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Author: Bryant

Fear factor

October 29, 2004
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Lawrence Haws wrote me the other day and pointed out that Bush recently said it was “up in the air” whether we could ever be safe from another terrorist attack. He said this disproves my assertion that Bush pretends he can keep us safe.

True enough! And Kerry responded to Bush’s comment by saying that he was going to win the war on terror, which is just as ridiculous when Kerry says it as it is when Bush says it. Terror is not an opponent, it’s a tactic.

Of course, Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director, promptly said that “The president said we can win the war on terror and we will win the war on terror.” So it’s not as if Bush and his team are going to stand by their admission, any more than Bush stood by his comments at the GOP convention when he said he didn’t think it was possible to win the war on terror.

Bush wants us to think he can keep us safe. So does Kerry. Every now and then the truth slips out — I really liked Kerry’s comments to the New York Times, when he explained that he wanted to reduce the threat of terrorism until it doesn’t affect the fabric of our everyday lives. And every time it slips out, the other side pounces on it and uses it as a stick. I don’t particularly see either campaign occupying high moral ground here.

With one caveat: Kerry, so far, has not told Americans that they will be nuked if Bush wins.

Neck and neck

October 29, 2004
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This scenario is not going to happen, because if McCain was going to take a shot at Bush he’s had plenty of opportunities to do it already. But it’s a fun little piece of speculation about an obscure piece of election law, so if you want to find out how McCain could be elected President this year, go read it.

Win

October 28, 2004
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All in all I’d have to say that worked out pretty OK.

Yeah.

Dudes, I don’t know what to say. That was just… I watched the game in a bar on Mass. Ave, in the middle of Cambridge, near Davis Square. And that was good. And after the game, I walked down to Davis Square with friends and cheered. And that was good. And then I drove home, and now I’m home, and that’s good.

Um, here are some bad cameraphone pictures of Davis Square!

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There. Hey, did you hear that the Red Sox won?

Two shots

October 27, 2004
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Without further ado, the non-partisan competitive Election Night drinking game.

  1. The players come to consensus on which network they’re using for results. If they can’t come to consensus, they have to use CNN (if the party is predominantly Republican) or Fox News (if the party is predominantly Democratic).
  2. Everyone predicts the winner and his percentage of the vote in 15 battleground states.
  3. If you get the winner wrong, drink!
  4. If you get the margin of victory wrong by more than 1%, drink!

Example: Bob says “I think Kerry’s gonna win New Hampshire with 55% of the vote.” After everyone’s done mocking him, they settle down to watch the results. CNN calls New Hampshire for Kerry with 51% of the vote. 51% is more than 1% away from 55%, so Bob drinks. If Kerry had won New Hampshire with 54% of the vote, Bob would be fine.

So what are your battleground states?

Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Virginia. Which is only 14 — but add in your home state. If you live in one of those states, throw in Hawaii.

John Toad

October 26, 2004
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The ugliest dwarf in Sigil is practicing his tai chi in the center of the room. He moves without any real grace; his precision is the certainty of stone, rocks sliding against rocks, limbs held in place by muscle alone. His hands are enormous: strangler’s hands, with knuckles like pebbles thrusting up out of his weathered grey skin.

He turns, and turns again, balanced on the balls of his feet. His brows jut out over his eyes. He stares, angry, at the world.

In one hand he has a piece of dark heartwood, carved to fit a dwarven hand. He clenches it tight. There are grooves in the wood where his fingers rest, as if they have rested there for years. The wood has no give to it, not anymore. He brings his arm around in a great slow punch, fingers still wrapped around the piece of wood, giving his fist enough heft to strike a blow at the heart of the world.

A long time later, he completes his practice. It is at this moment that he is at the peak of his spiritual development. Tomorrow he will go out and hurt people who owe his superiors money, and this will inevitably result in backsliding. He knows this. But he enjoys both portions of the cycle.

And the following day, he will practice again.

Upward from here

October 24, 2004
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Some things that are important about the just concluded Game One of the World Series:

That could well have been the worst starting pitching the Cardinals will have to face this series. Wakefield is pretty bad when he’s not on his game. Four out of the remaining six games will feature Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling, and while Pedro has certainly declined, there’s no question but that he’s better than Wakefield was today. The other two games are Lowe and Wakefield, both of whom are capable of raising the bar somewhat higher.

Meanwhile, we’ve seen Woody Williams, who’s been stellar in the last few months. The rest of the Cardinals pitchers don’t suck, but there is no reason to think that they will pitch any better than Williams did. Also, Matt Morris will be pitching on three games rest on Sunday. Scary.

All this means nothing if Schilling’s ankle gives way. Urk.

The Red Sox will not have another four-error game this series. I feel pretty confident about that, actually.

Tony Womack may not be back after he got hit by Ortiz’ wicked single. He’s had collarbone problems in the past, it seems. This is bad for the Cardinals, since he’s a .307 hitter this year. (And he broke camp with Boston… although I’m not gonna complain about having Bellhorn at second, not tonight.)

All in all, I’m feeling pretty good about this one. It’s looking quite sunny for Boston.

Hiring policy

October 22, 2004
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The most terrifying sentence in this Washington Post article about Kerry’s cabinet choices is this: “John Sasso, who was recently put on the Kerry plane to restore order and discipline, is making a move for chief of staff, too, campaign sources say.”

In case anyone was under any false impressions, John Sasso is not a nicer person than Karl Rove. He just happens to be on Kerry’s side.

It’s a pretty pro-Kerry article, by the by. The first few paragraphs are particularly beneficial — the article starts out with a joke about Kerry having a tough time making decisions, but then defuses the negative implications by pointing out that Kerry may well make the tough bi-partisan decision to put a Republican in as Secretary of State. That speculation also helps shore up Kerry’s image as a uniter who can fix the problems Bush has created.

Meanwhile, the equivalent Bush article talks about major changes in his cabinet, which leaves one with the implication that Bush’s first term cabinet wasn’t doing such a great job. Warms the cockles of my heart, it does.