Rats

The Monday night game ended at......what? 11:30? I think it was around there. A disappointment for Redskins fans like myself who dared to believe. Hell, I still believe. They're playing far better than I think they were ever expected to. If Messr. Romo was 100% healthy last night I think the Redskins would've lost the game easily, last night it appeared that he was in no hurry to try and throw long or scramble around the pocket at all - I imagine a broken rib does that to you.

Of course the game's final play will be pointed out as typical Rex Grossman, and his career thus far demands that type of judgment. I will point out in his defense that his right tackle, center, and left guard completely did an "ole!" on the Cowboy d-line and Rex is slower of foot than, say, John Beck......

Yes, he could've thrown it away. Or not held it where he did. But he's Rex. To do otherwise would be to expect him to sprout wings and fly or leap like a gazelle. Ain't gonna happen, y'all.

Hours earlier I saw my Red Sox lose to a junior high team again. I think there were 10 fans in the stands despite the warm weather, and 9 of them were Red Sox fans.

Have I mentioned I hate this weather we're having in central Maryland? It's like living in a swamp. I believe that I should never have to perspire in late September when it's only 75 degrees outside. I refuse to turn on my air-conditioner because that's how the aliens will find you. There must be a mother-ship hovering over the East Coast that is forcing all of this humidity here, they want me to give in but I won't.

Today I must wait around while my van's tires are replaced. This is depressing. Sitting around your local Wal-Mart waiting for the Tire and Auto folks to be done with your car is awful. Blah.

There's a crick in my neck, and a bunion on my toe. My digestion isn't quite right and I don't like prunes. It looks like it might rain. I have a headache in my eye, my dog smells funny, and someone is stealing my money. And the Redskins lost.

Turning on the Randomizer

No focus today, it's rainy and warm and muggy.

I think I like cold rain better than warm and sticky rain. At least when it's cold you can toss a log on the fire and pull up a good book. This humid crap? Just makes me feel like I need a shower every 35 minutes.

I think I like the fact that the Lions and Bills are 2-0 and the Colts are 0-2. A little diversity is the spice of life. If the Redskins and/or Patriots can't get to the Super Bowl this year I'm pulling for a Detroit-Cleveland(or Buffalo). Call it "The Exorcist's Bowl."

I think the Washington Capitals are going to have a good playoff run and that this time next year their Stanley Cup Championship gear will be going on sale. And you'll be sick of seeing all the red around here. The DC area loves a winner (unless the team wears burgundy and gold...)

I think the Redskins "rabid" fan base is dwindling for several reasons: 1) the team has not been very good for a long time; 2) the owner always seems to make himself as loathsome as possible; 3) the DC area has always been transient, people move here from elsewhere; 4) with the advent of Sunday Ticket, people who move here can continue to follow their home teams for $300-400 a year, in the old days the Redskins were the only game in town; 5) the Baltimore Ravens are a much better team that plays about 40 miles from the Redskins; 6) the rather racist logo and name....imagine a team being called "The Hanoi Gooks" or "The Verona Wops" or many other names that basically single a race out for the mere color of its skin.

Maybe on point six (6) above I'm off. But there's a group of people who happen to have red skin who take offense to it. Not a large group, but...haven't we evolved past this? Danny, you can make more money with a new name and logo. "Warriors" or something like that.

Michaela Selahi? No thanks. Tareq? Why are you on the "Today" show wearing horns? And crying?

Watched the opening episodes of "Community" and "Modern Family" last night. One was mildly entertaining, the other was not -I'll leave it to you to guess which.

I absolutely dug the new Washington Wizards uniforms. A shame there's no NBA this year.

My Boston Red Sox are doing their best impression of the Red Sox this September. It's OK because throughout my lifetime they've usually done the SWAN DIVE in June, and as of this writing they're actually still in the wild card. Dream team, indeed.

Speaking of baseball, does anyone agree with me that they should add a round to the playoffs and dump 3 weeks of regular season games? Start the season in mid-April. Or shave off some of the September games. Can you imagine trotting out onto the field as a Houston Astro today? What're you playing for?

On second thought, I can imagine trotting out for a hopeless cause when they're paying me millions, or even half-millions. Doesn't seem so bad, really, to just play out the string.

Reading "Dance with Dragons" right now, Book 5 in Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire." I swore to myself that I was gonna take a break between books 4 and 5 but I cracked it open and .....away I went!

I think the breathlessness over next November's election can wait 6 months or so.

A few weeks back, after the Hurricane blew through here, I cut up some broken limbs for my neighbor. I was running my own yard trash to the dump and it was no trouble. A few days later she dropped by with a restaurant voucher. I felt a little lousy because I didn't do the work seeking repayment, but it also seemed less-than-gracious to refuse it. Quite the problem, huh?

The entire time I've been typing this I've been peppered with questions and requests ("can I change the channel, dad?" "Dad, I want eggs for breakfast", "dad, you're making them wrong!" etc etc etc arrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggg). This is why my mind is so bloody fragmented.

Same old story, same old song and dance

I haven't written about it much on this blog, but I possess a J.D. and practiced law. Prior to passing the Maryland Bar I was a clerk for the Office of the Public Defender and served one year as a judge's clerk. I saw a lot of cases tried in those years (1997 to 2000), some were amusing (a retired Air Force officer decided to be his own divorce lawyer and the mixture of arrogance and incompetence was comedy gold) or horrifying (the baby boiler, still makes me shudder).

You see enough cases tried, big or small, and you realize quickly how imperfect the human memory is. Cops lie. Doctors and lawyers lie. People who should recall important details don't. Confessions are coerced through beatings or promises. That's the nature of a system still owned and operated by human beings.

Prosecuting attorneys are political creatures, and not likely to step forward and admit publicly that they've railroaded an innocent person. They're trained to think themselves infallible by way of "following the evidence." When there's no direct evidence, they will pin their hopes to witness statements or circumstantial evidence - a weaker form of evidence but something that can work in pinch. It's common knowledge in your local courthouse that witness statements are the least reliable of the lot.

By contrast, defense lawyers ratchet up the paranoia. Everyone's a liar: the prosecutor, the cops, the lab techs, the opposing witnesses. The defense lawyer is ethically bound (as is the prosecutor) from lying personally - but in truth both sides get as close as they can to the ethical line. Evidence is withheld. Witnesses are discouraged from testifying. The lawyers play games with court filings.....in doing so most cases take a long time to wind their way through the system.

It's a good system, when compared to forcing defendants to overcome a presumption of guilt. "Innocent until proven guilty" is the maxim, but the State tends to operate with the presumption that "we've got the right guy." Their certainty can often-times be well placed, in cases where there is DNA evidence and confessions and direct evidence (like fingerprints and clothing). The defendant enjoys well-known constitutional protections (though those are being eroded regularly by a Supreme Court that favors the government in such cases) but he's usually one little guy against the power of the State (unless his name is OJ Simpson). The defendant is also up against what I'll call "the Cult of the Cop" - an odd presumption that doesn't exist in the legal world but seems to manifest itself in the public eye through unquestioned belief that a cop will not lie under oath, that "our boys in blue" are all about Mom, the Flag, and apple pie.

Which brings us to death cases, and last night's evil.

Death cases are awful to try. They take years, and the procedural safeguards are daunting. Prosecutors like them because they can build a career on the idea that putting the mass-murdering Defendant X to death will show that they protect the people by being "tough on crime." Likewise, defense attorneys can build a name by keeping Defendant X alive - if Defendant X can afford it (or, at least, the defense lawyer can look like a champion of the US Constitution in their efforts). At the end of the day, the only real ass on the line is that of the Defendant. The lawyers, judges, and staff go home. The Defendant? Not likely.

"Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt." That is the standard of proof sufficient to kill a person. There must be no taint of coercion or manipulation of the evidence.

This is all theory, in practice it's harder to tell.

This morning they murdered a man who was alleged to have murdered a police officer. Several of the eyewitnesses RECANTED their testimony and claimed that they'd lied on the stand (meaning that perhaps there are new perjury defendants for the prosecutors to charge). The irregularities were EVERYWHERE. A simple solution would have been to commute the sentence to life in prison and at least allow Troy Davis to live - what was the rush? There was no DNA evidence, no direct evidence, and as I've said a slew of "witnesses" recanted prior statements. A new trial would not have been too difficult.

But for a prosecutor it would be a form of career death. They traffic in being right, not in making mistakes. There's no allowance for human error, as they're not permitted to make them. They obviously do, of course, but they have to believe that they can't. Otherwise, who'd go to jail? Judges don't like resurrecting cases, there's enough new ones every day to keep them busy. The Pope writes letters that go unheeded. Former Presidents and celebrities try as well, to no avail. Go to a prison near your home and you'll notice that a majority of the guys and gals locked up are minorities - African-American and Hispanic. The proportionate numbers are staggering. This cannot be used to excuse criminal activity, but you've gotta ask yourself if the people who run the "system" don't prejudice themselves when they see another black man led in chains to their courtroom, thinking "another angry looking black guy, he's gotta be guilty."

Whoever killed the officer who was the victim in Troy Davis' case deserves whatever judgment God gives him. Maybe that was Troy Davis, but I doubt we'll ever know for sure. In cases where the State can kill a man, though, any doubt should dissuade them from flipping the switch and erasing him from existence - and there is certainly A TONNAGE of doubt regarding his case.

Instead, everyone who had power played Pontius Pilate and washed their hands. Y'all can't see the blood on your hands, you blind fools, but it's there nonetheless. If Troy Davis was indeed innocent, as he claimed, God help you.

Simplicity

"...the media sells it, and you live the role"

Ozzy Osbourne

How much of our identity springs from TV, movies, and "pop culture" in general? Better people than I have called American culture "disposable" and "junk," not like this is a new criticism. As I sit at my kitchen table in the morning and watch the day's news the big stories are about international strife (the middle East) and our current President's popularity rating juxtaposed with his opposing party's vehement opposition to his policies.

Well, am I wrong to think that the narrative continues irrespective of the names of the actual persons involved? Rewind the tape 4 years ago and we had strife overseas and the Bush presidency at loggerheads with a Democratic Congress.

Are you like me? You ever just exhale and think it's all a great big bowl of Suck? I know that it's wrong to feel that way but as Led Zeppelin said the song remains the same. The tune hardly changes.

They sell us. I think that's the true face of American culture: sales. We don't have door-to-door hucksters anymore, we don't need them in a day and age when cable and satellite beam shows like "Today" to an audience of millions and celebs make "guest appearances" wherein they hock some piece of junk that everyone will want to go out and buy.

And buy we do. When I was a kid I wasn't given an allowance (no, I was not a neglected kid but my parents didn't have a lot of money). When I wanted something I either waited for a birthday (my grandmother would spoil me) or try to earn it. I can recall saving up to buy the AC/DC album "Back in Black" in 5th grade, which I think I got for $7 at a record store. I helped my folks rake up the yard, I think.

[this story would be way better if the aforementioned letter led to a career as a rock star hero, but alas...]

My point being, I had to work for what I had. And like everyone else I joined the cult of the consumer and bought stuff, I got money and I spent it. This became even worse when I was given a credit card, and I still struggle with it to this day. Perhaps even moreso when you're a parent and your kids come running in squawking about how "so-and-so has this" etc, etc.

Why struggle? I'm smart enough to know better.

Because it's easy to say "yes," and our "culture" reinforces this ease and cultivates what my parents called the "I wants." It's been perfected now, to reach all cohorts of the country: scooter chairs for seniors, Viagra for boomers, Pampers for parents, cool stuff for 20-somethings, toys for children. From the womb to the tomb....they get ya. They embrace us, and we clearly embrace them back. I'm the fish, the hook is baited, and...CHOMP. Ow.

What caused the recession? I have no clue, but I'm willing to opine that it began with greed. And the word "yes." Yes, you can make a killing. Yes, you're house is really worth 10 times more than you paid for it 5 years ago. Yes, you can afford it all.

It's easy!

that's funny

I'm watching the "Today" show and the first item Anne Currie wants to discuss is the book "Confidence Men" by an author named Ron Suskind who just so happens to be sitting across from her. The book paints an unflattering picture of the early Obama presidency, with the attendant infighting, power struggles, and some misogyny thrown in for good measure. Mr. Suskind defends his sources and his book. The White House aides who are named issue vehement denials. Suskind claims that his book illustrates the evolution of a presidency.

Ok, I can buy his notion. Who among us has ever had experience as a President prior to the moment he (perhaps someday "she") has taken office? We haven't yet re-elected George H.W. Bush or Jimmy Carter - those 2 fellows would have prior on-the-job experience....but besides the shining example of Pres. Grover Cleveland I can't think of anyone who fits that bill.

My point being......why would the President or his aides bother with the denials? So you weren't the best executive right off the bat. Given the problems that the country was experiencing upon his January 2009 inauguration, even Christ himself would've had some difficulty. We elect these guys and somehow expect....what? That the fella has a magic bullet to make it all better? Absolute tripe. And, in a ridiculous sideshow, this White House (like many before it) is going to waste their efforts to tamp down negative stories.

Here's a thought, embrace your humanity. "Of course," they could say, "the new President had never been President before and there was a learning curve. Some growing pains, if you will. He's improved over the course of his 2 and 3/4 years on the job and will continue to do so as long as the American people see fit to have him as their President."

Why is it such a faux pas to admit one's foibles? The Obama administration is hardly the first. Mr. Suskind himself refused to admit that several errors (pointed out by error-prone Anne Currie) were indeed errors. Michele Bachman, as of this moment still a wingnut candidate for President of the Loonies, has made multiple gaffes on the campaign trail - yet in every story and at every turn she has refused to simply say "Yeah, I goofed on that. My bad." Sarah Palin made Tina Fey even more famous with her high-profile gaffes.

What's wrong with saying you've been wrong? Are apologies viewed as weakness? Do we the people expect omnipotence and perfection from our elected leaders? If so, I don't get that. We elect human beings. We don't elect pharaohs, ruling divinities, or theocracies here. The day we do is the day I move to another country because the results can only be madness.

So, Mr. Obama, shut your minions up. You're learning on the job. There's an entire party out there who's not going to vote for you even if you were crapping out gold bullion for the Treasury and cured cancer, forget them. Leave the false displays of power for the fools who would make them, admit you're just a guy trying his best to do a good job. And move on from there.

2-0, oh no

2-0 after games against the Giants and Cards. Next up is Dallas....this used to mean something back when both teams were good. You know, that "best rivalry in football" kind of thing that they use now for Patriots-Colts or Giants-Eagles.

It's pleasant to see the Redskins bounce back in these games from sluggish starts to rousing finishes, instead of the opposite. For the past 20 years the Skins have tantalized us fans with great starts, say- a 14-0 first quarter lead, only to seemingly remember "hey, we're not supposed to actually win" and blow it.

Again, they seem like a competent football team. Not world-beaters, they aint going undefeated this season, but competitive.

So the Cowboys are up next and that brings back what they used to call "Dallas week" around here. The Cowboys haven't dominated the Redskins lately nor have they been really good, but they've been a better team than the Redskins. And Romo brought his team back over the 49ers yesterday with a broken rib, something they'll sing songs about after he retires. It's easy to foresee Romo bombing the hell out of the Skins pass D next Monday night......or see Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan breaking a few more of his ribs. It's a toss-up. Likewise, it's easy to see Bad Rex tossing to the wrong team.......or Good Rex throwing for 350 and 3 TD's. I'm old-school (no, just old) and would prefer to see the Skins run for 200 yards in a Riggins-like beatdown. But that's just me.

Last week I wrote about the Ravens arriving....and this week, hmmmmm, are they leaving? Crushing the AFC Champs will make you overpraise them, and losing to the lowly Titans will make you think to underestimate them. They were exposed yesterday in Tennessee, though. Maybe there is a Sports Illustrated cover curse after all? My theory is that it's the purple: not quite red and not quite blue - they can't decide what they are.

We watched the Patriots beat San Diego, pretty workmanlike win there. The Patriots defense is heartburn-inducing at times, the offense is probably in the top 2 of the league. They seem to be morphing into the Colts since Peyton Manning's out. I find myself yelling at the TV, "run the damned ball a little!"

I absolutely love the Buffalo Bills uniforms, with the white helmets and blue jerseys. Reminiscent of the Patriots old red white and blues with white helmets. Classic and classy. I despised the Bills re-made CFL-looking duds. Not a huge fan of the Flying Elvis Patriot logo either, but at least there were those 3 championships.........

And Atlanta beat the Vick-led Eagles last night......I made several references on Facebook to "this game being a dogfight." And look what happened, he laid down like a dog.

heh, bye!

Hey ho, let's go!

As Baltimore fans will inform you, a little opening day win against a divisional opponent breeds a bit of optimism. 40 miles south of M&T Bank Stadium (a great place to watch a game that has an awful name) at Fedex Field (an awful place to watch a game with a better name), 'Skins fans caught some of that bug juice, too.

I watched some of the Ravens triumph over the inept-looking Steelers yesterday and it reminded me a little bit of the way Andy Reid's Philadelphia Eagles arrived a decade before. There was an opening day game (in 2000 or 2001....something like that) where the Eagles played Troy Aikman's Cowboys......and utterly destroyed them (the Eagles of course had a young Donovan McNabb, Deuce Staley, and a defense led by Jeremiah Trotter).

I recall Madden focusing on the Eagles' use of pickle juice as a way to fight dehydration and opining that the magic pickle juice was responsible for the fact that the Eagles dismantled an aging Dallas team piece by piece.

Anyway, a mostly young and hungry Ravens team ripped the Steelers apart limb from limb. And, for a change, the Ravens weren't boring to watch. Mr. Flacco was slinging the pigskin around like the second coming of Vinny Testaverde (in 1996-7 the Ravens (browns) had a potent offense). They looked like an NFL team instead of a great defense, which was much more fun to watch. The Steelers looked like your garden-variety Bengals team, which is to say dreadful. They looked old and slow compared to their opponents, and the lame brawl instigated by the Steeler defense only exposed them as frustrated chumps who used to be champs.

That said, I expect the Steelers to rebound. They can't be as bad as they looked yesterday, it's just not possible.

So I switch from that laugher to the Redskins, because thankfully the Redskins were playing the 4pm game. It didn't start pretty, what with the Giants defense stifling them a bit and Eli Manning running in a TD, but as the game wore on the Skins responded with something I'm not used to seeing....effort.

Reed Doughty might truly suck but he's a warm body when they need one, and though he did make a few lousy plays he also isn't afraid to stick his head in there and make a tackle. The new kid Kerrigan looked pretty good. They went up 21-14 before Sexy Rexy decided to put the ball on the turf, but the defense and Orakpo bailed them out.

This, too, was unusual, as I've become accustomed to seeing the Redskins act like a partial NFL team.....adequate offense is complimented by inept defense and vice versa. Not yesterday. Yesterday they resembled an actual team, with a functioning offense, defense, and special teams. Hell, even their punter made some great kicks that pinned the Giants deep and allowed them lousy field position. Then Rex puts the game away with a nice toss to Gaffney and...presto! 1-0

The difference between the 2 games is obvious. A 35-7 drubbing of the AFC champs announces that you're loaded for bear; a 28-14 win over the Giants (who've owned the Redskins) says "we're better."

And that's where those teams truly stand, I think. Should the Ravens continue to play well offensively then they're a playoff lock. The Redskins? I love 'em but they are merely climbing the ladder this season. It's a lot more fun to watch them climbing up the ladder than watching them wallow in the basement. I don't predict playoffs for my Redskins, I think they'll be an up-and-down team this year. HTTR anyway.

Finally, I saw some of the Sunday night game. Romo starts the game as Roger Staubach throwing to Drew Pearson. By game's end he's back to being Tony Romo and...well what the hell happened to Dez Bryant? Al Michaels is calling him a monster after a quarter and then......disappeared! I saw him on the sidelines being attended to by trainers, and he was a non-factor after that. Weird.

Tonight gives us the double-header, with my Patriots playing early. I'm rooting for Haynesworth to eat the Miami center.

the sound of silence

Anyone who follows the news knows all about the dreaded Hurricane Irene and its' attendant power outages. There were floods, wind-borne ills, and some people even died.

Us? Fortunately we only lost power to the house.

I guess the rain began sometime last Saturday afternoon while we were attending a surprise party for my first-ever boss (I worked as a lawn-mowing boy, and learned a lot from that job). When I went to be it was gusty and rainy but we had our electricity. Our older son woke us several times, the last I recall was about 3:15 am Sunday morning (according to the clock). By the time I got up we were in the dark.

And stayed that way until Wednesday night.

Ok, I admit that at first it was kinda cool. No TV or computers, our cells worked so we could check the news. We grilled our breakfasts outside and warmed some water for instant (blech) coffee. Charcoal-roasted bacon tastes really good, as it turns out. But it takes a lot longer to start the fire and cook up al the food that a family of 6 needs.

The kids pretty much looked lost all week. We managed to find some fun: card games, reading, hanging around out on our patio...stuff like that.

In the midst of all this Jack had his first day of school. It went off without a hitch thanks to him (he was happy about it) and my wife (a huge help in that regard). When Jack's unhappy he's like leading a Labrador somewhere it doesn't want to go.....he'll just STOP. You can force him, but he'll make you work for it.

Happily, he scooted off for the bus and has loved it. All 2 days of it thus far.

I was fortunate enough to have bought the 3rd of the "Song of Fire and Ice" stories written by George R.R. Martin, it's something like 900-plus pages long so I dove into that. Carol's still on Book 2 because...well.....she's slow.

Our kids decided to all huddle together at night on our big sofa to sleep in each other's presence. We did have to worry over our food (charcoal-grilled roast is really good) but we got lucky and found some dry ice. Dry ice is expensive crap, lemme tell ya....

So Wednesday night we were dealing out the cards on our table by candlelight with assistance from my cordless flashlight to play a game my daughter calls "BS". It's a bluffing game, you have to lie about the cards you're playing and if you get called on it (with the happy cry of "BS!") you either hand the discard pile across to the player who called you (if you were truthful) or you take that pile yourself if you lied. The object is, of course, to lose all your cards. I tend to get called more than most, and the kids seem to take glee when I lose and are very glum when I win.

We never found out who'd win, the power flipped back on in all its' glory. It was back to TV and ipads and all the other junk that occupies us here. We transmogrified from interconnectedness as a group to our usual state of disconnected connectedness to the worldwide meh.

and, hypocrite that I am, I'm posting this on that same meh.......