Candidacies have some Republicans worried

Posted by dcrim – January 26, 2012

Erick Erickson of RedState surveys the current Republican presidential field and doesn’t see anyone he believes can win the general election in November.

Writes Erickson: I am a firm believer that primaries make stronger candidates. But at some point you just have to stand back, take a sip of bourbon, and sigh “Damn” under your breath as you behold the carnage being wrought within the Republican Party. … The deadly consequence is a cage match between the base and the establishment both of whom are backing two deeply, deeply flawed candidates with the odds heavily against them in a general election.

Click here for the story.

Meanwhile, Politico reports that it’s as if the conservative media over the past 24 hours decided Newt Gingrich is for real, and they need to come clean about the man they really know before it’s too late. Click here for the story.

Newt takes aim at Mitt with latest web ad

Posted by dcrim – January 11, 2012

This Web ad from Newt Gingrich’s campaign highlights some of Mitt Romney’s gaffes. The text at the end of the ad reads, “Imagine what Obama would do with a candidate like that. Only Newt Gingrich can win the debates against Obama. Mitt Romney can’t.”

How well will Romney fare in New Hampshire?

Posted by dcrim – January 9, 2012

Less than 36 hours separate Mitt Romney from what is supposed to be his campaign coup de grace: the New Hampshire primary. But Josh Lederman of The HIll writes that with pitfalls presenting themselves in seemingly every direction, the pressure on the front-runner is rapidly intensifying. Click here for the story.

Dan Balz of the Washington Post points out that there has been one consistent reservation many Republican voters — and others — have expressed about Romney. They question his authenticity. They don’t know if they can trust him. They wonder who he really is. Click here for the story.

Writing on op-ed piece for the New York Times, Bill Keller lays out the scenario he believes gives President Obama the best chance to win a second term. Click here for the story.

 

Is GOP race over? Or will Iowa make a difference?

Posted by dcrim – December 27, 2011

With a week to go before the Iowa caucuses, the biggest question is which GOP candidates will survive to fight another day. As Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin note, all the candidates dream of finishing at the top of the pack, but where the losers place and whether they drop out or valiantly trudge ahead could be as significant as who comes in first. Click here for the story.

Nate Silver of the New York Times us bullish on the prospects of Mitt Romney: “ … for him to fail to win the nomination, someone else has to, and it’s hard to see who that is.” Click here for the story.

Peter Beinart writes that Ron Paul isn’t just stirring controversy, he’s threatening to expose profound divisions within the GOP.  Beinart details how the libertarian upstart could change the Republican Party in 2012.

USA Today reports that starting federal salaries have soared the past five years.

 

Gingrich is latest anybody-but-Romney candidate

Posted by dcrim – November 30, 2011

Embattled presidential candidate Herman Cain is claiming a “groundswell of positive support” from backers even as allegations of a 13-year extra-marital affair raises questions about his campaign’s viability, which apparently means he plans to stay in the GOP race for now.

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times somewhat sarcastically opines that maybe Newt Gingrich is the ideal man to fix Washington’s dysfunction because he is the one who made it dysfunctional. “He broke it so he should own it,” Dowd writes. Click here for the column.

Meanwhile, columnist Roger Simon, writes that this has been The Year of Living Dangerously in politics. And he blames the media.

The media have driven it. Faced with an incumbent president running a careful and as yet uninspiring campaign, and a Republican field as dynamic as wet laundry drying on the line, the press has felt obliged to step up and fill the void.

Click here for the column.

Finally, Politico offers this political cheat sheet.

Doing ‘The Stomp’ will likely cost Suh

Posted by dcrim – November 25, 2011

Detroit defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was the biggest turkey on Thanksgiving Day. He was ejected from the Lions’ 27-15 loss to the unbeaten Green Bay Packers after he stomped on an opposing offensive lineman, although he denies that was his intent (despite video evidence, see above). ESPN blogger Kevin Seifert says Suh’s rationale is delusional.

Maybe Suh had early dinner plans. The NFL will probably give Suh a couple of weeks to cool off. Of course, what do you expect from a player from Nebraska? (Lawrence Phillips, anyone?)

 

Story of Dave Duncan’s wife truly inspirational

Posted by dcrim – November 24, 2011

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch provides this inspirational story on Thanksgiving.

Goold writes that St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan took a leave of absence from the Cardinals in late August to be with his wife as she recovered from surgery and sought treatment for an aggressive, malignant brain tumor. Jeanine Duncan was diagnosed with glioblastoma, and she has spent the past three months fighting it. With her for every step has been her boys — husband Dave and their two sons, Shelley and former Cardinal outfielder Chris.

Click here for the story. And be thankful.

Will Penn State prompt change in college culture?

Posted by dcrim – November 23, 2011

The Christian Science Monitor, in an editorial, notes that the NCAA will “examine” Penn State’s loss of control over its sports program following the sex and coverup scandal. But it says the NCAA needs a robust solution to break the culture of sports dominance in colleges.

The newspaper concludes:

Individuals who have been charged will be held responsible in a court of law. But Penn State and the NCAA need to break a culture that serves an institution first instead of the values its stands for.

Click here for the editorial.

Making a sad story even sadder, the New York Times reports Victim 1, according to friends and others, was taunted by classmates after it became widely known this month that he had testified against Sandusky as part of a case that ultimately caused Joe Paterno, the longtime football coach at Penn State, to lose his job. Click here for the story.

Politico and The Daily Beast offer analysis of the CNN GOP presidential debate.

The Kennedy assassination, 48 years later

Posted by dcrim – November 22, 2011

Today is the 48th anniversary of that awful day in Dallas. Below is the initial television report from Walter Cronkite. James  Piereson, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the author of “Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism,” takes issue with a recent book on the JFK assassination.

These were the myths, illusions, and outright fabrications in which the Kennedy assassination came to be encrusted. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they are still widely believed. In fact, the Kennedy legend, incorporating the myths about his assassination, is closely intertwined with the history of modern liberalism: JFK has come to represent a liberal ideal and his assassination the threat posed to it by the forces of the far right.

Click here for the story.

A look at baseball’s ‘perfect knight’ on his 91st birthday

Posted by dcrim – November 21, 2011

Happy birthday to Stan “The Man” Musial, who turns 91 today. A new book published by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch chronicles the life and career of Musial, the Cardinals Hall of Fame outfielder, and Quincy native Rick Hummel — a Hall of Famer himself — talks about Musial and the new book in this video clip.

Musial was a great Cardinals All-star player and a great sportsman who made St. Louis his home. Hummel and former teammate Red Schoendienst share their memories of “The Man” in this video clip.