Uneasy Lies the Crown

If you've followed this feature for any length of time, you've likely noticed that I post regular, somewhat tongue-in-cheek updates on my son's (and my daughter's) various teams. If you've read these breathless dispatches, you've also noticed that, in the main, my son has played on teams that haven't been especially, ahem, successful. But right now things are very different. And it's making me a little queasy.

Big Blue, my son's in-house Irondale basketball team, is off to a 3-0 start in the 7-8 in-house league. All three games have been routs, including the last one, a 72-29 thrashing of another Irondale team. As has been the case with most of these teams, I've been serving as an assistant coach, mostly because my voice carries pretty well. While my son really has enjoyed the experience of playing with a group of very talented kids, especially at an in-house level, winning by 43 points is problematic. It's no fun for the kids on the other team. I know, because 2 years ago Ben was on a basketball team that lost a game 70-6.

As it happens, a couple of the kids on Ben's team this year were on the team that did the thrashing 2 years ago. Both of these kids are fine young men and are good sportsmen -- they do not play unfairly, but they and their teammates have significantly more talent than some of the kids on other teams. And as a result, they are dominating. We've seen some of the other teams that our lads will face later on and there's no reason to believe that these teams will fare much better than the teams we've played thus far against our talented squad. It's good for Ben, because he'll have a lot of fun playing on a winning team. The key is to keep games from turning into this (initial part of this link not safe for work). That is my job this year, because it's no fun to get your butt kicked when you're a 13-year old kid. Teaching basketball is only part of the process. Teaching good sportsmanship is much more important.

Two Men Say They’re Jesus, One of Them Must Be Wrong

Obama promotes fiscal restraint, big spending

No wonder he won the election. That takes talent.

Does anyone at the AP even bother to read the headlines anymore?

WPA Blues

So it sounds like we're going to be piddling around again. Barack Obama has proposed a jobs program to repair infrastructure that could employ up to 2.5 million Americans by 2011. It's the WPA all over again.

The WPA and similar New Deal programs were everywhere and you still see evidence of the work that was done today. Walk down the steps at Minnehaha Falls and you'll still see evidence of the work that the WPA did there. The picture I've posted is of the Outagamie County Courthouse back home in Appleton, an FDR-era structure that is one of the finest examples of Stalinist architecture that you'll ever see, with the extra special irony of a larger-than-life sized bust of Senator Joseph McCarthy inside the building.

And that is only one of the many ironies of the WPA and similar New Deal-era programs. The problem with them was pretty simple - they didn't really work because they unsurprisingly misallocated the time and talents of the participants. And by tying up so many workers for so long, they simply prolonged the Depression. WPA had its hands in just about everything -- including the "Voodoo Macbeth" that a very young Orson Welles staged as part of the Federal Theater Project.

The people who participated in the WPA tended to be ambivalent about it. Besides the efforts of Welles and others involved in the various arts programs that the WPA sponsored, the organization itself brought on some interesting art of its own, including the WPA Blues written by Casey Bill Weldon, in which the protagonist worries that in the name of progress, that the WPA is going to tear down his domicile:

Everybody's working in this town and it's worrying me night and day
Everybody's working in this town and it's worrying me night and day
If that mean working too, have to work for the WPA

Well well the landlord come this morning and he knocked on my door
He asked me if I was going to pay my rent no more
He said you have to move if you can't pay
And then he turned and he walked slowly away

So I have to try find me some other place to stay
That housewrecking crew's coming from the WPA

We're going to learn a lot more about what the president-elect has planned in the coming weeks. I don't think it's necessary to man the ramparts -- it's possible that my friend Rich's theory is correct and that Obama is more of a centrist than he might have appeared to be. But that's the problem with a guy who is still tabula rasa for most people. And we don't know if the housewrecking crew's coming from the WPA.

Iowahawk Is A Genius, Volume XXXIV (or thereabouts)

Remember how Congress sent the mendicants from Detroit back on their corporate jets last week because they didn't come with a plan? Iowahawk has figured it out. Just read it.

Happy motoring!

Stasis You Can Believe In

Victor Davis Hanson asks a good question:

So a mere two weeks after victory, 'hope and change' and 'a break from the past' reified into parceling out posts to dozens of Clintonite retreads, plenty of the old requisite Ivy-League law degrees, ample influence from establishment ex-lobbyists, de rigueur Sidwell Friends for the kids, and apparent sudden existential angst and uncertainty over FISA, getting out pronto from Iraq, closing down the Constitution-shredding Gitmo, and overturning the McCarthyite Patriot Act—and all to acclaim and relief from aristocratic Beltway pundits of both parties? So that was all the election was about? Just new faces on the same old, same old?

Here's one more question: if it tuns out that President Obama pursues many of the same policies that George W. Bush pursued, but receives acclaim instead of denunciations, what does that say about those bien pensants who have been doing the denouncing over the past 8 years?

Big Blue Wins Again

Three in a row for Big Blue, as the Irondale 3 team cruises to a 72-29 victory over Irondale 6 (the Orange team) at Island Lake Elementary School in Shoreview. The game followed a familiar pattern with the Blues jumping to a big early lead and cruising from there. Ben had a good overall game, scoring 4 points including a buzzer beater at the end of the 6th period (we play eight 5-minute periods in this league).

The team takes a break next week for Thanksgiving then resumes play on Saturday, December 6 against the mysterious Mounds View 73 squad (sounds like a Grateful Dead album, eh?) Game time is 1 p.m., again at Island Lake. Remember, Mr. Dilettante is the place to go for exciting coverage of Irondale 7-8 in-house youth basketball.

Hecker's Veto

If you live in the Twin Cities and your domicile isn't under a rock, it's almost certain that you've heard the name of Denny Hecker. Hecker built a hydra-headed empire that sprung out of his small armada of car dealerships. In recent years he also acquired Advantage Rent-A-Car and for a time even got into the home mortgage business. He was a friendly looking, ruddy-faced guy and you'd see his mug on at least one commercial just about every day if you watched even an hour of television, it seemed. His earworm jingle and slogan "Good people helping good people" is pure Twin Cities.

It all seems to be spinning out of control now. I'd heard rumblings that he was in trouble and there were reports that he was fighting it out with various suppliers and had filed a federal lawsuit against Chrysler Financial Services, which had allegedly cut off financing that Hecker had needed to finance his operations.

But now we learn that Hecker has had to close six of his dealerships and has sold 3 others. Some of the dealerships in question are pretty big ones:

In a news release late Friday, Hecker said the shutdown of the Blaine Bargain Lot, Forest Lake Chrysler Jeep Dodge Mitsubishi, Monticello Dodge Ford and Mercury Suzuki Kia, Rosedale Hyundai, Shakopee Chrysler Jeep Dodge and Stillwater Ford Lincoln Mercury has resulted in layoffs for about 400 employees, about a third of Hecker's workforce.

In addition, Hecker's Inver Grove Heights Hyundai, Inver Grove Heights Volkswagen and Peninsula Dodge in Redwood City, Calif., were sold.

It's difficult to tell if these moves will stop the bleeding, but it's yet another sign of the overall weakness we're seeing in the economy. People are afraid to make big purchases now. Mrs. D reminded me of that with an observation she made this morning. She noted that on our street, no one has bought a new car, or even a used car, in the past year. We live on a short street and there are 24 houses on it from beginning to end. You know everyone's vehicle on a street like that and nothing has changed here. Until people are willing to spend money again, the changes won't be happening on short residential streets, but the changes will continue on the main thoroughfares where car dealerships are located. And eventually, different changes may come to our short residential street.

Speaking of State Championship Teams

Behold the 1963 Xavier High team, state champions. The young man who is second from the front on the left side did fairly well for himself later on in life. This year is the 50th anniversary of XHS basketball and for the most part it's been a highly successful run. We'll probably have a few more vintage posts of this sort over the course of the next few months.

Kimberly 28, Verona 14

Congratulations to the alma mater of Stinger, Coco and Marge. And my dad, too. 28-0 over the past two seasons and two Wisconsin state titles in Division 2. Not bad at all.

The Recount Continues

I'm really trying not to watch the Coleman v. Franken recount play out, because it's enough to make you crazy. But if you want the raw numbers, go here. And if you want to know what's happening, let the redoubtable Gary Gross be your guide. Gary has been all over this story and he'll follow it through with his usual combination of tenacity and good sense.

November 21, 1995

I remember it being a cold but sunny Tuesday morning. As it turned out, two things happened that day that are historic. First, the Dow Jones industrial average climbed over the 5000 mark for the first time. At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Dayton Peace Accords were initialed, marking the end of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. And at 1:52 p.m. CST, in a room at United Hospital in St. Paul, our first child was born.

We'd had a bit of a scare a month earlier and Mrs. D had spent about a week in the hospital with pre-term labor. She'd returned home and had been on bed rest. When we woke up that morning, it was clear that something was up. We called the hospital and they told us to come down. We worked our way down from our townhome in Shoreview, stopping once so I could get my cup of morning coffee. Momentous events require coffee.

Once we got to the hospital, we went to our room and Mrs. D went through the experience. Things were progressing along slowly but it seemed possible that this would be the day. The nurses and doctors came and went, none seemingly too worried about things. It was possible that it might be days before the baby would arrive, we were told, or the baby might come today. It seemed like a long morning. We'd been through the Lamaze classes and we were clued into what we might expect. We'd brought music to listen to and Mrs. D's favorite teddy bear, which she'd received as a gift in college. Whatever it took.

As the morning dragged toward noon, she turned to me and said, "look, I don't think anything is going to happen any time soon. Why don't you go and get some lunch. Take your time." Knowing that she was in good hands, I left the hospital and walked down to a Subway shop on West 7th. I got myself a turkey sub and a Pioneer Press and had a good long hour of decompressing. Although we were both excited about the possibilities of the day, it was good to get away and think about things other than the life-changing event that might happen. I strolled back to the hospital, got on the elevator and headed for the maternity ward.

When I got back, it was obvious that Mrs. D had had an eventful hour in my absence. She was rocking uncomfortably back and forth in the bed and she looked at me and said, "you can't leave now." There was a nurse nearby and we were told that the obstetrician would be arriving shortly. "It looks like the baby is going to come today," I was told. The next hour was a blur. I remember trying to hold Mrs. D's hand, and hold the teddy bear to give her a focal point. I remember trying to fish through our bag to change the tape (yep, we still had cassettes). I put on some Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, a favorite and something that would be comforting enough. As the bottom of the hour passed and we headed toward 2, it became pretty clear that this was the time. A close family friend had arrived to offer support and was pretty much horrified to realize that she had walked in at the moment of truth. She quickly beat a hasty retreat the waiting room. I will never forget the look on the friend's face.

Meanwhile, the moment had arrived. Childbirth is simultaneously amazing, frightening and a little bit bizarre. As the song "All Blues" wailed softly in the background, I saw the baby emerge. It was our son. As the nurses quickly took him to the side table to give him his first exam, the Apgar score, he let out a healthy wail. Mrs. D looked at me. I looked at her. It was the beginning.

My son is a 7th grader and is straddling the childhood he is leaving and the exciting world of adulthood that is beckoning. He's turned into a bright, energetic kid with a quick wit and a great enthusiasm for learning more about the world he entered that cold, clear Tuesday. He's been a source of great joy.

At times, it's obvious that 13 years have passed. But it still seems like we just brought him home from the hospital.

Fearless Dilettante Football Predictions - Manos de Piedra Edition

If you're as old as I am (and if you are, enjoy that Early Bird Special!) you probably remember the great boxer Roberto Duran. He was a fearsome figure in the ring and he was said to have manos de piedra, which translates to "hands of stone" in English. That's a good physical characteristic for a welterweight boxer, but not so much for an NFL receiver. We'll get to that in a moment. First, let's talk about some other games. And a tip of the sombrero to this guy for suggesting the title of today's picks.

Kimberly Papermakers 41, Verona Wildcats 10. Tomorrow's game decides the WIAA Division 2 championship and, at least theoretically, this should be a tough game for the Papermakers. But the last four games should have been, too, and the red-clad scourges from just north of Darboy have been leaving a path of destruction in their wake. No reason to assume it's going to end tomorrow.

ACTUAL RESULT: KIMBERLY 28, VERONA 14. Congratulations to the Papermakers!

Wisconsin Badgers 31, Cal Poly Mustangs 14. This one probably looked like a walkover when it was scheduled, but the Div I-AA Mustangs come into the contest 8-1 and have the look of a team that merits respect. If the Badgers lose this one, they could be looking at a very bad bowl game, so they need to take care of business. The guess here is that they will but that it won't be easy.

ACTUAL RESULT: BAD-GERS 36, POLY 35 (OT). Polly wanna cracker? Poly needs a kicker. My goodness, what an embarrassing performance. But it could be worse. Read on.

Minnesota Golden Gophers 24, Iowa Hawkeyes 20. Iowa has really turned it around after a poor start to the season and the Gophers are probably still sucking wind after their tough loss in Madison last week. By all accounts, this is a game the Hawkeyes should win. That's why I'm picking the Gophers.

ACTUAL RESULT: IOWAY 55, LAKELAND DENTAL ACADEMY 0. I'm not sure who should be more embarrassed - the Gophers for offering the worst performance they've ever offered in a Big Ten game, or me for actually thinking the Gophers would beat Iowa. Feh.

Green Bay Packers 34, New Orleans Saints 27. As much as I love my Packers, they've been a little, shall we say, schizo this year. They really had it going on against the hated Bears last week, which augurs a bit of a letdown against an erratic but dangerous Saints team. Drew Brees is very good but the Saints don't play much defense. The guess here is that the Packers play a little bit more.

ACTUAL RESULT: SAINTS 51, PACKERS 29. What do you call a team that wins 37-3 one week and loses 51-29 the next? 5-6 sounds about right.

Jacksonville Jags 24, Purple Helmeted Love Warriors 21. Remember Troy Williamson? He was the speedy wide receiver the Vikings drafted a few years back with the hand-eye coordination of the Venus de Milo. He's been shunted off to Jacksonville this year where he has accomplished, well, nothing. For some reason, he's blaming Brad Childress for his inability to play the position at an NFL level and has apparently challenged the Chiller to a fistfight at the 50-yard line. This may be one of the more hilarious developments surrounding the utterly humorless Purple in some time. Do you suppose that if Troy Williamson can't catch a pass, he would have the ability to catch Chilly's jaw with a right cross? I'm thinking Troy Williamson will punch more like these guys than Roberto Duran. I think it likely that the Jags will say "no mas" to this sideshow pretty quickly. As for the game, the Vikings don't do well on the road, or in Florida. Hard to see either trend changing this week.

ACTUAL RESULT: VIKINGS 30, JAGWIRES 12. Jagwire, as in haywire. The Vikings are offered repeated gifts and have the wit to accept them. Give the Purple the nod.

Doing the Right Thing

If you follow golf, you may have heard of J. P. Hayes, a PGA tour veteran and 2-time winner on the tour. As it happens, J. P. went to Xavier High School and was a classmate and friend of my brother Pat. He had a tough hop at Q-School, but his misfortune is a tale of honor. Stinger has the skinny -- go read it because it's a good story. Anyone who is an alumnus of XHS should be proud of this guy.

Party Like It's 1999

Looks like all those forlorn Democratic operatives are starting to wipe the dust from their eyes and are now emerging from their covens along the Potomac. So far the prospective Obama administration has more retreads than Bandag. Tom Daschle! Eric Holder! Hillary Clinton! Rahm Emanuel! Hey, we're getting the band back together!

In some respects, none of this is especially surprising. One of the main bones of contention surrounding the President-elect's campaign was his lack of experience, so it would be churlish to deny him the opportunity to avail himself of some experienced Washington hands. Every president needs people around him who know what's going on, because there's simply too much information for one person to process. And while the old Clinton hands aren't the people I want running the government, there are worse people that Obama could have chosen. It's not as if he's named Ramsey Clark as attorney general, or William Ayers as secretary of education. So far, at least.

I am amused at how retrograde "change" turns out to be, though.

Morning Reading Part II

Two things worth noting:

This new website, How Obama Got Elected, is interesting. Some people are arguing that this proves that people are stupid or somesuch. I don't believe that. I do believe that people can only make informed decisions if they are informed, though.

Also, since there's never a bad time for a fisking of Nick Coleman, let's go to the experts over at KAR. As always the language is saltier than a drum of anchovies so as they say, content warning.

And Norm Coleman won the election again yesterday. His effort to win it again begins today. And if he wins this recount, look for Al Franken to keep finding someone to count things to his liking.

Two Requests

Two questions for the vast North American Mr. Dilettante audience.

• What portside blogs do you read? Are there any that you recommend? I have historically had a few that I admired, but frankly they've all gone a little nutty in the most recent election cycle. In the interest of making my blogroll a little more heterodox, I'd like to add at least one or two. What say you?
• Also, does anyone here have mad Photoshop skillz? I have a simple project that I need help with but I don't have the program or the talent to do it. Click on my profile and send me an e-mail. What I have in mind won't take long and you'll get great extravagant credit from me for sharing said skillz. Danke schoen!

I Didn't Even Know Poetry Was Sick

Looks like we have a new blog to watch for. It's called Where Poetry Goes to Die. The author is one W. B. Picklesworth. And his output appears to be worth at least a pickle. Perhaps two.

Developing. . . .

Cuban Slide

First we had Tom Petters. Now, Mark Cuban?

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged that the flamboyant internet entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks engaged in insider trading. The allegation stems from a 2004 transaction involving shares in Momma.com, a search engine company. The complaint alleges that he received word that an offering of stock in Momma.com was in the works and he sold his interest in it, saving about $750,000.

This guy is a billionaire. He's also an odd duck. But you have to wonder -- why the heck would he do something like this, given the vast wealth he's accumulated in other ventures? It's been said that there's a bit of larceny in every human heart, but to put himself at risk seems pretty bizarre. Then again, the guy wants to buy the Cubs, so maybe he's got something wrong in the ol' cabeza.

Avast!

The pirates are about again, me buckos. But it's not funny. Not funny at all.

Somali pirates have commandeered a Saudi oil tanker off the coast of Africa. That these pirates have taken over the Sirius Star is a serious problem. The tanker has 2 million barrels of crude oil on it. The value of the oil is about $100 million or so, but the problem isn't necessarily the monetary value of the booty. It's the fact that these pirates could unleash an environmental catastrophe on the African coast that would dwarf the damage done by the Exxon Valdez. There's about 20 times the amount of oil on the Sirius Star as their was on the Valdez. It would be very easy to imagine these guys running arground somewhere, or scuttling the ship if their demands are not met.

The continuing problem is that Somalia is essentially a lawless state and there's no one who seems willing to undertake the effort to control these guys. The report I've linked from the Times of London indicates that the pirates have greatly expanded their range and are now operating well into the Indian Ocean. The attack took place some 450 nautical miles southeast of the Kenyan coast, which is a long ways from Somalia.

There are a lot of problems in the world and we certainly don't have the means to solve them all. An incident like this is a pretty good reminder that no matter the results of this election, we don't have the option of turning inward too much. To do so would be, well, inconceivable.

Grassy Knoll Nick

So the NTSB came out with its report on the 35W bridge and the report said the same thing that the preliminary reporting said. The bridge had a faulty design and was ultimately doomed. The construction equipment on the bridge simply delivered the mortal blow. Nowhere was it suggested that the Pawlenty administration, or MnDOT commissioner Carol Molnau, had any responsibility.

Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman has written incessantly about the bridge collapse and his columns have consistently suggested that somehow Pawlenty and Molnau were to blame. Now that the official report has come out and utterly undercut Coleman's long-held thesis, one might think that the reasonable response would be to either (a) apologize for being wrong or (b) simply slink away and go back to bashing Archbishop Nienstedt or something else on his usual to-do list.

But if you thought that, you'd be thinking that Nick Coleman was capable of a reasonable response. And he's long since disabused us of that notion.

Consider this reasoned, measured response:

"Premature?" How about unveiling plans for a new bridge while victims were in the river? How about hiring a firm supposed to investigate independently that ended up partnering with the NTSB and fingering the gussets (before the wreckage was examined)? Premature? A week after the collapse, Pawlenty declared it "unrelated" to any shortcomings in inspection or maintenance.

Fast work, T-Paw.

This is grassy knoll stuff. Has it occurred to Coleman that maybe the reason an independent firm and NTSB came to the same conclusion was that it was the correct conclusion? And surely Coleman knows that, by now, the wreckage has been examined. And even after the examination, the gusset plates are still the culprit? I suppose it's possible that maybe Clay Shaw and Santo Trafficante conspired with Karl Rolvaag to plant the gusset plates, with the help of the Bavarian Illuminati, who count among their members the suspiciously named Frau Carol Molnau. It's a theory that makes as much sense as anything that Nick Coleman is proffering at the moment.

Nick can believe that the government doesn't spend enough money if he wants. That's a defensible opinion. Blaming Tim Pawlenty and Carol Molnau for the bridge collapse is no longer defensible. Then again, I'm not sure too many people would be able to defend Nick Coleman's continuing employment at a major metropolitan newspaper, either.

Cross-posted at True North

Big Blue -- Irondale Team 3 Update

Ben wasn't a part of it because he was camping, but his teammates seemed to do just fine in his absence, cruising to a 50-21 victory over Roseville Team 6 at Brimhall Elementary in Roseville this afternoon. Big Blue got off to a fast start, leaping to a 14-0 early advantage and then cruising from there. The Roseville team was game but undermanned against Big Blue's superior size and athleticism.

That brings the team's record to 2-0. Ben will rejoing his squad next week for a grudge match against Irondale 6 next Saturday at 3 p.m. at Island Lake School in Shoreview. It should be a good one. As always, look to Mr. Dilettante for continuing coverage of north suburban 7-8 in-house basketball.

Got Bored, So. . . .

I changed up the fonts and the color scheme a bit. Better? Worse? Meh? Lemme know.

The Dim Sum Room

Sometimes nostalgia is overrated. It's been a long time since I spent a lot of time out clubbing on a Friday night and, to be honest, I don't miss it very much. It's very much a young person's game.

For the most part, I remember avoiding dance clubs. Things were especially dismal at my alma mater, Beloit College. There you typically had a choice between the campus pub, an iniquitous dive misleadingly named the Coughy Haus, where the air was chokingly thick with smoke and the music veered wildly between extended Grateful Dead jams and stuff like Flipper, depending on which bartender was on duty. You could theoretically dance there, but those that tried typically had their feet stick to the floor. And it's awfully hard to dance to Flipper.

There was another reason it was easy to avoid dance clubs. Frankly, there weren't any. The other bar that Beloit students typically went to was Goody's, a classic Wisconsin tavern that had a great jukebox filled with solid gold hits from the 1960s, cheap beer and slightly oddball versions of bar activities, including a vintage shuffleboard table and a bumper pool table. We liked Hemingway in those days and we considered it a clean, well-lighted place. But it wasn't exactly a festival of 80s zeitgeist. So the young coeds who wanted to dance were mostly stymied. Except for one semester, when we had the Dim Sum Room.

You couldn't make this place up. The local Elks lodge had a large upstairs space that for some reason they had decided to turn into a Chinese dim sum place, complete with rolling tea carts and the whole shebang. It was a short-lived experiment, since no one in Beloit had any idea what dim sum was. To make a go of it, these entrepreneurial Elks also decided to flex their liquor license and open up the place on the weekends. They hired a Beloit student to spin records. And so, for the winter of 1983, the coeds had a place to dance.

It was a strange place indeed, festooned with strings of hanging beads but otherwise with the ambience of an airplane hangar. But when the music would play and the coeds would dance, it had a certain twisted magic. And on Friday nights, I can still recall the mix of anticipation and dread upon entering this spare but kitschy kingdom. Some of the coeds were girls we wanted to know a little better, so we ended up hanging out, dimly, in the Dim Sum room.

As dance music goes, it wasn't bad. The student deejay was a New Yorker and had a pretty good record collection. He could keep it going most of the evening and a typical night might have sounded like this:

Baby Stay With Me Tonight

Too Shy

You Dropped a Bomb on Me

Nasty Girl

The Other Woman

Der Kommissar

Genius of Love

Save It For Later

Situation

Let it Whip

Dancing With Myself

I'm Coming Out

Rapture

Don't You Want Me

The Look of Love

Billie Jean

That's the way I remember it. It was better with beer, though.

Teaching Maria to Play Cribbage

My son is off camping up at Stearns (fortunately in a shelter) so today seemed like a good night to start teaching my daughter Maria how to play cribbage. I learned to play cribbage when I was a youngster and I've always loved playing it. Besides being a fun game to play, it's an excellent game for teaching math skills and at 8 1/2 years of age, Maria is at the perfect age to learn.

So we sprawled out on the living room floor and I started teaching her the rules. Eventually Mrs. D came over and started helping Maria a little bit. As the hands continued and the pegs moved around the board, you could see the light come on, little by little. And by the end of the game, Maria had won, finishing off with a nice 16-point hand. She was delighted. And so was I. Besides, I'm used to losing to my kids in cribbage.

Let's See a Movie

They really don't make movie trailers the way they used to. Here are a few movie trailers that really make you want to see the movie.

North by Northwest

Goldfinger

The Day of the Jackal

The Manchurian Candidate

Chinatown

The NTSB Speaks

As expected, the NTSB will issue its final report tomorrow. And as has been expected, it turns out the bridge was doomed from the beginning. So here's my suggestion to all those people who tried to make political hay over this tragedy. Let the report come out, read it carefully and make sure you understand the recommendations. And put your knives away.

Fearless Dilettante Football Predictions - What a Bear Does in the Woods Edition

The game schedule is diminishing further. But we'll pick what we've got:

Kimberly Papermakers 41, Marshfield Tigers 14. It's the state semifinals in Wisconsin, so in theory the opponent should be pretty good. I even imagine that the Marshfield Tigers are pretty good. But Kimberly is applying a terrifying smackdown on everyone its path. That doesn't stop this week.

ACTUAL RESULT: KIMBERLY 40, MARSHFIELD 7. I don't think the Papermakers are worried about either Verona or Sussex Hamilton, next week's opponent. Pretty amazing, really.

Wisconsin Badgers 31, Minnesota Golden Gophers 17. All of a sudden this ancient rivalry is getting hot. It's pretty clear that Brett Bielema and Tim Brewster don't like each other very much and there's already been a lot of smack talk this week. The game will get settled on the field and I think the calculus comes down to this: without Eric Decker to stretch the field, the Gophers have offensive issues, even though Adam Weber might be the best quarterback in the Big Ten. Meanwhile, the Badgers now have two excellent running backs in P. J. Hill and John Clay. The Gophers defense has improved, but not enough to win in Madison.

ACTUAL RESULT: WISCONSIN 35, MINNESOTA 32. The axe stays in Madison. Barely.

Green Bay Packers 21, Chicago Bears 16. I'm not really confident about this pick at all, but I get the sense that the Packers are due for a better week. The Bears really dominated the lines of scrimmage the last time these two teams played and there's a chance that could happen again. But I think the Packers will learn from what happened last week. And even if it were the 1985 Bears against the 1976 Packers, I still wouldn't pick the Bears. Just can't do it. Just won't do it.

ACTUAL RESULT: PACKERS 37, DA BEARZ 3. I know this result won't make Bear fan Gino feel any better. But it warms my evil little heart rather a lot. Lotsa Lambeau Leaps in this one, too, which is always a welcome sight. And meanwhile, there's a real logjam at the top of the NFC Norris, because. . . .

Tampa Bay Bucs 24, Purple Helmeted Love Warriors 13. Adrian Peterson is a wonderful back. But the guess here is that the Bucs get up early and the Vikings are forced to rely on Gus Frerotte to win the game. That never seems to go well.

ACTUAL RESULT: TAMPA BAY 19, VIKINGS 13. As I said, when you have to depend on Gus Frerotte to win the game, it doesn't go well.

Gino's On the Mend

And now a word about my friend Gino. As you may know, Gino had surgery about two weeks ago to remove a carotid tumor, a pretty serious deal. The surgery was a tough one and he's had a tough row to hoe in recent weeks, although he's slowly getting his strength back.

Gino is a hell of a guy and his blog, Such is Life, is definitely worth your time, despite the fact that he let me befoul it recently. Even when I disagree with Gino on an issue, he always makes me think twice, especially when I'm indulging in the bad habit of being too clever by half. One of the best parts about blogging is that if you come to it with an open mind, you'll get to know people who help you to understand the world better. Gino has done that for me. He does that for a lot of people, actually, which is why he has a very loyal following.

Rest up, good sir -- better days are ahead!

Give The Dork a Little Love

As a reminder, if you need a break from politics, there's a very worthy destination on my sidebar. Dorky Dad has been issuing forth consistent hilarity for a long time now. Just hit the link and keep scrolling -- I'm certain you'll find several things that will make you laugh out loud. And the most impressive part is this: he never works blue (unless you count occasional references to early childhood bodily functions) and if he has a political view, he consistently keeps it to himself. That's a good trick. And the most amazing part of all -- like me, he is a New Brighton resident. And as we all know, New Brighton is hardly a font of mirth. Click that link.

Stinger and Amanda Discuss Prop 8

I'm really going to try to avoid politics on the blog for a few days, but that doesn't mean that political discussions don't take place elsewhere. My brother the Stinger has a post up at his place concerning Proposition 8, which also references a post from Amanda at Memeopolis. Go read both -- even if you don't agree with them, they both have a take worth considering.

How's the Whither?

It usually seems to follow the same trajectory for the side that loses the election. First you have the posts with sadness. Then for about a week or so the long knives come out. Now, one week on, it's time for the whither check.

What Do We Do Now? The posts are all over the place. The invaluable Ed Morrissey warns against ODS (Obama Derangement Syndrome) and gets over 700 comments, with over half of them demonstrating a certain level of derangement. Jeff Kouba over at TvM offers a sampling of possible responses from others, including an especially interesting and mordant one from P. J. O'Rourke. Jim Treacher offers some context. Iowahawk takes the long view, reminding us all of the progress we've made:

In his famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial 45 years ago, Dr. King said "I have a dream that one day my children will live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Let us now take pride that Tuesday we Americans proved that neither thing matters anymore.

Ya know what? I think the best thing to do is this -- don't worry too much about what Obama is going to do, or not do. You can't do much about it right now anyway. The next thing that will matter on the political calendar is the official start of the recount in the Coleman/Franken Texas Cage Death Match. That starts on November 19. Until then, I'd recommend not thinking about politics at all. That's what I'm going to try to do for the next week.

Instead, let's remember that there are better things to think about in life. Like this. And this. And this. And this. And this. And this. And this. Find some of your own this and enjoy.

Hoist on His Own Petard, Volume XXXIV

So Barack Obama blows off campaign finance limits, raises a bajillion dollars in ways that at a minimum skirted the law and the FEC plans to do. . . nothing.

Meanwhile, John McCain dutifully complies with the rules that he did so much to promulgate and his campaign faces a statutory audit that will likely cost millions.

Mr. McCain-Feingold, he dead.

Just Say No to. . .

Jamie Gorelick. While I think we conservatives owe Barack Obama the courtesy of letting him pick his own team (a courtesy that our portside friends didn't always extend to George W. Bush), it's really a good idea to keep this particular person out of any position of power. Why? Well, let the New York Times explain her "baggage."

Carries as baggage: Her work at Fannie Mae, which had to be bailed out by the government in September as part of a $200 billion deal. Ms. Gorelick left the company just as it was coming under attack for huge accounting failures. She has also drawn criticism for her role at the Justice Department, in which she allegedly created an intelligence “wall” that hindered counterterrorism agents in the years before the Sept. 11 attacks. Conservatives called for her removal from the Sept. 11 commission, but her fellow members rallied around her and said critics were distorting her record. The criticism grew so heated that the F.B.I. investigated a death threat against her family, and President Bush had to intervene personally to stop the Justice Department from releasing sealed reports involving her. Some conservative bloggers have already begun trying to derail Ms. Gorelick’s possible nomination as attorney general, pointing to her experiences at both Fannie Mae and the Sept. 11 commission.

Emphasis mine. Count me as one of those bloggers. The "distored" evidence in re Sept. 11 is pretty clear -- she did write the directives that hindered intelligence agencies and the FBI from working together. Where the rubber met the road, that caused a big problem. The FBI had nailed Zacarias Moussaoui prior to 9/11, but that information never made it anywhere. The "wall" was the reason. I understand what Gorelick's concerns were about giving the spooks too much power; indeed, those are concerns that I share. Still, it was absurd that Gorelick was on the 9-11 commission when she should have been testifying in front of it instead. And moreover, her role in the Fannie Mae alone should disqualify her.

Bottom line: there is a veritable constellation of Democratic operatives that Barack Obama can choose from. It would be far better if he steered clear of this one.

Guilty Pleasures Part Thirty-Three -- Recount Edition

I've already vented my spleen about the recount and all the shenanigans that are taking place, so I'll spare you that today. One way to make yourself feel better is to channel your bad feelings into something creative. So let's spin some more records on the theme of the recount.

I've found some real chestnuts in the vast YouTube forest this evening. First up, let's consider the one big hit for the unfortunate Archie Bell and his Drells. Bell's big hit single started to climb the charts while he was stationed in Vietnam. By the time he was able to get back to the States, the moment had passed. But it was a wonderful moment indeed. He could, as he claimed, sing and dance as good as he wants. So let's do the

Tighten Up

Round about the same time, Booker T. and the MG's had one of their biggest instrumental hits. The video here is a little dicey but you can see Booker, Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn and original drummer Al Jackson in action, with a few reaction shots from Credence Clearwater Revival, who happened to be on hand. So enjoy it, because

Time is Tight

We'll dedicate this next one to various election officials along the Iron Range and here in the metro. A very amusing video featuring gratuitous shoplifting and supermarket pole dancing from the always entertaining Jane's Addiction:

Been Caught Stealing

Next, we go back to 1982, for what was I believe Paul McCartney's 6th supposed comeback. Sir Paul has always been at a minimum competent as a solo artist and here we have one of his better efforts, with Ringo on the droom kit.

Take It Away

And finally, a great tune from the Bobby Fuller 4 with some really kick-butt go-go dancing. We love our go-go dancing 'round here, of course.

I Fought the Law

Pick your favorite or add to the meme!

Memo to T-Paw, Kate Knuth, The One, Etc.

Before you start crafting your Brave New World carbon emissions cap-and-trade scheme, think hard about what you are doing. And read this piece from Canada's National Post. If author Norman Solomon is right, carbon could become a de facto currency. And a very volatile one. If you think the mortgage-backed securities and other Byzantine financial instruments that Wall Street conjured were complicated, just imagine what happens when you try to securitize carbon.

(h/t: Instapundit)

Housekeeping

Catching up on a few loose ends. . . .

• Sidebar changes: I decided to move some blogs that are moribund to a new section called "Gone But Not Forgotten." The good news is that two of the bloggers in question, Leo Pusateri and esteemed MOB Mayor JRoosh, are still in the game, but now blogging at Freedom Dogs and Shot in the Dark, respectively. I still recommend all these blogs as a resource, because they were really good. But we need to look forward. I've also added six new blogs to my recommended blog list. Two of these bloggers, Cuffy Meigs and Jim Treacher, have well-deserved national followings. I've also added Currency Lad, an Australian blogger that I came across recently who is really a wonderful essayist. And I've added three MOB blogs that I like: Bike Bubba's Bits, Joe Repya's Eagle's Nest and The Far Wright.


• The election is over, so I've deleted the links to the campaign websites. I sincerely hope that I get to add some of those websites back to my sidebar when the next election cycle begins. That will probably be in about 10-15 days, I'm afraid.
• I'm considering a few changes to my comments section. I've always allowed anonymous commenters, but I'm not sure that I want to continue that practice. As it happens, my most prominent anonymous commenter isn't anonymous at all because he signs every comment he makes. Still, as this feature continues to mature, I'm feeling a little less comfortable with having anonymous commentary. I haven't decided on anything yet, but that may change. Let me know your thoughts on this.

More soon - thanks to all for your continuing support of this feature.

Basketball Jones -- Irondale Team 3 Action

It kinda snuck up on us with the election and all, but basketball season is again underway for Irondale Youth Basketball. This year Ben is on Team 3, a/k/a Big Blue. And their opening foray was highly successful, as his squad cruised to a 43-22 victory over Irondale 7 (wearing red). Ben scored one basket, had a few rebounds and played lockdown defense against the Irondale 7 point guard. A very satisfying beginning and Ben's team looks like it could be pretty good this time.

Next week Big Blue will take the mysterious Roseville 6 squad at Brimhall Elementary in Roseville. As always, Mr. Dilettante is your source for exciting Irondale Youth Basketball action.

You Don't Say

Already we have disgruntled interest groups worrying about whether or not President-elect Obama will keep his campaign promises:

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, self-styled head of the al-Qaida front group the Islamic State of Iraq, said in a speech posted on an extremist Web site that it would be better "for you and us" to "withdraw your forces," according to the SITE Intelligence Group that monitors militant Web sites.

Emhpasis mine. Meanwhile, al-Baghdadi released this video concerning the results of a recent battle.

Who They Are, What They Do

I had really, really hoped that it wouldn't be this way. Should have known better. Al Franken and his bobos are working feverishly to steal the election. The miraculous reports keep coming in -- oops, we missed 100 votes in Pine Island, and another 100 in Mountain Iron, and a few more here and there. Pretty soon Al Franken will be leading by a vote or two. And then it will be time to stop counting. This is what happened in Florida in 2000. It didn't work. This is also what happened in Washington state in 2004. It did work then.

Pretty simple, GOP. Pretty simple, Tim Pawlenty. You have to stop this now. Are there mistakes made on election day? Sure. But it would stand to reason that some of the mistakes would redound to the benefit of Coleman, or maybe Dean Barkley. That they all seem to be working to benefit Franken leaves an unmistakable smell. You know exactly who the Secretary of State is and his history. You can't let this stand, folks.

You know what's happening, kids. It's not the people who vote who decide a close election. It's the people who count the votes. If you wonder who I'm paraphrasing, here's a hint. And if you think I'm overreacting, think again.

Raise your voices. Don't let this happen.

Guilty Pleasures Part Thirty-Two: Music Is Life Edition

If you've spent any time around here, you know that music is one of my great passions. I can't imagine how someone can go through life without music. No matter how dire the circumstances, a song, if it hits you just right, can instantly change your mood and make things seem better. So after what's been a very disheartening week on the political scene, let's go back to something better. Let's go back to music.

I let my media player pick five songs for tonight. As it happens, it picked well. There's outright joy, great songwriting and some remarkable talent on display. And I was able to find something representative on YouTube for all five songs.

First up, we have a very young Frank Sinatra, from 1943, as always reaching into the Great American Songbook for one of the greatest of all American songs. This is a song he returned to with different, more swinging arrangements later on; as usual, I prefer the 1950s version that he recorded during his great period at Capitol Records. But this more formal, old-fashioned version has plenty to recommend it. Whether near to me or far, it's no matter, darling, where you are. I think of you. . . .

Night and Day

Next, we head to the end of the 1960s. This group had already nearly 20 years in the business when they hit it big with a song that clings very closely to the zeitgeist of that era. Still one of the best horn charts in the history of rock, too. I can't tell you who to sock it to, because it's the Isley Brothers singing

It's Your Thing

Next we go further another six years, to 1975. We're in that odd time, at the dawn of the disco era, when the music world had essentially bifurcated and the music lovers were starting to form opposing camps. Still, there were some records that got played everywhere, mostly because they were really good. I'm especially fond of this big hit from one of the best singles acts of the decade, the Spinners. It's one of their sweetest songs, but listen carefully because there's more than a little undercurrent going on, too. Why, mostly because

They Just Can't Stop It (Games People Play)

Then we move forward four more years, to 1979. Disco is at its zenith but about to head for a precipitous fall. A child star who had consistently charted throughout the decade with his brothers now was ready to take the stage by himself and dominate. This was a huge hit back in 1979 and while disco itself hasn't necessarily aged that well, the vocal performance and the dazzling Quincy Jones arrangement still sound fresh and vital nearly 30 years later. My goodness -- has it really been 30 years? It's pre-weird, pre-facelift Michael Jackson with

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

Finally, we head back about 30-40 years. It's perhaps the greatest all-around American musician of the 20th century, leading his orchestra through its paces with another durable from the Great American Songbook. As Stevie Wonder so memorably described him, it's the king of all, Sir Duke, with:

Satin Doll

Now tell me -- how can you listen to such great music and not feel better about life? There's plenty of stupidity and hatred in the world, plenty of people cutting you off in traffic or selling you a line of crap. We have entire industries that spend their days chronicling our worst moments. But we have music. God has blessed us, indeed.

Pick your favorite or, if you'd like, suggest a song that makes you feel better about life, and tell us why.

Fearless Dilettante Football Predictions - We're Running Out of Games Edition

It's the time of year when seasons start to end, so this week's list is shorter than before. But as long as there are games to pick, we're picking 'em. Here goes:

Mounds View Mustangs 21, Rosemount Irish 17. We're down to the final 8 in Minnesota and this game pits our beloved Mustangs against the confusing Irish of Rosemount, a Lake Conference power with the nickname of Notre Dame and the uniforms of Michigan (maize and blue with the winged helmet). Mounds View's colors are the same as Michigan State, which beat Michigan. So we'll go with our heroes.

ACTUAL RESULT: ROSEMOUNT 12, MOUNDS VIEW 0. Good season for the Mustangs, but they lose tonight to a superior opponent.

Kimberly Papermakers 45, Kaukauna Ghosts 14. It's a rivalry game for the right to go to State in Wisconsin. Kimberly has crushed everyone in its path thus far, including Kaukauna earlier in the year. Not gonna change this week.

ACTUAL RESULT: KIMBERLY 55, KAUKAUNA 7. This was the state quarterfinals, mind you. Kaukauna is a very good team, you see. I have to wonder if Kimberly isn't the best team in Wisconsin, period. Marshfield is the next pebble in the path of the Papermaker juggernaut.

Beloit Bucs 31, Grinnell Pioneers 24. Beloit closes out its season against the perennial footwipe of the Midwest Conference. You may not know this, but back in the 1920s Grinnell used to play in the same conference as Nebraska, Missouri and the other schools that eventually formed the Big XII. But they haven't been good in at least 70 years. And my beloved Bucs are improving.

ACTUAL RESULT: BELOIT 34, GRINNELL 12. A nice way to end the season. Last year my beloved Bucs were 1-9 on merit, including a loss to (ahem) Macalester. This year? 5-5. That's real progress.

Wisconsin Badgers 41, Indiana Hoosiers 17. Bucky has had a tough year, but Indiana loses to teams like Central Michigan. Bucky is a lot better than Central Michigan.

ACTUAL RESULT: WISCONSIN 55, INDIANA 20. 441 yards rushing? Now that's a Badger result that I can recognize. Meanwhile, the Gophers await.

Minnesota Golden Gophers 31, Meeshegan Wooolverines 24. Beat 'em while you can, Coach Brewster. Go Blue is down, but they'll be back.

ACTUAL RESULT: MEESHEGAN 29, GAFFERS 6. No little brown jug. I don't suspect the Ax coming back here, either, and probably not the pig. But the Gophers should really enjoy the Motor City Bowl.

Green Bay Packers 27, Purple Helmeted Love Warriors 19. I see the Packers scoring touchdowns and the Vikings kicking field goals. Not the result the locals will want unless they have Ryan Longwell on their fantasy team. My beloved Packers are playing well and getting healthier. That's not what's happening in Minnesota.

ACTUAL RESULT: VIKINGS 28, PACKERS 27. One of the stranger football games I've seen. Not too often do you see two safeties, an interception return for a touchdown and a punt return for a touchdown. Give the Vikings the nod; despite Gus Frerotte's repeated attempts to give the Packers a win, the Purple was the better team today. My guess is that the inevitable four-game losing streak starts whenever the Williamses finally have their appeals run out.

The Saddest Video You'll Ever See

Oh, the humanity!

One Recrimination and Three Things to Watch

Now that the McCain campaign has lost, the long knives and finger pointing have begun. Ya know something? It's been less than 24 hours and I don't suspect that anyone really gives a rat's ass who is to blame. It doesn't change the result.

I am going to offer only one recrimination, because I think it speaks to the larger problem that Republicans have to overcome. John McCain made one absolutely crucial mistake in this campaign, which was this: he accepted the framing of the debate that the MSM and the Obama campaign offered and spent the entire election arguing on their terms.

A pertinent example of how this played out -- McCain and his handlers let people who didn't support Sarah Palin create the narrative for her portion of the campaign. Why, precisely, were the interviews with Charlie Gibson or Katie Couric so consequential? Because the McCain campaign let them be. We could see what was coming. We had every reason to know that the networks would edit Palin's responses in an unflattering manner. This is standard procedure. But instead of putting Palin out there more frequently, on local channels, or on cable interviews, or with talk radio broadcasters, they accepted the self-appointed role of the the MSM.

Another example -- since Obama didn't want to talk about Jeremiah Wright, and the MSM didn't either, McCain dutfully pulled it from the table. Well, considering the central role that Rev. Wright has played in the President-elect's life, it sure the heck seemed like it shouldn't have been off limits. I can only assume that McCain didn't want to be accused of doing something dishonorable or racist. Well, he faced those accusations anyway. Would this association have made a difference? We'll never know. Meanwhile, a 527 rushed out a Wright ad in the last week of the campaign, and I was treated last night to watching Tom Brokaw and David Axelrod discussing how dishonorable the McCain campaign was for running the ad, even though it hadn't. If you're going to get blamed anyway, there's no good reason to keep your powder dry.

The next Republican candidate will have options. And the option I'd recommend is to go over the heads of the MSM. Take your message directly to the people, whether it's over the internet, through alternative media outlets or on television spots. Your message may not get to the general audience unscathed, but you can reach the audiences who are receptive to your message and make sure they hear it without mediation.

Now, three quick things to watch in the coming days:

• The fate of Patrick Fitzgerald. I have written about this issue a number of times in the past and it still matters. I don't harbor any dreams that somehow Tony Rezko is going to turn state's evidence and send Obama to the federal pen. But cleaning up politics in Illinois matters greatly. Patrick Fitzgerald is working on getting the information needed to prosecute the corrupt governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. He's also working on matters that could eventually point all the way back to the real power in Illinois, which is in the mayor's office. Obama could pretty easily protect his pals. He has pledged not to get rid of Fitzgerald. If he does, you'll learn something pretty ugly about the new Leader of the Free World.


• The early hires. The first pick out of the box is not a good one -- it's Rahm Emanuel, the former Clinton hand and current congressman/button man, for Obama's chief of staff. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this guy has the potential to be an H.R. Haldeman type. Obama needs an effective, cool-headed executive in this role. Bill Clinton to his credit chose Leon Panetta, who was exactly the right sort of guy. Obama doesn't need a hot-headed, take no prisoners partisan. But that is who he has hired. It doesn't send the right message. I'll be watching the next few choices closely. They will tell you a lot about how Obama will govern.


• Watch the lame duck session closely. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will certainly feel emboldened and they are likely to try to get a head start on the next four years in the upcoming lame duck session, with the first order of business being another "stimulus" package that will be a festival of pork. Obama could establish a healthy precedent by talking Pelosi and Reid out of this idea. I hope he will.

Something to tide you over. . .

. . .while I think of my own list of recriminations. The amazingly prolific Jennifer Rubin already has a list of 30 items. Interestingly, she doesn't have my top one on her list. More on that anon.

Local Heroes

UPDATE (6 a.m. Wednesday): Wow, is the Senate race close. 99.7% in, and Coleman leads by just over 1,000 votes. We are headed for a recount, without question. I remain confident that Al Franken has lost, but my goodness, this should not have been this close. That 11th hour attack from Texas hurt Norm more than seemed likely. Meanwhile, Erik Paulsen ends up winning comfortably and Michele Bachmann squeaks by. Actually, that's probably the best possible result. As much as I like Michele Bachmann, her propensity to shoot from the hip is something that she needs to curb. I hope she learns the right lessons from this near-death experience.

Meanwhile, closer to home. . . .

We may be up a while tonight on the Senate race, but as the numbers continue to come in, it's looking like Norm Coleman will narrowly win over the execrable Al Franken. As I write, 80% of the vote is in and Norm has maintained a lead. I'm not going to stay up all night, but I'm pretty confident based on the precincts that seem to be outstanding.

Meanwhile, it looks like Michele Bachmann and Erik Paulsen will be going to Washington. Their opponents, Elwyn Tinklenberg and Aswin Madia, are both as execrable as Al Franken. Both richly deserve the defeat that apparently is coming. I'm especially happy for Paulsen, who has been the victim of a highly dishonest campaign from Madia and his surrogates.

Our local candidates, Ed Matthews and Lori Grivna, did not win, either. Ed Matthews has a bright future -- he's a very talented guy and I really hope he stays in the mix. Lori ran a good and honorable campaign but she ended up getting swamped by outside money and an especially pernicious last-minute ad blitz that she could not counter. I'm not sure what Lori is going to do going forward, but I still believe that Kate Knuth can be beaten. Lori has a positive role to play in this community and I hope that she stays visible in the district, since things may look very different in 2010.

Sometimes You Lose

There will be time for recriminations later. But not much time. There is work to do.

First, you do have to congratulate Barack Obama for winning the election. The popular vote will be fairly close, but electorally this is shaping up to be a landslide. He has run an excellent campaign. It would be churlish to deny that.

Everyone is telling us that this is an historic moment. And of course it is. President-elect Obama is African-American. He did rise from modest circumstances and has managed to convince over 50% of the electorate that he is the right man to lead this nation. No matter how much I disagree with this sentiment, I have to accept it. And we all have to accept that this man has an extraordinarily difficult job in front of him. And he will need help.

What do conservatives have to do? We have to support President-elect Obama when he does the right thing, and we have to challenge him when he does the wrong thing. He will do some of both. We have to ensure that we are clear in our focus and our arguments. We have to accept that, however narrow the margin, the electorate has not chosen a conservative presidential candidate. As I said, we have work to do. And it will start soon.

Happy Election Day!

Get out there and vote. But watch this link first.

Dispatches at 11:59

At 11:59, some of the truth finally starts to come out.

Item: The Alaska State Personnel Board releases a report that exonerates Sarah Palin of any wrongdoing in the so-called Troopergate scandal. It won't help Palin tomorrow, but it will be useful for her future. And she has a future, no matter what happens tomorrow.

Item: An administrative law judge rules sets a hearing to determine if Al Franken violated Minnesota law by running a false ad. Again, it probably won't help Coleman tomorrow, but at least the truth will be known.

Item: The Bishop of Kansas City, Robert Finn, puts it on the line for Catholic voters considering Obama:

I would say, “Give consideration to your eternal salvation.” Because to vote for a person who has expressed a fanatical determination to not only support abortion as it exists now but to remove all limitations on it through the Freedom of Choice Act, and to extend it without any recourse, throwing out all of the efforts of citizens over the last 35 years to place reasonable limits on abortion, that voting for a person who has expressed his determination to do this to Planned Parenthood, to NARAL — that you make yourself a participant in the act of abortion. That’s gravely wrong, and you mustn’t do it because your eternal salvation is tied up in that important choice.

Again, it might be too late, but at least it's been said. Catholics who vote tomorrow need to be mindful of Church teaching regarding the sanctity of life. Ask yourself how you square a vote for the Democratic candidate with the clear teaching of the Church regarding life issues.

If Obama Wins. . . .

Be sure to watch what happens to Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney who has been in the midst of cleaning the swamps in Chicago. Obama has promised to keep Fitzgerald on the job. He'd better. As the indispensable John Kass points out:

Will the next president keep Patrick Fitzgerald as the U.S. attorney in Chicago?

I really can't say. What are political promises worth from politicians with debts to pay?

But here's what I do know. There is no story more important to the people of Chicago and of Illinois than the future of Fitzgerald, who has systematically hunted down the corruption.

Corruption the Chicago Way doesn't only waste money and burden taxpayers. This isn't only about isolated instances of graft and amusing, earthy rapscallions. That is a cartoon. The reality is that Illinois political corruption is an infection that spreads. The people either are numbed and deny it, or they feel pressured to suck up to their overlords. That's not American. That's positively Medieval.

Emphasis mine. Read the whole thing.

The Big Shoulders

I've been babysitting my friend Gino's blog while he recuperates from surgery. In one of our conversations prior to his surgery, we talked about Chicago. Gino grew up in California but was born in Chicago and his family has basically shuttled between Chicago and the old country (Italy). As it happens, I was born in Chicago, too, but my family moved to Wisconsin when I was a baby. Given the excellent possibility that a Chicagoan may soon be Leader of the Free World, it seems like a good time to talk about The City of the Big Shoulders. It's feeling like this may be a series of posts -- fair warning.

Chicago is a lot of things, but most of all it's a magnet. It attracts people. The talented, the dreamers, the reprobates -- they all come to Chicago. They come to perform in its venues, work in its offices, drink in its saloons. It's a place of dazzling architecture, amazing physical beauty and unspeakable cruelty. But mostly it's a place where normal people live and work and endure. And what they endure a lot of is corrupt government.

And one of the things that is most interesting about the saga of Barack Obama is that he was attracted to Chicago. As it happens, Obama and I moved to Chicago about the same time, for very different reasons. I was just looking for a job where I could write. Never did find one, exactly, but I did end up working for a large corporate law firm in Chicago. Since I wasn't a lawyer, I ended up doing mostly administrative work and never wrote much more than memoranda.

The intersection of law and politics is a strong one no matter you go, but it's especially important in Chicago. The largest law firms were completely wired into City Hall and people with political connections were highly valued, especially as rainmakers. The firm I worked at hired a longtime Chicago politician and judge, Seymour Simon, mostly to have his name on the letterhead. We also had a one-time federal prosecutor named Joseph Hartzler, who eventually returned to the Justice Department and served as lead prosecutor in the Timothy McVeigh trial. The big law firms in Chicago have always had talented, powerful people. And without question, there was more than a little glamor there, even for those of us who were simply hired help.

Barack Obama spent time in this environment, too -- he served as a summer associate for one of the largest firms in Chicago, Sidley & Austin. He met his wife Michelle there. He met Bernardine Dohrn there as well, but that's another post. He could have pursued a safe corporate litigation career and lived a comfortable life in some fashionable Chicago enclave. Instead, he pursued a political career and now may be moving to the most famous address in the world.

What always struck me about working there was that, more than anything else, it was a very mercernary business. Our attorneys worked on huge, complicated transactions -- I recall working for several days at a closing for the sale of a large regional shopping mall, notarizing documents and helping to assemble closing books that looked like unabridged dictionaries. Often attorneys represented the other side of the transaction would be there as well and there would be an elaborate minuet going on, with cellphones and faxes. One New York firm that often came would outfit all of their attorneys in blue shirts -- it was apparently some sort of trademark thing. The sums that our firm would charge were amazing -- I would be working on a project until 10 or 11 at night and they would pay for a cab to take me home (the El was pretty dicey after about 9 p.m. in those days) and charge it to the client. What I also sensed is that a lot of the work I had to do was strictly because of the need to comply with strange regulations. This was especially true of transactions involving properties in Chicago itself. No one seemed to sweat the costs much, but I knew that the costs involved were enormous because I sometimes saw the bills.

One of the reasons that I ultimately left Chicago is that it always felt needlessly complicated. It became clear that much of the complication came from not only the regulations, but the arbitrary ways they were enforced. There are many reasons why having a Chicago politician in the White House concern me, but this sense of complication is one of the strongest. I don't sense that a lot of voters really understand what they might be voting for. I worry that the reality is going to be pretty complicated indeed. More on this in the coming days.

Sunday Papers

We get the Sunday papers mostly because of the ad circulars these days. If you want news and commentary that tells you something, you need to go online. I'd like to commend these two items to your attention:

• I am often instructed by my betters to be less provincial and to pay more attention to the views of "the world." Okay. Here's an essay from Australian blogger Currency Lad with some excellent insights.


• Yesterday we talked about Sen. Obama's notion of the government sending price signals. Well, watch this video. You tell me -- why the hell should anyone in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia or Colorado vote for Barack Obama? And on a local level, for those of you entranced by Kate Knuth and her "cap and trade" ideas, have you really thought that through?

(HT: Captain Ed)

Reverse Auction

Just a reminder on those vaunted Obama tax cuts -- the number is moving. Where will it get by January 20? We can find out, or try this suggestion -- make the reverse auction moot with a vote for John McCain on November 4.

Obama's Left-Turn Signal

It won't last, but for now I'm really enjoying the gas prices. If you click on that link, it shows that gas is $1.97/gallon at 3 gas stations in the Roseville/New Brighton area. As it happens, those are the three gas stations in the Twin Cities that are closest to my house. The sign I've posted here is from the SuperAmerica by my house. It's a lovely, lovely image.

But it won't last. And if you want to know one reason why, consider this. Barack Obama believes that the government needs to be sending price signals. From an interview with Iowa public television:

Q: How do you convince people to change their lifestyles, to live differently, or to turn the question on its ear, are voters ahead of the politicians on this stuff? Do they get it, and maybe the politicians don’t?

A: Well, I think, uh, I think voters do understand it. I think it is important for us to send some price signals to change behavior.

And why shouldn't the government do it? They do such a good job of it, right?

How does a government send "price signals?" Typically, what they can do is impose taxes or tariffs. In other words, they put their thumb on the scale. And the costs to businesses are inevitably passed on to consumers. Whether you know it our not, you have certainly paid a "fuel surcharge" on something you've purchased this year. Chances are, you can't pass your added costs on to someone else. Go ahead, demand a fuel surcharge from your employer and see how far it gets you.

Obama and his pals in Congress have a lot of big ideas in store for the electorate. While there's little doubt that a lot of people have convinced themselves that they need to punish the Republicans for sins real and imagined, it's not clear that people really want a return to the Great Society. That's what is coming if Obama wins and has coattails. It's not too late to send a ballot signal, folks.