October 28th, 2011 by John Feehery
“Get your head out of your ass.”
We were in the locker room of a high school gym in the South Side of Chicago, and the coach of my team, Paul Jackson, was not too pleased with our team’s play in the first round of the basketball tournament.
We were sophomores and frankly, we were playing like crap and deserved to hear the message, which was delivered at a fairly high decibel.
I was thinking about Coach Jackson and the general state of basketball in America.
At the professional level, basketball is a complete mess.
General interest in the game has taken a turn for the worst, as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have proven to be poor substitutes for Michael Jordan. And that was before a mystifying strike that now threatens to put the NBA out of business for good.
Is anybody truly worried (outside the family and friends of NBA players) if the league went out of business?
At the college level, basketball is learning a rude lesson. It isn’t nearly as important as football.
The Big East, college basketball’s preeminent league, has been torn asunder by University presidents who care more about football revenues than they care about great basketball rivalries. Read more...
Tags: basketball, David Boren, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Mitch McConnell, NBA, The Big East, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, “Prayer for a Perfect Season.”
Posted in Bad Decisions, Economy, Financial Crisis, Fun, Government, History, Politics, bad news | 3 Comments »
August 5th, 2011 by John Feehery
The world is going to hell in a hand basket. The stock market just crashed as if Congress allowed the President to default on our debt payments. Europe is in the same shape financially as it was in 1946.
So why am I focused on the Infield Fly Rule?
I don’t know. I thought it would be a pleasant diversion from the negative news we see every day.
So, for those of you who don’t follow baseball, the Infield Fly Rule, according to Wikipedia, is: “The infield fly rule is a baseball rule that is intended to prevent infielders from intentionally dropping pop-ups in order to turn double plays (or triple plays). Without this rule, a defense could easily turn a pop-up into a double play when there are runners at first and second base. If the runners stay near their bases to tag up, the defense could let the ball drop, throw to third base and then to second, for a force-out at each base. If any of the runners stray too far from his base, the defense could catch the pop-up, and double-off any runner that failed to tag up. When the rule is invoked, the batter will be out (and all force plays removed) regardless of whether the ball is caught, thus negating the possibility for multiple outs.” Read more...
Tags: America, American League, Baltimore Orioles, Barack Obama, baseball, Bourbon Democrat, Congress, Conservatives, Cy Young, Democratic Party, Democrats, dollar, Gilded Age, Government, Grover Cleveland, Infield Fly Rule, National League championship, progressives, spending, stock market, The Depression, World Series
Posted in Bad Decisions, Economy, Financial Crisis, Fun, Gambling, Government, History, Laws, Politics, Theory, baseball, sports | 2 Comments »
August 4th, 2011 by John Feehery
An interesting story caught my eye in the New York Times today, about the rise of a radical right-wing group in, of all places, Sweden.
Swedes are concerned that they are losing their national character because of the high influx of immigrants from Muslim countries. The Times noted the resentments of one typical Swedish family:
“Michael Ahlgren, who lost his job as a security guard for the Red Cross just before Christmas, wears a tattoo of the Swedish flag on his shoulder and voted for the Sweden Democrats, a nationalist party that shocked the country by winning nearly a quarter of the votes for the city council here in 2006. He and his wife are outspoken in their resentment: the government spends money on refugees, they say, but their daughters’ school lunches have barely any vegetables and, to accommodate Muslim religious practice, no longer offer pork sausages.”
The lack of vegetables doesn’t seem like that much of a big concern. The pork sausages? Now, that is a reason to get mad.
This is not just Swedish problem. It has spread to the United States. Read more...
Tags: America, bacon, Chicago Public Schools, Christian, Conservatives, Economy, Government, immigrants, Iowa, Jewish, Koran, Muslim, New York Times, pig farms, pork, Red Cross, Republicans, Sweden, Torah
Posted in Economy, Food, Fun, Government, History, Humor, Politics, Religion, Theory, war | 1 Comment »
June 16th, 2011 by John Feehery
First, there was the beer summit. Now there is the golf summit.
Where other Presidents had summits to negotiate nuclear arms deals or budget compromises, Barack Obama has chosen to meet his opponents in a more relaxed setting.
The beer summit, for those who don’t recall, was an effort to bring a white cop and a black professor together, after they had a major misunderstanding that led to racial indigestion. Obama made the situation worse by calling the cop stupid, and then he had to calm the waters over a few choice beverages.
The President likes to include Joe Biden in all of his summits, so he has invited the Vice President over to play golf with him and with Speaker of the House John Boehner at an undisclosed location (probably Andrews Air Force base).
Boehner has decided to bring John Kasich, the Ohio Governor, to play with him. My guess is that Kasich and Biden will do all the talking, while Boehner and Obama will do all the smoking. Read more...
Tags: America, Andrews Air Force base, Barack Obama, beer summit, Bill Clinton, Bob Michel, Bull Moose Party, Democrats, Don Van Natta, election, golf summit, Joe Biden, John Boehner, John Kasich, Lyndon Johnson, Republicans, Richard Nixon, Tip O’Neill, William Howard Taft
Posted in Fun, Government, History, Politics, Presidential election, Theory, election, sports | No Comments »
May 31st, 2011 by John Feehery
Riding my rented bike through the crowd of motorcyclists over the weekend provoked two thoughts: My bike was no match for their hogs, and my shorts and tee-shirt didn’t quite fit in with their duds.
Every Memorial Day, thousands of bikers from around the country flock to Washington D.C. to pay tribute to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect their country. Quite often, traffic shuts down, which is why I was riding my rented bike.
Most of these bikers play the role of the hard-core motorcycle gang member, with their tattoos and their leather regalia. But it is just a role. When they go back home, in all likelihood, they are just normal middle class Americans.
This year, Sarah Palin joined the party.
She, too, was wearing leather, and she too was playing a role. We just haven’t figured out what that role will be.
If she runs for President, she will be the most macho of the candidates running. She will run to the right of Romney, run to the right of Pawlenty, run to the right of Newt Gingrich and run to the right of Ron Paul. Read more...
Tags: America, anti-abortion, anti-EPA, anti-tax, Barack Obama, Conservatives, election, Government, Iowa, McCain, Memorial Day, Michelle Bachmann, middle class Americans., Mitt Romney, motorcylcists, New Hampshire, Newt Gingrich, Pawlenty, Presidential election, pro-fishing, pro-gun, pro-hunting, pro-military, pro-motorcycle riding, Republican, Republicans, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, South Carolina, veterans, Washington D.C., White House
Posted in Fun, GOP, Government, Media, Politics, Promises, Theory, election | 2 Comments »
May 26th, 2011 by John Feehery
Without Oprah Winfrey, there would be no President Obama.
And Republicans should be okay with that.
Let me explain.
While Oprah campaigned for Barack Obama in the last election, that was the least of her contributions to the “Yes We Can” campaign.
Her example was far more important. She paved the way for Obama in ways that I don’t think have been fully appreciated by the American people.
She single-handedly broke down barriers between black and white. Her talk show audience is 80% white, (and mostly women).
Oprah was the first mega-media star to confront serious social issues in a way that was informative, provocative and non-threatening all at the same time.
She followed in the footsteps of Phil Donohue, but took his game and raised it to a completely different level.
Almost everybody who was anybody came to Chicago to talk to Oprah and her interviews were revealing, news breaking and interesting.
Oprah was also the first media Robber-Baron. She could make or break somebody, especially authors who needed a platform.
She has made hundreds of millions of dollars, and she is the most dominant African-American media powerhouse in the world. Read more...
Tags: Barack Obama, conservative, Democrats, Oprah Winfrey, Phil Donohue, Politics, Republicans, social conservative
Posted in Capitalism, Fun, Government, History, Media, Politics, Theory, election | No Comments »
May 24th, 2011 by John Feehery
I wore my green tie in honor of President Obama’s visit to Moneygall yesterday.
The President was warmly received in his visit to the Emerald Isle, and he didn’t disappoint. He drank a pint of stout in four sips, an impressive feat for any person who is not predominantly Irish.
The President was visiting this small Irish village because he has an ancient relative who was born there. That great-great-great grandfather immigrated to Ireland in the middle of the potato famine, around the same time that old Tom Feehery left Roscrae in county Tipperary.
The Irish diaspora went far and wide in the world in that era. My family ended up in Chicago and so did Obama. Small world.
The Irish economy is approaching the level of disaster that befell Ireland in the 1850’s. Nobody is starving, but the people are leaving again like they did then, looking for jobs.
The irony is that Ireland is far different than it was then, and that a motivated and smart workforce, favorable tax laws and a good infrastructure should help propel the Irish back fairly quickly.
The President’s visit is good politics for him. He should have taken some more time, played some golf and established closer ties to the Irish. Read more...
Tags: America, Barack Obama, Chicago, Economy, election, Emerald Isle, Government, Guinness, Ireland, Irish, Irish Catholics, Moneygall, Obama, President Obama, Presidential election, spending
Posted in Economy, Financial Crisis, Foreign Relations, Fun, Government, Immigration, Politics, Presidential election, Religion, Theory, election, national security | No Comments »
May 5th, 2011 by John Feehery
America loves conspiracy theories. Franklin Roosevelt knew about Pearl Harbor before it happened. The CIA killed Jack Kennedy. George Bush blew up the Twin Towers. The Trilateral Commission runs the world. Elvis has not left the building. Jim Morrison is still alive.
Our current President is particularly good at spawning conspiracy theories. He is a Muslim. He hates America. He is a racist. He worked with Bill Ayers to overthrow America. He wasn’t born here. He never actually went to college. He is the Manchurian candidate. He is actually a space alien.
Conspiracy theories are fun for the whole family. It gives a purpose to all things. It means that somebody has a plan somewhere.
There are a number of good conspiracy theories that will come out of this Osama Bin Laden assassination. First, of course, is that he is still alive. No matter if those photos are released or if they are not released, some percentage of the population will believe that Mr. Bin Laden is still alive.
Another conspiracy theory is that Bin Laden has been dead for months and that the President finally revealed this today because he wants an excuse to pull our troops out of Afghanistan and to prop up his popularity ratings. Read more...
Tags: CIA, Conspiracy Theory, Franklin Roosevelt, George Bush, govenment, Jack Kennedy, Muslim, Osama Bin Laden, Pearl Harbor, President Obama
Posted in Foreign Relations, Fun, GOP, Government, History, Humor, Media, Politics, Religion, Scandals, Theory, corruption, just made up, middle-east, national security, terrorism, war | No Comments »
April 29th, 2011 by John Feehery
When you come back from vacation, reality crashes into fantasy roughly.
Watching the first kiss between Will and Kate (which I couldn’t escape even though I tried), I saw the fantasy world of the British Monarchy play out before my eyes.
People like the fantasy nature of the Prince and his Princess. It makes it even better that Kate is a commoner. And more power to the Brits. Fantasy is an important part of life. The reality of the situation is that the United Kingdom could probably save some money by stopping all of this monarchy non-sense, but without all the monarchy non-sense, it would be just another declining European power.
This weekend, America is celebrating its own fantasy. The Space Shuttle is taking off for its second-to-last mission. When Jack Kennedy promised that we would walk on the moon, it seemed like a fantasy to most people.
Indeed, some conspiracy theorists believe that we never actually got to the moon, that the moon walk was all a hoax. These are probably the same folks who believe that the President was born in Kenya. Read more...
Tags: America, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, British, British Monarchy, delusion, Economy, fantasy, Government, health care, Jack Kennedy, Paul Allen, Politics, prince and princess, space shuttle launch, walk on the moon, William and Kate
Posted in Economy, Financial Crisis, Foreign Relations, Fun, Government, Politics, Theory, health care, spending | No Comments »
December 24th, 2010 by John Feehery
My fondest (and probably first) memory of Christmas morning is when I was about 5 years old. I snuck down early (which of course, was a big no-no), and found under the tree a really cool Fort Apache set, complete with little U.S. Cavalry figures and the fierce little Apache Indians.
Those toy Cowboys and Indians gave me hours and hours of enjoyment, as I dreamed up ways that the two sides would wipe each other out. This was in the late 1960s, and back then, Daniel Boone, Ponderosa, Gunsmoke and other television shows chronicled how the West was won. We watched them just about every night.
There may have been some ambivalence among the intelligentsia back then about who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. There wasn’t that much ambivalence in my family. We were on John Wayne’s side.
Dad would sometimes set up action sequences with the toy soldiers after I went to bed, and I would wake up to discover a fort he had built with blocks, with good guys under attack from the bad guys. It was always a bunch of fun to check out what he came up with. This wasn’t a passing fancy for me. I played with toy soldiers well into seventh grade, and that kind of play helped me develop a real interest in history. That turned out to be the one school subject I was really good at. Read more...
Tags: Cowboys, Indians, John Wayne
Posted in Fun, Theory | No Comments »
“Get your head out of your ass.”
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