Bullets rip through blogosphere

The gunman remains at large:

• 3,000 – 4,000 anti-war protestors march through Minneapolis. So went the headlines on the 10 o’clock news and so showed the front page of this morning’s Star Tribune. I guess it is newsworthy that, in a metropolitan area that is approaching 3 million in population, only 3,000 – 4,000 people would be willing to go out and participate in a little self-congratulatory street theater. It was a pretty nice day yesterday, too. Glad that we went over to the Science Museum over in St. Paul instead. There you can actually learn something.
• But then again, not as much you might think. The Science Museum is currently mounting a special exhibit about the topic of race. Most of the insights offered therein will be familiar to anyone who has been forced to endure a half-day “diversity” seminar in a corporate setting. It’s the usual litany of complaints – the privilege of white skin, the illegitimate sciences of the past (eugenics, etc.), intellectual bogeymen that most people have never heard of (Richard Jensen, Charles, Murray), etc. I think there is one clear advantage of being a white dude in 2007 in America, but it’s not what these bien pensants think. The one advantage I have is that I am generally free to believe whatever I please about most things. There are enormous pressures on those who fall under racial/ethnic rubrics to conform to an accepted range of thinking on most issues, especially for African-Americans. Perhaps someday the Science Museum, or some other such place, might consider mounting an exhibit on the pernicious effects of political correctness and other forms of groupthink. I know, it won’t happen, but white dudes like me are allowed such heterodox thoughts. For too many African-Americans, heterodox thoughts are only allowed in a Chris Rock routine.
• Since I was at the Science Museum yesterday afternoon, I did not see the Badgers lose to UNLV in the NCAA tourney. It is a sad end to what was a wonderful season. Losing Brian Butch turned out to be a huge issue and it’s easy to understand why; the 6-11 Butch is a pretty versatile fellow and because he can score from the outside, he really changed the dynamic for the Badger offense. Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor were valiant down the stretch, but Bo Ryan’s crew needed a third option that didn’t materialize. Meanwhile, one of my anonymous correspondents proved to be pretty prescient about Ohio State, the conference nemesis of the Badgers. The Buckeyes barely survived the weekend because they ran into an officiating crew that didn’t get the memo about Greg Oden being a demigod. Oden fouled out and the ever-pesky Xavier Musketeers took the game to overtime before the Buckeyes wore them out. Next time the Buckeyes may not be so lucky.