Let's be clear. According to the Republican platform, I agree with much of their ideology. However, it has become apparent to me that many of the more publicized voices that speak on the behalf of the party have ceased thinking completely and now only speak in 3 second sound bites that are vague and misleading propaganda to support some agenda that I believe they don't even fully understand themselves. They have turned into a party, not of thinkers or doers, but of repeaters. They seem to believe that if you repeat the same bullshit often enough, you can make any statement into a fact, regardless of how egregious it is.
Which brings me to my example for today. Here we have Kevin James, former assistant US Attorney turned radio talk show host. To me, it is scary that someone who talks in such vague and WRONG language was that high up on the food chain. Of course, I don't hear anything about him now that he is a radio show host, so he might not have the ears of many people (hopefully). God knows thought that there are enough empty headed people in this country that would grab ahold of something like this and take it to be gospel.
http://scotchandpolitics.com/2008/5/16/comedy-friday-kevin-james-on-hardball
Honestly, this is the first time I have ever watched Chris Matthews but I am impressed. He handled himself very well, did not shout James down (like some other people) or completely ignore what he was saying. He addressed what he said, exposed the lie, and put his feet to the fire. We need more exposure in this country of empty-headed talking heads that are just marching to the beat of whatever drum they are told to march to without thinking about who is giving the order and what the order actually is.
Dangerous stuff people. You want to talk about Hitler!? ...don't get me started.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Thursday, May 08, 2008
BigBrother Belichick
I must admit, when the "Spygate" (worst name ever) scandal broke, I didn't think it was that big of a deal. To me, it seemed as though it was naturally a good strategy decision to try to decipher the opposing teams signals to gain a competitive advantage.
However, at the time I did not realize that there are rules specifically prohibiting this activity of taping the opposition.
Basically, if Belichick would have hired an idiot savant to watch the signals and decipher them without recording them, it seems to me that he would have been fine.
At the time however, I had no idea of the scope of these violations. Today, someone within the Patriots organization is turning over 8 different tapes dating back to 2000 of the opposing teams' defensive signals, including the Cleveland Browns.
To me, this is a extremely serious violation, because you know 2 things damn well.
1) If they were doing this in 2000 and they were doing this in 2007, it is a safe assumption that this behavior did not cease between those two points.
2) If they were cheating against the 2000 Cleveland Browns, they were cheating against absolutely everybody because no one should have had to cheat against the Browns.
Of course, like everything else, the actions are made real by the consequences and in this case, the consequences were quite beneficial for the New England Patriots. The Patriots went to 4 Super Bowls between the 2000 and 2007 seasons, winning 3 of them. It is also during this time that Tom Brady established himself as "one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time". Well, excuse me for saying this, but if I knew where the defense was going to be running and what the coverage was going to be before I snapped the ball, I could probably do a pretty decent job as well.
Now, I hate the Patriots. I make no bones about it. However, even a team that I don't like (the Pittsburgh Steelers for example), I can appreciate and give respect to for a job well done. In the case of the Patriots and Tom Brady, they will receive no such respect from me. They are cheaters, they knew they were cheating, and absolutely everything that they did between 2000 and 2008 is up for questioning at this point. It's a shame that their legacy is tainted, but much like a criminal that gets caught breaking the law, the taint is justified.
However, at the time I did not realize that there are rules specifically prohibiting this activity of taping the opposition.
Basically, if Belichick would have hired an idiot savant to watch the signals and decipher them without recording them, it seems to me that he would have been fine.
At the time however, I had no idea of the scope of these violations. Today, someone within the Patriots organization is turning over 8 different tapes dating back to 2000 of the opposing teams' defensive signals, including the Cleveland Browns.
To me, this is a extremely serious violation, because you know 2 things damn well.
1) If they were doing this in 2000 and they were doing this in 2007, it is a safe assumption that this behavior did not cease between those two points.
2) If they were cheating against the 2000 Cleveland Browns, they were cheating against absolutely everybody because no one should have had to cheat against the Browns.
Of course, like everything else, the actions are made real by the consequences and in this case, the consequences were quite beneficial for the New England Patriots. The Patriots went to 4 Super Bowls between the 2000 and 2007 seasons, winning 3 of them. It is also during this time that Tom Brady established himself as "one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time". Well, excuse me for saying this, but if I knew where the defense was going to be running and what the coverage was going to be before I snapped the ball, I could probably do a pretty decent job as well.
Now, I hate the Patriots. I make no bones about it. However, even a team that I don't like (the Pittsburgh Steelers for example), I can appreciate and give respect to for a job well done. In the case of the Patriots and Tom Brady, they will receive no such respect from me. They are cheaters, they knew they were cheating, and absolutely everything that they did between 2000 and 2008 is up for questioning at this point. It's a shame that their legacy is tainted, but much like a criminal that gets caught breaking the law, the taint is justified.
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