Balta1701

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ May 12, 2008 -> 10:14 AM) So all those votes Obama missed or voted present on while in Illinois were because he was campaigning? Naturally, the anti Obama person chimes in with "Oh, it's always black or white, either you voted with something or against it". You know as well as I do that in some legislatures, voting "Present" is a standard tactic. A significant chunk of those present votes (50+) were actually instructed from the party leadership in the state senate. Yes, even I'll admit, some of them were for political cover, because you have 2 groups pointing at different parts of an issue as good or bad, and you have to do something about that. So, if you have a problem with a specific vote, then point to it. If you want me to care about him voting "Present", then please, point to a bill that either won or lost specifically because Sen. Obama voted Present and thus the bill lost by 1 vote, so that we can analyze how much his present voting mattered. I couldn't care less about a candidate voting present because he had a specific issue with a small part of a bill in a vote where the margin of victory was already there without him. For example, I can do exactly that with John McCain. If you have a problem with Senator Obama voting present on bills where his vote was not the deciding margin, then you also have to have a much bigger problem with John McCain flying back to Washington with Sen. Graham and Sen Lieberman on the same plane to vote on the cloture of the bill that would have banned the CIA from torturing people, having the other 2 vote, and having Sen. McCain not vote, despite the fact that the cloture motion failed by 1 vote, 59-40.

QUOTE (jackie hayes @ May 11, 2008 -> 04:51 AM) That article -- I do not think it means what you think it means. Obama was not ranked the most liberal senator for 2006 (the article only says he was more liberal than the other Dem pres candidates). He was ranked most liberal (by the NJ, not all rankings) for 2007. And just for the Senate, not in the entire Congress. The fun of these stupid rankings for the major candidates always gets magnified when they're running for a higher office because they wind up missing a decent chunk of votes that aren't going to be close and which they might wind up crossing over on. If the Republicans put together a good bill on something, they're going to have an 75-20 majority without the main 3 candidates showing up for the vote, and so Obama and Clinton lose out on a chance to do the crossover type vote that might have moved those rankings around. Conversely, if the Dems are pushing a bill and the vote is tight, they're likely to show up for that vote because their vote will actually be important in that case, and thus the main candidates are driven towards the edges in election years. In case you're interested, 2 votes separated Hillary from Obama in the last year's rankings. Here's the votes:

QUOTE (KipWellsFan @ May 11, 2008 -> 10:17 AM) While it's obvious that the McCain camp will try to take advantage of this, most people could probably come to the conclusion that Obama's pretty centrist in real terms. I mean as far as I know he's not in favour of legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana, legalizing prostitution, withdrawing from Afghanistan as well as Iraq, and his health care program doesn't seem as left as Hillary's. And what's the deal with Americans using the word liberal as a negative. It's the only country I know of that uses the word this way, and in the rest of the Western world people often use it to describe what you guys would consider conservativism. What definition are you guys using? Anything that's not conservative is liberal? The answer to your 2nd question is that, quite simply, it's been the business of some really well paid conservatives over the past 25-30 years to turn the word liberal in to a dirty word in this country. That has been one of the most subtle and perhaps the most important effects of the Hannity/Limbaugh/Fox news work, every time something bad happens, blame it on those evil "liberals".

QUOTE (kapkomet @ May 12, 2008 -> 06:30 AM) I think China's demand for energy will plummet after the olympics. Their end game has been Beijing 2008 for 20 years now. EVERYTHING is about making China look good in the eyes of the world for the olympics. When it's over, I think things get a little chaotic there - which is actually more dangerous geo-politically and could raise oil prices even more. Are you really convinced that so much of China's new energy demand is being fueled by growth in its construction industry directly related to the Olympics rather than growth in the economy as a whole? The only way I can see you being right is if you're saying the government is spending so much money on construction that the construction is what is pumping up their energy demand, and from my impressions, I just don't see this being true. The whole country has been experiencing a boom due to rising employment and rapid construction throughout. The only thing that would push that backwards is a major, major recession in that country.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 12, 2008 -> 08:19 AM) Seriously, Al Gore was right... Was this really necessary?

4 more SD's (give or take) for Obama today...he takes the lead in the AP count, the Demconwatch count, CNN still has Clinton by 2.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ May 10, 2008 -> 12:29 PM) McCain taps former lobbyist for Burmese dictatorship to run GOP convention OOPS! Good Job John! And it appears he's resigned from the GOP convention job.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ May 10, 2008 -> 03:04 PM) Maybe the Sox have cooled on the Jerry Owens thing for awhile. He is fighting abig slump at AAA. I was thinking the same thing though about Ramirez and Ozuna. They both fill the same role, but Ramirez I still think needs more seasoning and should be playing at AAA. Maybe Jim Edmonds should be signed? Signing a backup outfielder does not make this team better. The biggest reason why Ozuna and Ramirez are both on this team is that they can both back up the infield positions. With Crede's back issues and Uribe's usual performance issues and Cabrera's this year suckitude, we need more depth in the IF than the OF.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 10, 2008 -> 12:48 AM) The Sox have Quentin in LF, Swisher in CF, Dye in RF, Konerko at 1B, and Thome at DH If you can tell me how the Sox can get Anderson 300 ABs without seriously f***ing this team, that'd be amazing. For now, I'll just say it's ridiculous to think he can get that many. If Anderson doesn't get 300 AB's by giving those guys an off day every 10 days or so...then Anderson's going to get 300 at bats when Thome, Konerko, or Dye finally gets hut. It's really crazy to be pushing these guys so hard right now. Thome hasn't had an off day in a couple weeks and this is the hardest part of our schedule, Konerko and Dye are already dealing with some aches and pains.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ May 10, 2008 -> 12:26 PM) Are you really surprised that the Knicks made a not so bright move? Honestly though...D'Antoni could easily be worth $10 million a year plus to that franchise. As much as they take in on ticket sales and ad revenue...they need to make sure people keep watching and people stay in the seats. The players on that team are garbage, but now, at least until it gets stale, there'll be some excitement. New coach, new style of play, fast paced, lots of offense, lots of reasons to stay tuned in. He's clearly a worse fit for their roster than almost any in the league (Come on Eddy, Run, Run! I can't!), but even losing while scoring more points for a year or two makes sense for that team.

QUOTE (Texsox @ May 10, 2008 -> 08:24 AM) There are problems with any sort of revisionist solutions. Basically they will come down to a best guess as to what the voters would have done, and that can never, except by accident, by accurate. Revoting has its problems as well. Cost comes to mind. Lots more new information. But I have forgotten, wasn't the issue that voted too soon anyways? WOuld they not now be doing what the DNC wanted them to do? The DNC decided, in their effort to balance out Iowa and New Hampshire and their, um, bleached whiteness compared to the rest of the party and country, that they were going to allow 2 other states to move up to try to create more balance. They said that they'd allow it to go Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South carolina, but that any other state that wanted to go before Feb. 5 would be penalized (The RNC did the same thing but only stripped half the delegates from the state, the DNC voted, including pro-Hillary folks, to strip them all as punishment). So after the vote, the DNC indicated they'd be more than happy to recognize the results of anything done after Feb. 5. Whether it was a caucus, a new vote, whatever. But there was never really an agreement about how things could get done, no one wanted to put up the money except Hillary supporters, and you can't have private supporters of one candidate financing an election.

Who will end the day with the higher batting average, Juan Uribe or Orlando Cabrera. It's .196 vs. .203.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 9, 2008 -> 08:59 PM) I haven't been able to watch a lot, no. So I'll trust you guys on Swish. I just wish for once somebody we acquire would excel from the start. That start in 06 for Jim Thome was pretty damn good. The start for Carlos Quentin this year has been all right.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 9, 2008 -> 08:53 PM) Are you convinced Swish will bust out? Steve Sax never did. So you've got 1 example from what, 15 years ago? Damn. Swisher will bust out. Yes. Dye was in this kind of funk early in 05 and went on to receive some nice hardware at the end of the year.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 9, 2008 -> 08:04 PM) Why can't we take control of the game instead of immediately giving up some runs? Ichiro.

3 runs without a home run, generated (except for Uribe) by the heart of our order. Hopefully a promising sign.

He didn't embarrass himself!

Wasn't Cabrera supposed to be one of those solid #2 type hitters, where if he doesn't get a hit, at least he moves a runner over?

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 9, 2008 -> 07:34 PM) Nice D so far this inning, Crede and BA save runs. I refuse to believe that Anderson could have saved a run. It's 1-0 now. Defense does nothing.

Damn.

Come on Brian, earn your playing time...

QUOTE (Wanne @ May 9, 2008 -> 06:49 PM) Agree with that for the most part...except basically I'd do it for Swisher, Konerko and Thome. Dye's swinging a great bat right now and no way do you take Quentin at this point right now. If it becomes a noticable fatigue factor with Quentin...sure....but he's young. Because, quite simply, Quentin hasn't had an off day once since he replaced Alexei in the lineup. Don't care how young he is, after 30 consecutive games, a mental day is usually a good thing.

QUOTE (Linnwood @ May 9, 2008 -> 03:50 PM) Per Cowley: Swisher out of the lineup, Brian Anderson is in. Anderson ought to play every day for the next week and Swisher, Quentin, Dye, Konerko, and Thome ought to split days off.

Applause. Anderson ought to play every day for the next week. Pass around off days to Swisher, Quentin, Dye, Thome, and Konerko. Every one of them could use it.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ May 9, 2008 -> 01:31 PM) Kinda like Limbaugh rooting for Hillary? Actually I believe he flipped his endorsement to Obama yesterday, because now Obama is the "Weaker candidate".