The Abercrombie Vote

Well, you already know Barack Obama lost last night, but how about those three dudes behind him with the Abercrombie & Fitch shirts. Ezra Klein and Matt Yglesias both have posts on these guys here and here. Read the comments on both posts, they are hilarious! I'm actually really surprised that the Obama campaign let these guys stand behind him. First off, in light of Bittergate, Obama's attempts to reach out to working class voters won't be helped by the presence of three upper-middle class frat boy douchebags. Plus you could see people texting in the background. It was just piss poor coordination by the Obama campaign that resulted in a concession speech mixed with a heavy dose of superficiality. Seriously, the whole thing brought back memories of high school that I've been trying to repress for 5 years! Now, in the end, this really isn't a big deal. It's not going to sink Obama and it's not going to birth another scandal. It just means that Barack Obama was momentarily associated with a segment of American society that prides itself on status symbols and mocho effete.

P.S. I'm pretty sure that's not Larry David behind Obama, but it sure as hell does look like him. David has campaigned for Obama in the past though, so I could be wrong. But I'm gonna stick with it not being him.

Photo used courtesy of flickr user _aa_ April 22, 2008

Trouble in Houston

It seems as if Miguel Tejada is in a lot of trouble. First off, it turns out that Miguel's last name is Tejeda not Tejada. Also he lied about his age, he's 33 not 31 (Why!?! Plus at least make it more than a two year difference!). Finally, there is of course Tejada's surfacing in the Mitchell Report for possible steroid usage. If your asking, what's the big deal. Here's the big deal: Tejada lied about his age and name while applying for a green card post-immigration. Plus, when applying for a green card, the applicant is asked about drug usage. Whoops! This could all lead to Tejada getting deported; or, at best, he could be turned into an informant to rat out other players to the Feds. I have to say, while I shouldn't, I actually kind of feel sorry for Tejada, or should I say Tejeda. Basically the only reason any of this is coming to light is the fact that the guy more likely than not joined the Roid Raiders club (Canseco, Giambi, Piatt, etc.) in Oakland. I mean, let's be honest, in late 90's Oakland, who wasn't juiced!?! The men in the A's clubhouse had more testosterone pumping than the rest of the Bay Area combined. Clearly, Tejada has made a number of bad decisions, but you have to wonder how many other players out there have just as many skeletons in there closet (cough cough Ankiel cough).

Now that I got the pleasantries and compassion out of the way, in the interest of full disclosure I should acknowledge that as a Brewers fan the Houston Astros are one of my favorite opponents. Pretty much every time the Brewers play the Astros (whether in Milwaukee or Houston) we just beat the living shit out of them. Seriously, we won a game in Houston like 15-1 last year! What?! Needless to say, if this causes the famously dysfunctional Astros to become more dysfunctional, the only wisdom I can impart is that this is natural selection taking its course.

Finally, in other baseball related news, I love 5 gum. Seriously, it's freakin' fantastic. I was at CVS over lunch and noticed for the first time that 5 is manufactured by Wrigley. This causes a dilemma for me. I love the gum, but I hate to think that my love of 5 gum is in some way support for the Cubs. But what can I really do? Wrigley pretty much has a defacto monopoly on the chewing gum market, and it's just so damn good! Ideas?

Photo used courtesy of flickr user gajdam1 Apirl 18, 2008.

More Bittergate

Via Ezra Klein, I was directed to this wonderfully biting column by Jonathan Chait attacking patent rich boy George Will's newfound affinity for working class voters. Big G scoffed at Barack Obama's "condescending" remarks. This is in the same vain of other pundits like Tim "Blue Collar Buffalo" Russert and Chris "Man's Man" Matthews. Chait singlehandedly deconstructs any vestage of a connection that George Will and co. claim they have with the working class of Pennsylvania. This is my favorite bit:

Bill O'Reilly's or Tim Russert's endless invocations of their working-class backgrounds are the equivalent of the campus activist who introduces every opinion by saying "As a woman of color . . . ." (The one difference being that the latter really is a woman of color, while the former are multimillionaires who retain only the most remote connection to blue-collar life.)

Nice. I was watching Bill Maher last week and he interviewed Chris Matthews and attacked him on his avoidance of anything but "character" issues. Matthews, predictably, wouldn't back down and continued to denigrate Obama and Clinton for their lack of affinity with "normal" people. Bill Maher put it correctly when he stated that this country can't afford to vote for the "better" guy. That's true. But I think he's conceeding a point here. Republicans aren't the "better" guys. McCain and Bush are lifetime upperclass individuals. Bush is just good at pretending that he seems like an everyday American. However, I don't think attending Yale and being a member of the ultra exclusive Skull and Bones is "everyday American." I don't think attending Harvard Business School makes you an "everyday American." Last but not least, being the son of the forty-first President of the United States of America doesn't exactly make you an "everyday American." That's not to say that normal people don't go to Yale and Harvard. Plenty do. But W never would've gotten into any of these prime institutions without a little help from Big Pappa Bush and his connections. Good grief!!!

P.S. I promise that this is the last post on bittergate

P.P.S. Well, ok, that is unless something similar to this comes along again!

Update: The Obama Fuck Up

Well, I'm pleased to say that it appears that Hillary Clinton has saved Barack Obama's ass in regards to bittergate. Ezra Klein details in this post how Clinton's decision to latch on to these remarks and make it a campaign issue have resulted in the media dropping the story on its own merits and reframing it as a spat between Obama and Clinton. As we've seen in South Carolina, this type of framing tends to work against Clinton and for Obama. I'll be honest, I really thought this was a huge blow to Obama, but it appears that he has dodged a bullet, at least for the moment. However, I am very happy that I was wrong and I am currently eating my words with a side of cornbeef hash.

Also, today's New York Times column from P-Krug takes a look at the "bitter" comments made by Obama and using a study from his Princeton colleague Larry Bartels comes to the conclusion that Obama was wrong about the voting patterns of the supposedly "bitter" working class whites of rural Pennsylvania. It turns out that the rural working class is much more concerned about economic issues than Obama thought. Once again, I was wrong about this, as I thought Obama was spot on with his comments. Once again, I am proud to eat my words, only this time with a "Love-It" sized "Birthday Cake Remix" from Coldstone.

In conclusion, my name is Scott, and as the title of the blog suggests, I oftentimes DON'T KNOW!!!

Hopping on the J Street Bandwagon

The liberal blogosphere and assorted liberal media outlets have been abuzz over the launch of J Street this week. J Street describes itself as a pro-Israel, pro-peace group. Obviously, J Street has a liberal bend and the group is implicity an alternative to groups like AIPAC (American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee) and CUFI (Christians United for Israel). There have been some great articles out there about J Street including this one from Spencer Ackerman, this one from Ezra Klein, and this one from Gershom Gorenberg. While all three articles deal with similar subject matter, they each approach the topic with their own unique narrative so I recommend that you take some time and read each one. I could take the time to explain my views on the Israeli issue but I think that Ackerman, Klein, and Gorenberg all do a much better job of it than I possibly could, so I will outsource the job to them and let the articles speak for themselves. On the other hand, I will say that you should definately check these guys out and sign up for their mailing list. Alternative views on achieving security and prosperity for Israel and her people are badly needed, so these guys deserve your report.

It's Been Awhile

Apologies for the lack of blogging this past week. I was in Philadelphia for a day so that kind of cut into things; however, that is no excuse for the lack of posts prior to that. I have some ideas for posts today and I'm hoping to have a normal blogging schedule next week. Hang in there!

The Obama Fuck Up

I'm sure that you've heard what Barack Obama said in San Francisco by now, but if you haven't , here is what he said, "It’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” Obama said this to explain the supposed "bitterness" among the white working class community. All I can say is...ouch. This could be huge. It's not a good sign that Bill Kristol is already comparing this statement with the writings of Karl Marx in the New York Times [Note: In no way do I think this is a bad thing, however, most people don't understand Marx and equate him with the likes of Stalin, Mao, and Castro]. Hillary has of course jumped all over this, but you can't really blame her, she has to.

Look, the truth of it is, Obama's explanation of working class disenfranchisement is actually pretty much spot-on. Nevertheless, it was an extremely stupid thing to say. Moreover, Obama said this in San Fran-fucking-cisco which makes it that much worse. The charges of liberal elitism and San Francisco values will be flying around for months now. I can't really make a judgement on whether this will sink Obama's candidacy; only time will tell on that front. However, needless to say, this was a major blunder on Obama's part, and it pretty much dwarfs the Wright controversy.

In conclusion...damn!