Rudy Giuliani – O.k., so Rudy’s laid out what is going to be his answer to the abortion question very clearly. When asked, he says something to the affect of “Personally, I hate abortion, but believe in a woman’s right to choose” and finishes by recalling New York’s adoption growth statistics from his tenure as mayor. It has now come out that, at least during the 90’s, Rudy was a regular contributor to Planned Parenthood and spoke at various abortion activist gatherings hosted by organization like NARAL Pro Choice America…I have a problem with this. Not with Rudy’s stance, but that, at least for me, the entirety of his appeal is that he seems to be the most sincere GOP candidate, certainly more than Mitt, who we’ll get to later, and McCain, who I dislike more every time I hear him speak. I can understand the “I believe in choice, but don’t worry because my judicial philosophy will lead to the type of appointments that conservatives want” argument, but that’s not enough. What he needs to sell would-be, truly conservative voters is the “Personally, I hate abortion” argument which falls apart in light of this. A philosophy of choice is one thing, but I just don’t see how someone who really “gets” the abortion issue could donate to and/or be associated with these types of organizations. He just seems insincere now, which leads me to…
Mitt Romney– I missed the debate last week and asked my brother for his take on it to which he replied about Romney, “He looks like a b-actor playing a presidential candidate”. I have since watched the debate and caught him on H&C last night, and I would have to say that I half agree. I would say he looks like an actor playing a presidential aspirant, but I would say he’s doing better than a b-caliber job at it….My point is that while he does give me that “too polished” vibe, and I most likely would not vote for him in a primary, I would not be devastated if this guy wound up with the nomination and, frankly, would be kind of excited just to see how his campaign would unfold.
Roger Clemens – I love baseball more than most people I know, and I especially love to watch good pitching. I love baseball, love good pitching, and am 26 years old which means that at some point, I developed an immense respect and appreciation for Roger Clemens’ ability on the mound. I’ve also always kind of loved his demeanor on the mound. There’s an old school sensibility to how he approaches his job. That gritty, hardball-esque, throw inside, back you off the plate, “I’ll hit you if I have to just to make a point, but either way, I will own this plate tonight” kind of prowess just strikes all my baseball chords. However, one thing that is always quick to induce apoplexy in me regardless of the person or sport is an athlete that deals with his team and/or teammates as if he is bigger than the game itself, and Clemens has displayed this type of mentality repeatedly over the last few years. It all started with his “retirement” from the Yankees. Now I hate the Yankees so I was admittedly a little happy to see them get the shaft, but I still thought his actions were shady. Then the whole “I won’t fly with the team, and I’m flying home after my spot in the rotation” thing really pissed me off. Finally, the whole “ I’m going to wait and see if Houston’s winning to see if I pitch this year” thing just depleted whatever respect I had for this guy. If anything, that is saying I’m bigger than the game, the teams, the traditions, and especially the other current players, and I just can’t stomach that. So now, he has again whored out his talents at the expense of a team waiting on him to decide what he’ll do, the Astros. So, I find myself at a place I never thought, as a baseball fan and lover of pitching, I would be…I’m going to have to root against Roger Clemens, a circumstance only exacerbated by the fact that he staked the ‘Stros to rejoin the Yanks...This truly is a sad day.
cheers
Zeius
Mitt Romney– I missed the debate last week and asked my brother for his take on it to which he replied about Romney, “He looks like a b-actor playing a presidential candidate”. I have since watched the debate and caught him on H&C last night, and I would have to say that I half agree. I would say he looks like an actor playing a presidential aspirant, but I would say he’s doing better than a b-caliber job at it….My point is that while he does give me that “too polished” vibe, and I most likely would not vote for him in a primary, I would not be devastated if this guy wound up with the nomination and, frankly, would be kind of excited just to see how his campaign would unfold.
Roger Clemens – I love baseball more than most people I know, and I especially love to watch good pitching. I love baseball, love good pitching, and am 26 years old which means that at some point, I developed an immense respect and appreciation for Roger Clemens’ ability on the mound. I’ve also always kind of loved his demeanor on the mound. There’s an old school sensibility to how he approaches his job. That gritty, hardball-esque, throw inside, back you off the plate, “I’ll hit you if I have to just to make a point, but either way, I will own this plate tonight” kind of prowess just strikes all my baseball chords. However, one thing that is always quick to induce apoplexy in me regardless of the person or sport is an athlete that deals with his team and/or teammates as if he is bigger than the game itself, and Clemens has displayed this type of mentality repeatedly over the last few years. It all started with his “retirement” from the Yankees. Now I hate the Yankees so I was admittedly a little happy to see them get the shaft, but I still thought his actions were shady. Then the whole “I won’t fly with the team, and I’m flying home after my spot in the rotation” thing really pissed me off. Finally, the whole “ I’m going to wait and see if Houston’s winning to see if I pitch this year” thing just depleted whatever respect I had for this guy. If anything, that is saying I’m bigger than the game, the teams, the traditions, and especially the other current players, and I just can’t stomach that. So now, he has again whored out his talents at the expense of a team waiting on him to decide what he’ll do, the Astros. So, I find myself at a place I never thought, as a baseball fan and lover of pitching, I would be…I’m going to have to root against Roger Clemens, a circumstance only exacerbated by the fact that he staked the ‘Stros to rejoin the Yanks...This truly is a sad day.
cheers
Zeius
2 comments:
Dr.Z-thoughts:
1. for me this is going to be an election about practicalities rather than ideals. the abortion and rudy thing does raise questions of honesty and forthrightness...but the practical reality for me is that he might be the best candidate to win in november...forcing me to abandon any kind of moral stumping. also...if he really takes a federalist approach to the issue...does it really matter what his personal beliefs were?
2. clemens pains me. and the sad thing is that this almost assures that he'll go into the hall as a yankee.
Herodotus
On the topic of practicalities trumping ideals, I personally think on issues where morality and governance intersect it should be left to the states to decide. So, I take a federalist approach in ideal, but the practicality of the matter is that, especially with abortion, the issue has been settled and will continue to be settled on the federal level…Is it ideal?...Absolutely not, but it is reality. So whether Rudy’s approach is that of a federalist, it actually doesn’t matter but not as you say. It doesn’t matter because he’ll have to appoint federal judges that will have to decide the fate of Roe. I understand the argument that the proper course of action is to levy these issues to the states, but the before that can be done, we must re-calibrate the federal judiciary, and only a president, and probably, the next president can do that…The question is, “Do I trust Rudy to make the right appointments?”…Before I did because I believed that he “abhorred” abortion as he has said, but I don’t see someone that detests the practice donating to Planned Parenthood something like six times in a decade.
Clemens was going in as Yank anyway…His years in Houston were good, but not his best because they have no offense. Who wants to go in as a Blue Jay?...And he hasn’t been in a Sox uniform in almost twenty years…It is still very sad, though.
cheers.
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