Last year, I set foot in the state of Texas for the first time in my life (the occasion was our family's first reunion in nine years). To get to America's Lone Star State, I traveled in a plane for the first time in ten years.
The reunion took place on Labor Day weekend in the Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington area. And in between the hassles of getting in and out of both Omaha's Eppley Airfield and one of the world's biggest airports (Dallas-Fort Worth International), I did have a good time.
*Well, this week, the Metroplex opened up a new amusement park (see the pictures above).
I've got to be honest with you: If I get a chance to go back to North Texas, and I want to go to an amusement park (and I mean a REAL amusement park), it's going to be Six Flags. (Correct me if Six Flags over Texas changed its name in recent years.)
*Speaking of plane travel...I understand that, for the first time since enacting it earlier this year, Congress decided to back off a taste on upholding its sequester.
Today, after the Senate took action, the House voted to get many of the air traffic controllers off the furlough the sequester brought on.
The whole point was to help out all those frequent fliers and all those business travelers.
It's fine that today's Republican-led House wants to put a stop to (or at least a crimp in) all those flight delays and cancellations. Restoring jobs to those air traffic controllers is great.
It's too bad those same US representatives don't have the guts to restore the money that keeps programs like Head Start and Meals on Wheels available to all who NEED those programs.
*And speaking of guts...I'm still incensed at the 46 US senators who showed they wouldn't stand up to the National Rifle Association.
Some (if not all) of those 46 cowards (that's right, cowards) got on TV, radio, and/or this here World Wide Web to explain just why they wouldn't stand for background checks- the measures that would've made sure buying a gun here in America is no longer as easy as buying a carton of cigarettes.
No telling how many of those chickenhearts (oops, I mean senators) told reporters "It wasn't an easy vote."
No telling how many of them cited the Second Amendment.
I mean, background checks were the very least of the demands gun-control advocates have wanted all this time. We keep hearing that nine out of every ten Americans who answer opinion polls have come out in favor of those background checks.
Both of Nebraska's US senators (that's right, Republicans Mike Johanns and Deb Fischer) played chicken on background checks.
If you don't want as little as to put a background check between someone and his or her wanting to buy a "shootin' arn," then you're in favor of keeping the gun violence going. It's as simple as that.
*On something just a little bit lighter...after some details have come out this week, I'm not as excited about the upcoming College Football Playoff system as I would've liked to be.
And it's all because it'll be run by the same people who cooked up the BCS nonsense: The commissioners of the now five wealthiest Division 1-A football-playing conferences (Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-12, and Southeastern).
I'd have preferred to see the NCAA take it over...but we keep hearing that there's no longer any real leadership in that governing body.
Got the feeling that the commissioners will rely on the USA Today and Harris Interactive polls (and maybe the Associated Press poll will be a deciding factor here, too, a la the past).
And if that's going to be the case...instead of each league's champion qualifying for the playoffs, get ready for things to get to the point where all four of the playoff clubs will be from the SEC.
One more, and I'm going to wrap it up:
*Lots and lots of sports reporters and sports talk-show hosts have been worried about this year's NFL draft; the consensus feeling is that the 2013 selection process just doesn't have the glamor that last year's did.
It's time for the media people to calm down.
More 2013 NFL draftees are going to turn out to have great playing careers than any of us might think. (Yeah...I know: How often do you get a situation in which an Andrew Luck, a Robert Griffin III, and a Russell Wilson come out of college at the end of the same academic year?)
Far as I'm concerned, all this media fear about this year's National Football League draft manifested itself in (1) a USA Today article about the biggest busts in the draft's history and (2) an ESPN report looking back on the 1983 NFL draft...the one that produced Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterbacks John Elway and Dan Marino.
Don't feel disappointed that the Kansas City Chiefs went with offensive lineman Eric Fisher as their top draft pick- the NFL's first choice here in 2013.
And don't automatically label Geno Smith a failure.
Let's just see what happens.
One thing that's happening is: My time is up.
Thanks for reading "Boston's Blog!"
Well...I see the men's bracket I filled out already got thrown out the window.
It was all because La Salle beat Boise State in the first round. Yesterday, Harvard took it to New Mexico, 68-62; California edged UNLV, 64-61; and Colorado State handed Missouri an 84-72 verdict.
But I'm still pressing on...and I'm ready to give you my predictions on how this year's NCAA Division 1 women's basketball tournament will turn out:
FIRST ROUND: Midwest- Baylor over Prairie View
Florida State over Princeton
Louisville over Middle Tennessee State
Purdue over Liberty
Oklahoma over Central Michigan
UCLA over Stetson
Creighton over Syracuse
Tennessee over Oral Roberts
FIRST ROUND: West- Stanford over Tulsa
Villanova over Michigan
Iowa State over Gonzaga
Georgia over Montana
Wisconsin-Green Bay over Louisiana State
Penn State over Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo
Texas Tech over South Florida
California over Fresno State
FIRST ROUND: South- Notre Dame over Tennessee-Martin
Miami (FL) over Iowa
Colorado over Kansas
South Carolina over South Dakota State
Nebraska over Tennessee-Chattanooga
Texas A&M over Wichita State
DePaul over Oklahoma State
Duke over Hampton
FIRST ROUND: East- Connecticut over Idaho
Vanderbilt over St. Joseph's
Marist over Michigan State
Maryland over Quinnipiac
Delaware over West Virginia
North Carolina over Albany
St. John's (NY) over Dayton
Kentucky over Navy
SECOND ROUND: Midwest- Baylor over Florida State
Louisville over Purdue
Oklahoma over UCLA
Tennessee over Creighton
SECOND ROUND: West- Stanford over Villanova
Georgia over Iowa State
Penn State over Wisconsin-Green Bay
California over Texas Tech
SECOND ROUND: South- Notre Dame over Miami (FL)
South Carolina over Colorado
Texas A&M over Nebraska
Duke over DePaul
SECOND ROUND: East- Connecticut over Vanderbilt
Maryland over Marist
North Carolina over Delaware
Kentucky over St. John's (NY)
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS: Midwest- Baylor over Louisville
Tennessee over Oklahoma
West- Stanford over Georgia
Penn State over California
South- Notre Dame over South Carolina
Duke over Texas A&M
East- Connecticut over Maryland
Kentucky over North Carolina
REGIONAL FINALS: Baylor over Tennessee
Stanford over Penn State
Notre Dame over Duke
Connecticut over Kentucky
NATIONAL SEMIFINALS: Baylor over Stanford
Notre Dame over Connecticut
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Baylor over Notre Dame
See if you agree that Kim Mulkey's Bears will clip those nets down at New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, LA. In fact, see if you agree with any of these picks...I'd like to hear from you.
I'm Jim Boston...thanks for reading this blog!
A couple of days ago, a coworker friend of mine was passing out copies of the bracket for the 2013 NCAA Division 1 men's basketball tournament to other crew members.
When I got home this past Tuesday night (as this year's tourney started out with two of four first-round games), I did something I'd never, ever done before:
I actually filled out the bracket sheet.
So, right now, with the second-round contests starting later on today, I'd like to offer my predictions on how what could turn out to be one hell of a men's D-1 tournament could shape up. (Yeah...I know four games already are on the books!)
FIRST ROUND: North Carolina A&T over Liberty
St. Mary's over Middle Tennessee State
Boise State over La Salle
James Madison over LIU-Brooklyn
SECOND ROUND: Midwest- Louisville over North Carolina A&T
Missouri over Colorado State
Oregon over Oklahoma State
St. Louis over New Mexico State
Memphis over St. Mary's
Michigan State over Valparaiso
Creighton over Cincinnati
Duke over Albany
SECOND ROUND: West- Gonzaga over Southern
Wichita State over Pittsburgh
Wisconsin over Mississippi
Kansas State over Boise State
Arizona over Belmont
New Mexico over Harvard
Iowa State over Notre Dame
Ohio State over Iona
SECOND ROUND: South- Kansas over Western Kentucky
North Carolina over Villanova
Virginia Commonwealth over Akron
Michigan over South Dakota State
UCLA over Minnesota
Northwestern State over Florida (!)
San Diego State over Oklahoma
Georgetown over Florida Gulf Coast
SECOND ROUND: East- Indiana over James Madison
North Carolina State over Temple
UNLV over California
Syracuse over Montana
Butler over Bucknell
Marquette over Davidson
Colorado over Illinois
Miami (FL) over Pacific
THIRD ROUND: Midwest- Louisville over Missouri
St. Louis over Oregon
Michigan State over Memphis
Duke over Creighton
THIRD ROUND: West- Gonzaga over Wichita State
Kansas State over Wisconsin
Arizona over New Mexico
Ohio State over Iowa State
THIRD ROUND: South- Kansas over North Carolina
Virginia Commonwealth over Michigan
UCLA over Northwestern State
Georgetown over San Diego State
THIRD ROUND: East- Indiana over North Carolina State
Syracuse over UNLV
Butler over Marquette
Miami (FL) over Colorado
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS: Midwest- Louisville over St. Louis
Duke over Michigan State
West- Gonzaga over Kansas State
Ohio State over Arizona
South- Virginia Commonwealth over Kansas
Georgetown over UCLA
East- Indiana over Syracuse
Butler over Miami (FL)
REGIONAL FINALS: Louisville over Duke
Ohio State over Gonzaga
Virginia Commonwealth over Georgetown
Butler over Indiana
NATIONAL SEMIFINALS: Louisville over Ohio State
Butler over Virginia Commonwealth
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Louisville over Butler
If you're one of the millions of Americans who filled out a bracket this week, how does yours look? Do you think Rick Pitino's Cardinals are going to cut down the nets at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA on 4-8-2013?
Let me know what YOU picked.
When I come back, I'm going to show you how I think this year's NCAA Division 1 women's basketball tourney will end up. Stay tuned!
One of my favorite activities is downloading YouTube videos; most of the more than 1,800 showings I've captured have had to do either with music or sports.
Because of www.youtube.com, I've been able to find a short, two-part video about the first game of the 1950 World Series (between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies). What happened was someone's home footage of the pregame preparations and of some of the action made it onto the Website.
One thing about YouTube and its counterparts is that you get to make comments about the videos you're seeing. Part 1 of this two-part video (shot at Philadelphia's old Shibe Park) provoked several comments from YouTube visitors; the last comment posted struck a real nerve with me:
"The country was so much better then."
The first thing I thought when I read this comment was: "Better for whom?"
Yes...I know the divorce rate here in the United States was nowhere near what it became in the 1980s, let alone what it is here in the 2010s. (In 1950, this country's divorce rate- rising since the 1920s, at that- was just over 2.0%; by 1981, it had risen to 5.3%. In 2010- the most recent year for divorce stats here in America, according to the 2013 World Almanac- it was 3.6%.)
I truly believe that what the person who thought America was so much better in 1950 than when he or she posted this comment (2011) was lamenting was that the face of the nation isn't the same in this day and age as it was during the middle of the 20th Century.
Matter of fact, the 1950 Fall Classic (the Yanks won it, 4-0) was the final one where neither of the teams had African-American players. (The Phils had a utility infielder named Ralph "Putsy" Caballero. Okay, he batted just .187 in 1950 and had no homers or RBIs. But at least Caballero got to play in the World Series, appearing in three of the games...although his lone at-bat didn't work out.)
Philadelphia had won just one National League flag coming into the 1950 "Whiz Kids" campaign (and that earlier pennant came in 1915...but the Boston Red Sox socked it to the Phils, 4-1). After Eddie Sawyer's club became the Yankees' second straight Series victims, Philly didn't make it back to the World Series until 1980.
Dallas Green's Phillies snared the World Series title that year.
The 1980 Phils made it to the top not only because of Pete Rose, NL MVP Mike Schmidt, and NL Cy Young Award winner Steve Carlton...but also because of teammates such as Bake McBride (his .309 batting average led Philly's regulars), Lonnie Smith (the reserve outfielder whose 33 stolen bases led the club), Manny Trillo, and Garry Maddox.
By then, Richie Ashburn (one of Schmidt's and Carlton's fellow Baseball Hall of Famers) was the color commentator on the Phillies' broadcast team. Thirty years earlier, he'd helped the Whiz Kids dethrone the old Brooklyn Dodgers by batting .303 and leading the Senior Circuit with 14 triples.
After the 1980 "Wheeze Kids" won it all at the expense of the Kansas City Royals (one of ten teams formed during the Phils' thirty-year wait between NL championships), someone asked Ashburn why the 1950 club couldn't stop the Bronx Bombers.
Richie said: "We were too damn White."
He had a point.
Me, I believe the country- for all its current troubles- is better off now than it was during the first year of the Korean War (a war that officially began five years after World War 2 officially ended) because more groups of people are having their say about where the Red, White, and Blue should go.
I guess the YouTube visitor who liked how America went in 1950 misses the days when only the oldest of Caucasian men were the only ones allowed to be heard...let alone allowed to be taken seriously.
This also meant you didn't take Caucasian women seriously, either. [Not even US Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME), who, four months before said World Series began, gave a speech denouncing the tactics of her fellow Senate Republican, Wisconsin's Joseph McCarthy.]
Even then, especially then, America's top spokespeople loudly proclaimed that the country's very name meant freedom.
Never mind that the United States was still heavily under apartheid (okay, segregation) back then.
That's right: Five years after passing up twelve other lands to become the world's leading military power, America had to answer one big question on the minds and lips of many people in many other countries: "If you've got such a free country, then why can't certain people in your country vote...despite the fact that they're citizens of your country nonetheless?"
How simple could the answer have been?
I mean, dig it...you CAN'T keep groups of people in the background for years...decades...centuries...without them wanting to rise up and move to the foreground. That's human nature!
At any rate, the country's leaders in all sorts of fields (not just government) just weren't ready to give an answer. They knew it would mean egg on their faces.
Speaking of simple...what if the person who showed he or she liked the US of A better in 1950 than in 2011 (or 2012 or 2013) had typed in "simpler" and not "better?"
Recently, the Kansas City Star did a report on how churches here in America are having trouble finding organists- and how this country's universities and colleges are experiencing difficulty in attracting students to pick up the King of Instruments. The article also talked about how the University of Kansas (boasting of a multimillion-dollar pipe organ) has one of the strongest organ programs in the United States today.
24 students strong.
Well, the Omaha World-Herald picked up this article and, after having staff writer Kevin Coffey do a local interview to add an Omaha/Council Bluffs/Bellevue slant, put it on the front page of the paper's Living section on 2-23-2013. (One of the points the local edition made was that Nebraska's colleges and universities are bucking the trend the Kaycee original lamented.)
In both versions of the article (you can still catch it at www.omaha.com; type in "Pipes aren't calling many"), you'll find some quotes from University of Kansas organ professor James Higdon.
Higdon bemoaned the trend toward praise bands in many of America's churches, not only labeling the groups "pick-up garage bands" whose members know just six chords...but also saying that the praise bands aren't going to last.
You could see where the professor's coming from; after all, he teaches at a major university with one of the nation's best organ curricula. Higdon's got to look out for his back end and that of his school. (And why throw a few thousand years' worth of compositions out the window?)
I don't want to throw all those compositions out the window, either.
What's more, I'm in a praise band, too...and I love it.
The church I'm in launched its contemporary worship service in September of 2007, and it meets at the church's Fellowship Hall each Sunday at 9:35 AM. (For a while, the service was held at our church's sanctuary...but moved back downstairs in 2011.)
Long before that, I was a substitute organist at the very first United Methodist church I joined...when I was still living in Sioux City, IA. (This was from 1994 to 1997. At that time, that church's lead organist was the wife of the church's pastor. And unless I hear otherwise, they're still married!)
Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is this: Whether it's traditional worship music, contemporary praise music, or a mix of the two, it makes me no difference.
I'm more concerned about the message in each church service. That's what I'm trying to dig.
The basic message doesn't change whether you're using a six-manual pipe organ or a Fender Stratocaster. (At least, that's what I find.)
And as far as I'm concerned, the underlying message is: "God loves each and every one of us...and He wants the very best for us. (And if we could just work to get along with each other.)"
The first game was decided by an overtime extra point.
The very last game came down to a touchdown pass with just two seconds left in regulation.
And, when taken as a group, the games in between weren't too bad, either.
All in all, the 2012 version of a shoulda/coulda/woulda NCAA Division 1-A football playoff was one of the best and most interesting playoff cycles to have ever come out of this computer.
Well, here's proof:
FIRST ROUND (seeding in parentheses): Wisconsin (24) 21, Georgia (9) 20; Texas A&M (17) 35, Utah State (16) 14; Louisiana State (13) 24, Nebraska (20) 21; South Carolina (12) 33, Tulsa (21) 32 (1 OT); San Jose State (14) 20, Louisville (19) 15; Oklahoma (11) 38, Oregon State (22) 35; Boise State (15) 34, Clemson (18) 3; Florida State (10) 28, Arkansas State (23) 21
SECOND ROUND: Notre Dame (1) 14, Wisconsin 13; Texas A&M 21, Kent State (8) 14; Louisiana State 14, Oregon (5) 13; Florida (4) 21, South Carolina 0; Kansas State (6) 28, San Jose State 21; Oklahoma 45, Northern Illinois (3) 28; Stanford (7) 21, Boise State 14; Florida State 24, Alabama (2) 7
QUARTERFINAL ROUND: Notre Dame 27, Texas A&M 7; Louisiana State 28, Florida 0; Kansas State 49, Oklahoma 28; Florida State 35, Stanford 7
SEMIFINAL ROUND: Kansas State 28, Florida State 27; Notre Dame 21, Louisiana State 2
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Notre Dame 17, Kansas State 14
And here's some more proof:
*The Golden Hurricane and the Gamecocks met in actually the first 2012 playoff test. Bill Blankenship's Conference USA champs led Steve Spurrier's club after one quarter, 12-7, and enjoyed a halftime lead of 18-15. But that halftime lead went away when the Gamecocks recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a 19-18 third-period lead.
For a while, the contest was better known as The Trey Watts Show, because the Tulsa running back scored on two kickoff returns- a 96-yarder and the 102-yarder that, combined with his successful two-point conversion, sent the game into overtime. Then, in the extra stanza, Watts scored from a yard out...but the extra point was no good.
South Carolina QB Connor Shaw and WR Ace Sanders then hooked up on a five-yard scoring strike...and K Adam Yates' point after canceled the Watts show.
*The Beavers of Mike Riley- in their first playoffs in a dozen years- owned a 35-21 lead going into the fourth quarter, but Bob Stoops' Sooners rained down the game's final 17 points. The game-winning score came with 0:26 to play in regulation, when QB Landry Jones fired a one-yard TD pass to WR J. Brown. (It was Jones' third TD toss of the contest.)
*Bo Pelini's Cornhuskers were 1:18 away from notching their first 1-A playoff win since 2001 (a 49-0 second-round pasting of Washington)...but the Tigers' Zach Mettenberger flipped a two-yard air score to WR Spencer Ware.
*Mark Richt's Bulldogs were heading for the second round...but the Badgers (now back under Barry Alvarez, because Bret Bielema had just accepted a deal to become Arkansas' new head coach) pulled a shocker and a half. First, RB Montee Ball went in from one yard with 2:09 to go in the fourth; K Kyle French's PAT made it 20-14 in favor of Georgia.
Then Wisconsin recovered an onside kick...and all of that led to QB Joel Stave tossing an 11-yarder to WR Jordan Fredrick for the tying points with 13 ticks to go.
French's next extra point enabled the Badgers to become the first 24th seed to win a playoff game since Troy stunned USC, 16-0, in 2006.
*In the second round, Darrell Hazell's Golden Flashes were working on their own stunner (well, to some people, it would've been a stunner). But halfway through the fourth period, with Kent State leading Texas A&M, 14-7, the Aggies' Johnny Manziel showed just why he picked up that Heisman Trophy.
With 7:58 remaining, Manziel found WR- and fellow freshman- Mike Evans from 14 yards out to make it 14-13 (the point after was no good). Then with 18 ticks to go, the two of 'em connected on a 50-yard bomb to take Kevin Sumlin's first A&M squad into the next round. (The Aggies got a two-point conversion.)
*Bill Snyder's Wildcats needed the whole second half to sideline Mike McIntyre's Spartans (in their first playoffs since 1990). QB Collin Klein (he ran 30 times for 102 yards) used his right arm to do it, with a third-quarter scoring strike to FB Braden Wilson (K Anthony Cantele's PAT tied it at 21-21). Klein- the 2012 playoff MVP- then threw a 13-yard score to WR Chris Harper with 10:06 left to play in the fourth. That did it.
The whole thing wasted CB Tyler Ervin's two kickoff-return touchdowns (a 93-yarder and a 98-yarder) for San Jose State.
*Les Miles' Tigers ended the Ducks' reign as playoff champion (and got revenge for what Chip Kelly's club did in 2011 to LSU- a 30-29 overtime win for the Green and Gold) by foiling an Oregon two-point try with 2:51 to play in the fourth.
*Wisconsin almost pulled off The Impossible against the Fighting Irish. With 1:31 left in the fourth, Stave heaved a two-yard TD pass to wideout Kenzel Doe...but Ball's try for two failed.
*Speaking of Fighting Irish...K-State had Brian Kelly's team on the ropes for most of the fourth quarter in the championship game, thanks to Klein's three-yard run with 7:21 to go.
But Notre Dame QB Everett Golson engineered a minute-long, 80-yard drive that was capped off by his 18-yard desperation heave to WR DaVaris Daniels with those two seconds remaining.
Result: The Irish became just the third Number One seed to go all the way [something previously done by Nebraska in 1993 and Miami (FL) in 2001].
And: This is the second straight year that a team whose head coach has the last name of Kelly went to the top.
Many thanks go out to the man known as Brian in Alabama for providing the teams disk that allowed these playoffs to be run to begin with...on Lance Haffner Games' 3-in-1 Football (using the computer vs. computer mode).
How will the 2013 playoffs look? Stay tuned!
Yesterday, for the second (and final) time in his life, Barack Obama took the oath of office as President of the United States. (I ended up making a DVD copy of the inauguration ceremonies, then watching C-SPAN's rerun of the ceremonies when I got home from work last night.)
And as much as I liked Obama's first inaugural address (1-20-2009), I liked his second one better.
One phrase kept sticking out as the nation's 44th chief executive gave what turned out to be a 14-minute speech: "We the People."
In addition, one other word stuck out: "Together."
The former US senator from Illinois talked about how it's on ALL of us to keep this undertaking called America going...by using solutions that are unique to OUR time, OUR day and age to deal with the problems that we're right now facing.
And, just as Ronald Reagan put the glow on the conservative point of view when he gave his first address as this country's president (1-20-1981), Obama put the halo on the liberal way of doing things in government. [Well, I like to think so! After all, take a look at what happened to the earning power and the buying power of rank-and-file Americans since the former host of TV's General Electric Theater assumed the biggest role he ever had. (They've gone down since 1981.)]
Last week (in fact, on 1-16-2013), this father of two daughters signed 23 executive orders into law. And it was all part of the most extensive gun-control plan since...well, since Reagan got in. (If not that, since an assault-weapon ban was signed into law in 1994 by none other than Bill Clinton.)
The new executive orders include more sharing of government data for background checks, better databases, and government research into why we've got gun violence here in the US. (Don't worry: Improved school safety and better mental-health services will be covered through the new directives.)
On top of that, I like how we're finally going to have a new chief at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
It'd been far too long since an ATFE chief was appointed.
The vacancy- and so many other appointments- would've been filled these last four years if it hadn't been for (let's not kid ourselves) all those Republicans in Congress.
One of those sticks in the mud (oops, I mean Republicans), US Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), wants to get legislation pushed through to block all 23 executive orders. (Paul the Younger thinks Obama's acting like a king.)
Then you've got US Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX), who just got back the same seat he had in the mid-1990s, about the time Clinton signed the assault-weapon ban into law.
All Stockman wants is the impeachment of the newest lefthander to call the shots from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Stockman thinks the executive orders are a White House overreach.
No, it's just like Sasha's and Malia's dad said: "We're all in this together." (And what's to do when a Republican-led House simply won't act on one issue after another?)
The previous (112th) Congress passed the fewest bills of any such group since the Congresses Harry Truman had to deal with in the late 1940s: 68 of 'em. Instead of tackling the budget, the debt ceiling, America's infrastructure, and jobs (that last one was the issue all those new US reps who got elected in 2010 loudly proclaimed they'd deal with first and foremost), the House Republicans have, instead, gone on witch hunts...trying to take down not only Obama himself, but also Attorney General Eric Holder as well as the millions of women who use contraceptives.
I don't know if either Paul (Rand or his father Ron) showed up to the inaugural proceedings. Can't tell you if Stockman came to the Capitol to see the ceremonies. But I did see House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and US Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) walk across my TV screen (and millions of other people's TV screens).
And Ryan and Boehner might have been thinking: "What am I doing here?"
Speaking of Ryan, I like how BHO shot down both PDR's notion that we're a nation of takers and the whole idea that the three most successful government programs to come out these United States (Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid) have weakened the country.
Those three programs have actually helped Americans live longer than was the case in the 1930s.
To sum it all up, I like what Michelle's husband wants to do with the next four years...and I like his message that, regardless of what we look like, what we believe for a religion, where we were born, etc., etc., we've ALL got a stake in trying to improve the world's most talked-about, most envied, most closely-watched nation there is.
And I'm going to try my best to help. (How about you?)
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