of January and gotten through Oscar season without having to refer to James Cameron as our wise and just overlord. What do we get in return? Tim Burton raping your childhood and Jay Baruchel vehicles. The most intriguing part of this month in cinema is trying to figure out how this guy is considered an eight.

Thank god for Iron Man 2 and its May release date. I don't know if I can make it much longer than that. Then again, I could get my hopes up for The Bounty Hunter. That Gerard Butler is a dreamboat. There' also pedophilia central coming soon to a theatre near you. Who am I kidding? Help me, Robert Downey Junior, you're my only hope.

All this chatter

Clearly, my gripes post has to start with this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35781534/ns/us_news-life/

Oh you're gay? That's a real shocker. I'm glad you, State Senator (for several more years, hopefully) kept the suspense at a premium level by claiming you were straight even after getting pulled over with a guy while drunk and leaving a gay nightclub. Believe me, Republicans everywhere had the oversize broom and rug ready, and frankly I think the media was cool with just perpetuating the notion that it was a one time drunken mistake.

So what do we have? Republican, adulterer, drunk driver, anti-gay politician. Not so great. I feel like I should ass something about his hubris, but all I know is that he's Catholic, and more than likely not a religious zealot. I feel like he should get some leniency for liking gay clubs so much that he didn't leave one until nearly 2am on a Wednesday morning. That's pretty solid. I feel like if you're trying to get away from your family, that's not the best time to do it, unless Ashburn goes to a hotel during the week when he has to be in Sacramento, in which case he's just a jerk.

I can't believe his wife didn't know this already, and probably called him out on it too. That doesn't really matter though. Additionally, I can't see having a DUI as being enough to make someone leave office, but I have a feeling after admitting to being gay, there's no place for him as a politician in the Republican Party. There are so many double standards about this sort of thing, and by thing I just mean crimes committed in office, let alone anything about being a gay man.

Of course, this cat is still in office.

If you're writing the headline to be displayed at top of the front page of a major website, and the topic is a strike/protest/riot in Greece, something which I assume is at least uncommon, why would you use the word "austerity"? Sometimes, I really do feel like the news media just doesn't want people to read stuff. I'm fairly certain that is one of the major gears that keeps all this crap churning nonstop. The only way a positive story will ever appear at the top of a major news website is if Saddam Hussein gets captured again, or the police find some blond chick who either ran off and lived with a giant turtle or was kidnapped by a Frenchman during her field trip to Hershey Park.

Oh yeah!

Now that's what I'm talking about!

I've been joking for a year now that all this painful exercise and excruciatingly low cheeseburger intake was bound to pay off where it counts. Thank god the internet has my back on this one. I can't say for sure if it makes the ladies like me more in general. Stupid sexy Flanders girlfriend. However, I can confidently say sex is way more fun with the decreased wheezing. I'm pretty sure my grunting has lightened significantly. Here's hoping this discovery holds true and doesn't fizzle out like that silly global warming fad.

Poll-less poll

There was a homeless guy at a traffic light on my drive home yesterday. Seeing how I have a small fortune of quarters sitting in my cup holder, I felt compelled to help him out. Of course, I made sure to turn down the volume on my music before opening the window. I didn't want him to judge me for rocking out to Britney. So I blog about it for the whole world to see? Ugh, I don't make any sense. Win or fail? You decide!

Will James Cameron get a special blue Oscar if he wins?

It's that time of year again. No, not college basketball silly. It's Oscar time! I did my best to see the major players this year. Okay, maybe I only did 68% of my best. Close enough for me. I still haven't seen Avatar but I think I got the gist by living in L.A. and having ears. I've kept myself educated thanks to Google Reader and sites like this one. Don't get your hopes up, but the hosts could be genuinely funny for once. I heard that this is the last year Barbara Walters will do her traditional pre-show interviews. So much to get excited over! Who knows, they might even hand out some awards. 

Best Original Screenplay strikes me as a particularly strong category this year. I've seen four out of the five nominated films and they all had phenomenal scripts. I'm happy to see A Serious Man get its just recognition. Toned down and restrained compared to what we're accustomed to getting from the Coen brothers, I found it to be one of their most refined films yet, harnessing all of their infectious energy in a much denser package than we've seen in the past. That being said, if I had a vote, it would be going to Up. Yes, it's a sentimental pick, but that sentiment is a product of the story that moved me the most out of all the movies I saw this year. If it happens to win, you can justify it as the statue Pixar deserved last year for Wall-E.

It seems inevitable at this point that we will have to live with the phrase "Academy Award Winner Sanrda Bullock." I didn't see The Blind Side (shocker) but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume Sanrda Bullock does not have the chops to upstage Meryl Streep, who is continuing her sheer destruction of the Best Actress race with her third nomination in four years. I expect her to lose again because Oscar voters are guaranteed to fall for the "a-list actress puts it all on the line by not phoning it in and making a movie that isn't criminally awful" angle (see: Zeta-Jones, Catherine; Paltrow, Gwyneth; Witherspoon, Reese). So it goes.

With any luck, Sunday will prove to be a very historic night in the history of cinema. It's an embarrassment that a woman has never won Best Director. Worse yet, Kathryn Bigelow is only the fourth woman to ever be nominated. She is a strong favorite to take it down for her incredible work with The Hurt Locker. I put off seeing it until this week and I'm glad I caught it before the awards are handed out. To oversimplify things beyond recognition, The Hurt Locker is basically a character study wrapped up in a war drama, which is about as easy to direct as a $500 Million 3-D epic. Just kidding, it's way harder when you push your actors to give serious performances where the audience can see their real skin tone.

I think the real threat to history is the possibility of another storybook moment: the confirmation of Quentin Tarantino as one of the most significant figures of his generation. Inglorious Basterds has only gotten better since I first saw it. And you can never, ever count out the Weinsteins when they have a contender. Avatar and The Hurt Locker might be dominating the headlines but Inglorious Basterds is lurking, ready to swoop in if the frontrunners take each other out. Truth be told, I think it's worthy of either of the top awards. Tarantino took what could have been a frantic mess of a movie and turned it into a cohesive, well-executed and downright fun flick. Win or lose, I think it's the 2-D movie we'll remember best and talk about the most in a decade.


(Picks after the jump)

Pure Exhilaration

I want this.

For me, the ultimate food is a sandwich. Even as a little kid, when my pallet was less refined, I enjoyed deviled ham sandwiches, salami sandwiches, and of course ham sandwiches. I have never gotten into bologna, and I didn't start to like PB & J's until I was 20.

Nowdays my favorites include some inclusion or combination of the following: chicken, turkey, cheese (pepper jack, gouda, brie, cheddar, american, muenster, goat, or if there is an apocalypse, I can get down with swiss and provolone), jalapeno peppers, red peppers, green peppers, banana peppers, onion, sauerkraut, cole slaw, sometimes tomato, and if it's some dry shit, then mayonnaise. I don't fuck with normal mustard, and under no circumstances is there ever to be lettuce or ketchup on any of my sandwiches.

I'll admit I'm spoiled, but the concessions end there

My mother is a New York Jew. I'll exploit that stereotype as an excuse for my bellyaching until the day I die, so don't mistake my tone as being apologetic when I point out that I complain about the suburban qualities of L.A. more than I should. Heritage aside, I find it irrepressibly stressful that the second largest city in this country seemingly shuts down at 10 PM. 7/11 and Ralphs do not qualify as enticing night life destinations in my book.

I know New York is a unique snowflake in a world littered with regular sleep schedules and conservative lifestyles. I'm not asking for a city that offers anything on par with that level of stimulation. If I want a New York experience, I'll go to New York. But is it too much to ask for options beyond chain diners and strip clubs after the sun goes down? Where are we, New Jersey?

2010

A lot has been made recently about the backlash Democrats have incurred because of their job initiative, spending bill, budget deficit, war in Afghanistan, and of course, actually winning a presidential election. Even the most diehard are skeptical of the light side's chances of keeping a majority in 2010/2012.

I'll start by saying Barack Obama is a lock to retain his presidency 2 years from now, if not for his sheer awesomeness then because we find ourselves in a state where incumbents just don't lose. In fact only 3 presidents have failed to win consecutive elections in this century alone, although Taft never secured his party's nomination for the 2nd go-around, and frankly, things that long ago were far different. Basically, incumbents in America do not lose.

I am so confident as to lay an Edmund to the world open bet, where I will take Obama versus the field at 3-2 odds for the 2012 presidential election.

Unfortunately the national news media chooses to place an undue emphasis on the importance of congress, even when the vast majority of Americans neither know nor care who their congressman are, nor what they actually acccomplish.

My predictions for shifts within the U.S. Senate:

Open Democratic seats are in the following states: Connecticut, Illinois, Delaware, Indiana, and North Dakota.

I believe Democrats will sweep all 5 of these races, the only exception being possibly Indiana, but a former losing congressman (R) is running against a handsome incumbent congressman (D). In short, ship it.

Open republican seats include 6 different seats: Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire, and Ohio.

Clearly Kansas and Kentucky are screwy enough to retain their respective Republican seats, while I believe New Hampshire will shift to the other side of the aisle. Ohio is a tough bag, but along with Missouri, will probably vote Republican on that national/but appears local election level. Florida will shift to the Democrats, though I enforce the right to believe Ohio and Florida are interchangeable as far as a tally goes.

Incumbents are usually gold, and this applies ten times over for multiple term senators.

Democrats retain seats in: Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New York (x2), Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. To me the only possibilities of an upheaval lay with a newly appointed senator (Bennet-D/Colorado), and a newly switched but quite old man (Specter-D/Pennsylvania). Certainly it's fair to assume a rookie Democratic senator is fair game in Colorado, but of all of the political geographic shifts occurring in the U.S. nowdays, the far west is most assuredly drifting towards blue.

Specter has a semi-legitimate chance of losing in his own primary, which is quite rare, but there is also a prospect of him or Democratic opponent losing to uber-conservative Republican challenger Toomey (R) in the general. Still, chances are less than 50% without a doubt.

Republican incumbents face challenges in those classic "that's so whacky I will make fun of it type state", which include:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona (McCain), Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah. I submit that the only one of these contests possibly up for grabs is South Dakota, a seat most recently held by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D), and the state which possesses the county that votes the most overwhelmingly Democratic in the entire nation come presidential elections.

Outside of that, North Carolina and Louisiana both hold Republican incumbents who have to defend their seats, the latter having admitted to a prostitution scandal. Aww, Eliot Sptizer is jealous: a Governor loses his job and is vilified, while a Republican senator is glamorized for his views not 4 months later. Narf. I'd say the toolbag from North Carolina has a chance of losing, but not the man Vitter from Louisiana, for he hails from a state which is assuredly more cosmopolitan than the rest of the deep south, yet seems to pride itself on running things opposite of of the national political atmosphere.

Long story short:

Democrats gain 2 seats, thus giving them 61 senators, although at least of them is a total scrub, and his name isn't even Lieberman. Republicans thus have 37, with 2 independents not holding reelections staying out.

National Pride

As I assume many non-hockey fans did yesterday, I tuned in for gold medal game. Despite my best efforts, my friends declined my offer to join me in a spirited "U-S-A! U-S-A!" chant. That's okay, I'm sure we'll have plenty of nail biters when the top 12 players in the NBA crush the rest of the world in wherever the hell the next Summer Olympics take place. (Seriously, I have no idea where they are. I stopped caring about the Olympics when I got tired of watching Bob Costas talk about how awesome America is for 23 hours a day.) Maybe, just maybe, we can conjure up a respectable showing in South Africa this summer.

My soccer knowledge is nowhere near what it used to be, but that won't stop me from being chock full of opinions. It would be naive of me to claim the U.S is a major contender in the World Cup. However, for the first time that I can think of, we might be sending some of our best athletes to represent us. When I look at Jozy Altidore, I see a superfreak on par with the stars we're used to seeing in the NBA and NFL. I see a child- he's only 20- strong enough to make a world class defender look helpless to overpower him.



The U.S is full of people like Jozy Altidore. Once we start convincing them to play the world's game, there might be no stopping us.

Bigger. Stronger. Faster. U-S-A! U-S-A!