Balta1701

I think this is an interesting and spot-on analysis of the views of the media of each administration.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jan 22, 2009 -> 05:56 PM) Maybe she never really wanted to in the first place and was just bowing to peer pressure. I agree. And by peer pressure, I think you mean "within-the-family" peers. Either she just wasn't up to it right now or she just didn't want to do it. If she really wants it, she has a few years to make herself a policy guru and practice speeches, and she can re-run for the seat then.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 22, 2009 -> 07:00 PM) When you're walking by someone and they say, "How are you doing?" By the time I devise a response, I'm forced to yell it towards the asker's back as they continue walking. ^^^^^. That.

I don't like donuts.

Thanks everyone!

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jan 20, 2009 -> 09:33 PM) I know this is the Dem thread, but can you PLEASE get rid of your hatred now? It's over. Frankly, no. I viscerally despise that man. I am a Democrat because the Republicans nominated him in 2000. The man has screwed up virtually everything he touched. He has repeatedly broken the law. And proudly admits it. This man has moved this country literally as close to the brink of disaster as it has been since probably 1932. This man has the blood of thousands of people, probably hundreds of thousands of people, on his hands. This man ordered people tortured to death in our names. He has soured the face of America for an entire generation of the world's inhabitants. This man has been an utter disaster for this country and for this world, and the damage he has done will take years to overcome, if it is ever undone. And you know the worst part? If you listen to his press availabilities over the past month...he doesn't understand one bit how anyone could think he did a single thing wrong. He thinks his mistakes in New Orleans was not landing Air Force One there, not all of the other things screwed up beforehand. He thinks the reason people stopped liking him was because he picked the wrong time to push to destroy Social Security. He thinks the economic collapse and 9/11 were totally random events that had nothing to do with any specific government actions or policies. I really can't put in to words how glad I am to see him gone. I'd say that if Senator McCain had won. His Successor could make a wrong decision every time he had a choice to make over 8 years, and then only would tie 43 in how much damage he does. It is theoretically impossible to do a worse job. And not only that, he thinks it had nothing at all to do with him.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jan 20, 2009 -> 06:52 PM) Personally, I loved the fact that the Illinois float had SouthPaw and the Sox logo, and not a damn thing about the Cubs. If you can find a good picture showing that can you send me the link?

I can think of no better tribute to the 43rd President of the United States than having his appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, flub the Oath of office of his successor.

8 years ago, our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity ended.

I'm officially allowed to say this here too. Those last 8 years really sucked.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Jan 19, 2009 -> 08:32 PM) Bill Clinton did a better job. So Did William Henry Harrison.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jan 19, 2009 -> 08:16 PM) Aw f*** Balta you're gonna make me go upstairs and get my pint of Hennessy? Yes. Bottle of Jim Beam beside me. But then again, I'm next to Death Valley in a town of 100 people. But I do have a transistor radio for tomorrow morning. Damn, those years sucked.

Damn, those 8 years SUCKED.

QUOTE (jenks45monster @ Jan 18, 2009 -> 09:05 PM) Marquez is on the 40 man roster. Link Yeah, but I don't think he's made an appearance in the big leagues yet has he?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 18, 2009 -> 08:37 PM) This really doesn't make much sense. How can Marquez be off the board, and Contreras won't even pitch until May in the big leagues, if not June? How can anyone be behind Lance Broadway? Contreras shouldn't be listed at all until he's ready to pitch...as he's not relevant yet. As Ozzie said about Joe Crede last year, talk about players on the roster that can help today, not maybe, not in the future. Is Marquez on the 40 man yet? He may not have started his arbitration clock yet, that might be why.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 12:34 PM) I refuse to let myself believe Owens will carry that job past the first week of the season. IMO, the only thing that will stop him from doing so for the first few weeks/first couple months is injury.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 12:18 PM) Pie's need more time at the Major League Level. The Cubs refuse to offer him this. The consensus is that Pies' approaching bust territory, but the kid's has shown some promise whenever he's given the chance. I'd be more than happy to stick him out there with BA and see what happens. We already know the answer to that. They'd be buried behind Owens as long as he's not hurt.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 12:20 PM) I have a fire extinguisher in my kitchen -- its not because I dream of being a firefighting hero, but because I want to be prepared in case my frying pan bursts into flames. Carrying a weapon is no different, and empirical evidence clearly shows that you don't get rampant vigilantism or Wild West-style shootouts. Fire extinguishers rarely kill you. Or other people.

QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 12:08 PM) I think the biggest need is still O-Line for the Bears. Im not up to date with the cap info but if there is a way we can sign the one corner from Oakland that would be pretty awesome as well. Ive heard Duke Robinson the LG falling into the 2nd round, would be pretty great if we could draft a good RT in first and get Robinson in 2nd as well. The Bears need to take an OT in one of the first couple rounds, but I'd say the Bears are in a position right now where you can make an argument that they have a need at almost every position. Except for LB, they are a candidate for just taking the best player available, especially if someone is starting to drop.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 11:33 AM) And his best asset has been his ability to hit with runners in scoring position, in the leadoff spot such situations will be incredibly limited. He's just not a good fit for the top of the order. I still like him in the #2 spot.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 09:54 AM) Chicago's handgun ban does far more bad than good, and doesn't serve its intended purpose. Now too, with the latest SCOTUS decision, I'd guess that ban will be stricken some time soon. Depends on a number of things. First of all, the DC Handgun ban was an interesting case in that DC is run by the federal government, so the court could specifically say that the DC government is bound by the 4th amendment in a way that the other districts aren't. In addition, right now is likely the most conservative court we'll see for the next decade, so the moment there's a retirement or death, the calculus could change. Can't recall who was the swing vote on that one, but it's entirely plausible that we could within 8 years wind up with the most polarized court in my lifetime, with Bush's appointees, Thomas, and Scalia being hard, hard right and Obama's appointees and Clinton's appointees being the opposite.

So, we should be surprised that he turned down a $4 million deal?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 07:56 AM) Ramirez - SS The big problem with Alexei leading off is exactly what you just said...if you've got a lineup full of boppers, you want OBP at the top. Alexei's OBP is almost entirely built on his batting average since he doesn't take a walk.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 09:37 AM) Basically everything has gone wrong since the end of the 06-07 season except for winning the lottery. I can't blame him for some of it. Wallace made sense at the time even though it completely backfired (and JR supposedly pushed it anyways), he had a great Gasol deal on the table but it got nixed, Hinrich's play fell off a cliff after they gave him an essentially market value extension, and though he did overpay for Deng it wasn't totally obscene given that Prince and pre-breakout Butler and Howard all got around $10 mil a year. However, buying into the post-NCAA Tyrus hype instead of taking the much more polished Aldridge was brutal, Nocioni got an extension comfortably over what he's worth, he's done nothing to solve the immense logjam in the backcourt, the froncourt is a joke and Gordon may well walk at the end of the year because of how they've mis-handled that. Also, JR played a role in it, but the Del Negro hiring was awful, he has no clue what he's doing and I've seen grade school teams that run more complicated and well thought out offenses. This roster is a mess and I really don't trust Pax to fix it. Once you get to a point where a guy is compounding one mistake with another mistake, it's pretty much time to change course. In addition to your list, you can add things like the Chandler trade, not using PJ Browns' expiring contract for anything, drafting Noah over Hawes probably counts as well. VDN is looking like the last straw for me. The simple fact is, the roster is a disaster, the locker room is a mess still, no one seems to have any confidence in the coach, and things aren't looking much better. Pax's last shot to fix this is to make a major move before the deadline. If he can pull off an overhaul I might give him a chance to see how it works.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 08:58 AM) Dbaho and Steve, The points I'm making are that his moves did not look horrible at the time. It's easy to bash now. I give you guys the Tyrus-LA trade. But even that did not seem like the end of the world at the time. A good GM makes moves that look horrible at the time but which in the long term work out. See: Kenny Williams. A bad GM makes moves that seem good at the time but then repeatedly blow up in one's face.