Sports Notes!

Normally I would want USC to beat Notre Dame.  But this time I was happy the Irish won.  Gave them a ticket to the national championship game.  Now they can play either Alabama or Georgia (probably the Tide) and get totally crushed, humiliated, put in their place.  Roll Tide!

Over in Merry Olde England the latest odd couple pairing is at Chelsea.  The Russian oligarch-owner Abramovich shit-canned Roberto DiMatteo in a shameful way (his usual behavior) and hired Rafa Benitez, who spent six years at Liverpool alienating people and winning little.  Wonderful.  The Russki and the Spaniard deserve each other.

Here in what Herb Caen called Baghdad by the Bay (Baghdad must have had a different image back in the day) the soon to be Santa Clara 49ers have replaced a winning quarterback who finally succeeded after five or six years of failure by a new guy – Kaepernick in for Smith – who instantly became a new winning quarterback.  Was it a smart move?  Was it a heartless move?  Is the coach Mr. Fickle?  At the moment criticism is muted, since the team is winning.  I’m ambivalent.

David Beckham closes out his MLS career when the Galaxy play in the championship game on Dec. 1.  With good play, hard work and little ego Beckham has proved the naysayers wrong.  Good for him.  I suspect he’ll end up in the Premier League again.  That would be a fitting and appropriate move.

Speaking of egos – they’re hard at work and on display in the NHL work stoppage.  Owners and players.  Money.  Only the fans pay the price – both when games are played or games are cancelled.  Another useless argument that will end one of these days.  Lessons learned?  None.

The Giants have been quiet since dropping Melky and signing Affeldt – both good moves.  I hope they hold on to Scutaro and Pagan – and if the latter leaves we move for an outfield upgrade.  On the management side, the Sabean-Bochy combo is the best in the game.

That’s it for now.  Have a nice day.

Not My Fault!

Mitt Romney says he lost because Obama gave ‘gifts’ to young people, Hispanics, blacks, poor people and others.  Interesting.  He had nothing to do with it.

Thoughts!

The election turned out better than I thought it would.  Not only Obama winning handily, but changes in the Senate, state initiatives like legalizing pot and same sex marriage approval doing well, and in California voters willing to raise taxes – all good.

Sorry Nancy Pelosi wants to keep her leadership position.  I think she’s an old-line jerk.  Predictably partisan.  Even though she’s my Congresswoman and is right on many policies, I don’t like her.

What’s going on in Syria gets worse and worse.  There are no easy answers, which only means that suffering continues while the world dithers.  How long have Shia and Sunnis been at each other’s throats?  About 1300 years?  Like I say, no easy answers.

L’affaire Petraeus continues to unfold/expand.  It’s like those dolls that have dolls inside them, or pealing an onion trying to find the center.  Watching the mighty fall.  An out-of-hand cat fight.  Privacy issues.  Is dalliance a crime?  Social climbing.  Morality.  Integrity.  Stupidity.  Dick rules the best and the brightest.  And so on . . .

Bruce Bochy deserved to be Manager of the Year.   

The Outlook!

I hope and expect Obama will win tomorrow.  But win or lose I am not optimistic about political leadership in this dear old land of ours.

No matter who is president, the continued slow but steady decline in American hegemony around the world will continue.  Under Romney we’re likely to see more bluster about American power and a more bellicose attitude, but in the end it won’t matter.  The myth of American exceptionalism will be exposed more and more as wishful thinking.  Obama can make the path less rocky, but he won’t be able to stem the tide.

No matter who is president, at home the governmental dysfunction that has become the hallmark of 21^st century America will continue unabated.  The system is flawed.  The unbridgeable gaps between extreme positions will not go away, not without a collapse into such chaos that a new beginning becomes inevitable.

The gaps are everywhere.  Philosophically about the role of government in our lives.  Economically about how to resolve our out of control deficit and spending.  In social issues from abortion to gay marriage to gun control to immigration and more.  The corrupting role of money in politics and the reality that it will get worse before it gets better is pervasive.  No matter who is president, special interest power and corruption will continue.

If Obama is reelected it is possible that the role of the Supreme Court as a destructive force can be inhibited and, to be optimistic, maybe even turned around.  But, no matter who is president, I wouldn’t bet on it.

A bright spot is the changing demographics of this country.  Unrestrained rule by white people is a thing of the past.  That boat has sailed and will not return.  Will Latinos and Asians and blacks rule with more enlightened self-interest?  It’s possible.  But people are people and human history demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that no group has what it takes to govern or control in perpetuity.

So enjoy the day, whoever you are.  No matter who is president.