Sunday, November 21, 2004

Troops In The Field The GOP hardliners in the House say they didn't pass the 9/11 Commission suggestions, at least in part because they thought the reforms "might hurt the troops in the field."  This would happen, they say, because the Pentagon would lose oversight of some of the functions, intelligence, and of course, budget, that they now currently oversee.  Now, wait a minute.  I thought the troops were in the field to protect us from terror.  That's what this whole thing is about, right?  Yes, we want to establish some democracies around the world, but that's only a means to an end, right?  We weren't going around building democracies before 9/11, were we?  Nation-building was persona non grata in the Bush 2000 campaign.  So the goal isn't building a democracy, it's preventing terror.  The troops are willing to lay down their lives to help protect us from terror.  That's the whole bit.  That's the sacrifice we are all told is being made.  The troops know this.  It's part of what helps them get through their time in the service, that they are helping protect America and American values.  From terrorism. But now, we aren't willing to pass the 9/11 Commission suggestions-which had broad bi-partisan support from the Senate and (at least public) support from the White House-because it would "endanger" the troops in the field?  Since when is that not a tradeoff that we are all-servicepeople included-willing to make?  I'm not saying we should sacrifice the troops by giving them substandard equipment, or substantially cut their puclic and tactical support with botched or indifferenct diplomacy.  Nor should we give them faulty or pollyannaish intelligence to work with.  There are plenty of people in power right now who have shown a serial ability to do all these things for our troops. I'm talking about what has been widely-again, bipartisanly-regarded as a necessary and achievable reform in the way this nation protects itself.  You remember, all the parts that failed last time and got us into this mess?  If we had a chance to fix some of those holes, don't you think that's worth transitioning some of the authority to a new place, and accepting tactical risks that may accompany that kind of shift? Not passing the 9/11 Commission recommendations while citing a concern for the safety of our troops, after the way these jackasses have exposed our troops time and time again, is one of the most unbelievably cynical and disgusting things I have ever seen. And I think they'll pay for it.  Oh, I know.  I've been saying that now for over two years.  Maybe I'm still in denial after the election.  I just can't imagine that people won't finally get sick of this. Who do they blame when the next attack comes?  They've already had their free pass. 10:47:47 PM    Say what?[]

Brawl Ugly scene in that Pistons/Pacers brawl on Friday.  Hard to know what to say about any of that, though of course thousands of email words were penned by my fantasy basketball league over the weekend, where typically all is silent from Friday to Monday.   I think the suspensions meted out are appropriate.  You can't go into the stands, period.  At a minimum, being doused by beer isn't sufficient provocation.  If every guy who got hit by beer from the stands actually charged the stands...well, people probably wouldn't throw much beer.  But Charles Barkley probably had more beer thrown on him than I've drank in my life, and you never saw him enter the stands.  He spit on people, sure.  And he threw a guy through a plate-glass window at a bar, I'll grant you that, too.  But he never went into the stands and precipitated a riot.  But it also has to come full circle.  The fans involved must be punished to the full extent possible.  I wonder what the laws are in Michigan regarding inciting a riot?  I know one thing: whoever threw that chair deserves to do time.  Period.  That wasn't some plastic lawn chair like Rangers pitcher Frank Francisco threw in Oakland earlier this year.  That was a heavy metal chair, like the kind Ronnie James Dio or Angus Young might sit in.  I certainly don't feel any sympathy for most of those fans involved in the throwing of items or punches.  You throw something at somebody, you better be prepared for them to react.  Athletes are human and it ain't the zoo.  But my heart sunk when I saw thought about all the innocent bystanders in the arena, kids especially.  What a sad demonstration of so many ugly parts of people, especially when alcholol, adrenaline, and a crowd (and siege) mentality set in.  I'm sure for many people, it was genuinely terrifying. I am saddened to admit that as I viewed the footage the first time I began to think about the fantasy basketball implications of what was happening.  I feel awful about that, and it's one of the great criticisms of fantasy sports, that it warps the lenses through which sport should be enjoyed.  I think there are ways to guard against that, but you play fantasy sports competetively long enough and it's just something that's there.  (The worst example I've ever seen of this is etched very clearly into my mind.  I was in college, and the debate team was on its way to a tournament in Oklahoma City.  We had just finished our Debate team fantasy basketball draft a couple days before.  The draft was a big to-do at our debate coach's house, which is a couple dozen stories all in their own right, but perhaps we can talk about those some other time.  Anyway, we all had our teams drafted and we were NBA crazy!  Somewhere in Oklahoma a special report came on the radio announcing Magic Johnson's AIDS disclosure.  It was a real heavy moment for most of us, but not for our coach, who cried out, "Thank God I didn't draft him!", not 3 seconds after the announcement came over the air.) As I watched footage of Artest and Stephen Jackson go Fight Club in the stands, I started a mental catalogue of which teams would be impacted in which leagues I play in.  The very moment I had a thankful thought that I didn't see Jermaine O'Neal, my team catalyst in my A league, on the screen, O'Neal flew from out of the frame and fist-first into the face of a Pistons fan.  It was an odd punch, sort of a combination of a long-jump and a punch, something you might see from the old Double Dragon video game.  The guy in the Pistons shirt, who looked kind of like a miniaturized Horatio Sanz, crumpled up and hit the floor (again).  A part of me wondered if it had in fact been Jermaine O'Neal who hit the guy, but all doubt was removed when they kept showing O'Neal's punch in slow motion, over and over. I can't get too upset about my fantasy team, though.  Imagine how the Pacers must feel, losing their three best players for a quarter of the season.  I think the bottom line is that as ugly as it was, it could potentially have been much worse.  10:27:46 PM    Say what?[]

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