Joust The Facts

Almost Home

This is it.  This weekend my office moves from northern Massachusetts to southern New Hampshire.  The new building is ready ... I think ... and within about three weeks the new entities should be fully past the transition, up and running.  Well, two of the three anyway.  The third still needs a little work, but it's getting there.

My latest blog hiatus has been longer (since Feb. 10) than I thought it would be.  I've had a boatload of post ideas, but by the time I would have gotten to them they would have been stale, so well hashed out in the rest of the blogosphere that anything I could add would likely have been redundant.  I still won't be posting much until the babies are secure in their beds.  I am hoping to blog March Madness as I have traditionally.

I have been following the twists and turns of Mssrs. McCain and Obama and Ms. Clinton.  I do have to point out what I wrote in my last post, on Feb. 10, about Mr. McCain.

The McCain Media Honeymoon will be over soon.  The media has soft-sold him thus far because, of the Republicans, they clearly preferred the maverick-ness of the author of McCain-Feingold and McCain-Kennedy who voted against the Bush tax cuts.  But now that he's the presumptive Republican nominee, media outlets like the NY Times and Boston Globe that had endorsed him will find all sorts of reasons to attack him, the predominant one being that he still has an 'R' after his name.

The NY Times?  Eleven days later?  It was all too easy.

Furtive Glances - "And Then There Were Three" Edition

Okay, so some of these will be a little stale.  I'm sorry.  I'm very busy and gearing up for my practices move across the border to New Hampshire, and the level of daily activity and business decisions has been escalating relentlessly.  I've needed a lot more of my remaining few minutes during the day for "down time," and cranking out blog posts in those few minutes right now doesn't make the list.

Okay, you got me.  I'm simply in mourning over the Patriots loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII and the BU Terriers loss in the opening round of the Beanpot to BC last Monday, in OT.  OTOH, the Connecticut Huskies have been on a nice little mid-season winning streak.  They've finally figured out how to play defense the way Jim Calhoun likes them to play defense.  Looking forward to the Big East Tournament in New York and the March Madness to follow.

Without further delay, some furtive glances at the headlines and the blogosphere.

• Congratulations, Ace.  I'm not going to make any cheap jokes about either your appearance or your speech.  I'll leave that to the beloved crowd of blog visitors that you call "morons,"  affectionately I'm sure.

• The Obamissle hit its intended target over the weekend, sweeping Washington, Maine, Nebraska and Louisiana.  Meanwhile, here's a definition of 'money laundering' for those who think that Mrs. Clinton's $5 million becomes completely free and clear of any taint once it was in the Clinton bank account.

DEFINITION: Concealing or disguising how illegally obtained funds (such as from drug trafficking, gun smuggling, corruption, etc.) is generated to avoid a transaction-reporting requirement under state or federal law.

I wouldn't say "illegally obtained," but "questionably obtained?"  It certainly didn't come from her Senate salary.  And now she's revising the campaign staff.  Shuffling the deck chairs, as it were?  This Arianna Huffington post is an interesting and, in a way, sad look at the person taking over.

Chung ended up visiting the White House 51 times, many of these visits taking place after the National Security Council had described him as a "hustler" who should be treated with "suspicion." But to hear Maggie Williams tell it, Johnny Chung was a poor, innocent waif, a sort of diamond in the rough, an Eliza Doolittle grossly in need of expert counseling in the finer points of fund-raising etiquette from Mrs. Clinton's staff -- who, after all, are responsible for the social niceties at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. "A prime example of his ... misguided behavior," Williams testified, "was his persistent request to give money directly to Mrs. Clinton. On more than one occasion, I told Mr. Chung this was not possible, although his offer was much appreciated."

• The McCain Media Honeymoon will be over soon.  The media has soft-sold him thus far because, of the Republicans, they clearly preferred the maverick-ness of the author of McCain-Feingold and McCain-Kennedy who voted against the Bush tax cuts.  But now that he's the presumptive Republican nominee, media outlets like the NY Times and Boston Globe that had endorsed him will find all sorts of reasons to attack him, the predominant one being that he still has an 'R' after his name.  In re-reading those endorsements I almost fell off my chair laughing at this line in the Globe:

In 2000, McCain's insurgent candidacy almost succeeded in stopping the George W. Bush juggernaut. This time around, McCain is running further back in the pack of candidates.

"Insurgent candidacy?"  As I recall it, Mr. McCain was the 'pre-race favorite.'

• Patterico has found another liar on the pages of the LA Times Dog Trainer.

• Mitt Romney gave a superb withdrawal speech at CPAC.  RTWT.  Whether Mr. McCain wins or loses in November, Mr. Romney will be back.  It disturbs me more than a little that many people refused to vote for him because of his Mormon faith, particularly since in his public life he's never let that influence his decision making.  Other political considerations have influenced him, certainly, but not his faith.

Super Sunday - Not So Perfect Pats

18-1.

The Giants did it with a determined pass rush that gave Patriot QB Tom Brady very little time and almost no room to maneuver.

The did it with an attitude of "nothing to lose" that was an absolutely accurate description of their situation.

They did it with a little lot of luck on their final drive. including two passes, or possibly three that could have (and probably should have) been intercepted but weren't, and a couple of sacks that should have happened but didn't.

They did it with a QB who was disparaged to the point of being the subject of one of the funniest sports posts ever only a little over a year ago.

And they did it with - am I the only one who spotted this? - what seemed to be an illegal pick on a key 3rd-and-11 play keeping that final drive alive. Rookie wideout Steve Smith lined up in the slot on a three wide right set, Patriots safety Brandon Merriweather drawing the assignment.  But Merriweather got picked off by the 2nd wideout crossing with Smith as he headed to the flat.  Smith was wide open in the right flat, and picked up the first down.  A key first down.  Instead of fourth and about 20 from the 36 it's first down at the 15.  Next play?  Touchdown Plaxico Burress.

So the Giants have the Super Bowl title, and the Patriots have the "what if's" to think about.  The biggest "what if" is this:  Bill Belichick, renowned for creating defenses that confuse and lock down an opponent, couldn't generate a pass rush consistently enough, even with a variety of blitzes, to make Eli Manning's knees wobble.  His defense was, sad to say, passive, playing "bend but don't break" instead of forcing the action.  Manning was able to run the Giant offense the way he wanted.  And with the Giants defense playing lights out on the other side of the ball, he could afford to be conservative, to throw short slants and hooks, and to wait for his openings.

It's hats off to the Giants.  And for the Patriots?  An offseason of "what if's."  Lots of "what if's."