Fair Warning

Cavalcade of Liars

Although the Democratic National Committee and it's half-witted chairman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz have done their best to prevent an actual race for the Democratic nomination for president, the televised joint press conferences we call "debates" these days are expected by the public. Tonight will be the first of just six such events the Democrats have scheduled (DWS is banishing people calling for more of them). For fans of classic progressive/socialist rhetoric (a.k.a. ridiculous, fact-free ranting) from 20-30 years ago, this should be a feast. For the rest of us, not so much...

"For 35 years, Republicans have argued that if we give more wealth to those at top by cutting their taxes and letting big corporations write their own rules, it will trickle down, it will trickle down to everyone else."
                         --Hillary Clinton

"Do we continue the 40-year decline of our middle class and the growing gap between the very rich and everyone else, or do we fight for a progressive economic agenda that creates jobs, raises wages, protects the environment and provides health care for all?"
                         --Bernie Sanders

"Powerful, wealthy special interests here at home have used our government to create — in our own country — an economy that is leaving a majority of our people behind. We are allowing our land of opportunity to be turned into a land of inequality."
                         --Martin O'Malley

"I propose Prosperity through Peace. I want to restore American prestige by working with our partners in the United Nations to pursue strategic international agreements that reduce tensions, increase security, attack climate change, and promote civil liberties and fair trade."
                         --Lincoln Chafee

"Forget the polls, the noise and the nasty TV ads. The challenge before us is far greater than the task of winning an election. It is how to govern, with foresight, fairness and administrative skill, once an election is over."
                         --Jim Webb


Tonight it will be class warfare rhetoric wall to wall, plus the usual Democrat magical thinking on foreign policy. If you can bear this kind of tedium, the sheer shamelessness of it might have some entertainment value...

"Especially if you're the kind of person who watches NASCAR races just for the crashes."

Exactly.

Things That Make Me Happy: Late Rally Edition

Well, my beloved Kansas City Royals certainly did their best to give me cardiac arrest yesterday afternoon...

"That's the worst misspelling of 'bacon' I've ever seen."

Shut it.

Anyway, the Royals staged one of the most improbable comebacks in postseason baseball history. Trailing 6-2 as the top of the 8th inning began, they rallied to stun the Houston Astros 9-6 in Game 4 of the ALDS at Minute Maid Park. The game is already being compared to the Royals' shocking come-from-behind victory over Oakland in last year's AL Wild Card game

After the Royals opened the inning with five consecutive singles to make the score 6-4, DH Kendrys Morales hit a grounder up the middle that was tipped by pitcher Tony Sipp and which then eluded SS Carlos Correa (in a brutal scoring decision, Correa was given an error on the play). Two runs scored on the play and it was 6-6, still nobody out. With one out, a walk loaded the bases. And then...

"Just put the ball in play, and sometimes good things happen."

LF Alex Gordon's ground out drove in
1B Eric Hosmer with the winning run, and Eric added some insurance with a two-run home run in the top of the 9th that pushed the score to 9-6.

"Door? Slammed."

Given a lead, manager Ned Yost wasted no time bringing in closer Wade Davis to pitch the bottom of the 8th inning. Knowing he'd have an off day if the Royals held on to win, Ned asked Wade to go two innings (the way all closers used to once upon a time).


Wade answered the call, recording the six outs he needed with just 24 pitches.

The decisive Game 5 will be played tomorrow night at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals will send Johnny Cueto to the mound. Johnny pitched six innings in Game 2 last Friday, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits. He was not the pitcher of record when the Royals rallied to win the game 5-4. The Astros will start Collin McHugh, who beat the Royals in Game 1 of the series, holding them to 2 runs on 4 hits in his six innings of work.

It has been an exciting, hard-fought series to this point, and there is no reason not to expect the same from the finale. I just hope my heart can take the stress...

Details, Details

From the indispensable webcomic xkcd, by Randall Munroe, which you should read every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, as I do.

Until Next Time...

On October 13, 1965 four young men trooped into IBC Studios in London for a recording session. They were a struggling rock band calling themselves The Who, and although they had had a couple of successful singles they were still looking for a breakout hit.
It was tough to manage one of those in 1965, since BBC radio at that time did not play popular music. Hits in those days depended on "pirate radio" and word-of-mouth.

The song the group recorded fifty years ago today, "My Generation," seemed to perfectly capture the mood of the times, and Roger Daltrey's halting, stuttering delivery of Pete Townshend's anthemic lyrics was like nothing kids had ever heard before (there are as many stories regarding the origins of that famous stutter as there are stars in the sky).

Sleeve for the U.S. 45rpm single

The single was a Top 5 hit in several markets around the world (including No. 2 on the U.K. charts), but only reached No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100 in America.

Eventually, its significance would come to be accepted on this side of the pond as well, and it is now universally considered one of the great songs in the history of rock 'n roll. It is enshrined in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Grammy Hall of Fame.



Today's send-off pairs the original mono recording of the song with film clips of English life in 1965. Enjoy...