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Opinari - Latin term for Opinion. Opinari.net is just what it seems: a cornucopia of rants, raves and poignant soliloquy.

Thursday, December 18, 2003



Coming to a store near you - the captured Saddam Hussein action figure. I think I am going to buy my son one, and a dozen GI Joes. We'll dig a bunker in the back yard... springtime should be fun. Heh.

UPDATE: Buy the action figure, along with some other notables at HeroBuilders.com.

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.: posted by Dave 8:15 PM


In economic news:

  • Leading indicators rose 0.3% in November, pointing to economic growth next year.

  • The Philadelphia Fed reported factory orders in its region hit a 23-year high in December as employment improved.

  • Nationwide, jobless claims fell by 22,000 last week.


    • Damn those Bush economic policies.

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    .: posted by Dave 1:27 PM


    Wal-Mart is now offering music downloads, and they're doing so for $.11 cheaper than iTunes. I'll be interested to see how sales go, especially with so many iPods being bought for Christmas gifts.

    Note to Santa: Leave iPod under tree. Get many cookies for trip back to North Pole.

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    .: posted by Dave 1:24 PM


    Wednesday, December 17, 2003

    Progress in Iraq? Well, apparently, there is enough progress going on to have a Linux Users' Group. I had no idea. I have to admit, it's an interesting question: will open source software beat Microsoft to the punch?

    Consider this:

    CD-burners are in overdrive churning out copies of Microsoft Windows XP, or sketchy pre-release copies of the company's Longhorn OS due to ship in 2006... I found one guy who sold Red Hat Linux 7.2, but he didn't know what it was...Virtually no Iraqis know anything about the debate over open versus proprietary software. Since Iraq never signed on to the copyright conventions common in other countries, Iraqis have no sensitivity to the issue. They believe that all software costs 2,000 dinars, or roughly one dollar, the price software sellers charge for any copied CD.

    Ironically, Microsoft has a leg up because Iraqis bootleg their software on the street. It remains to be seen if the open source movement will be embraced.

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    .: posted by Dave 8:47 PM


    The reputed head of the Iraqi insurgency surrendered to US forces at dawn yesterday, Al-Arabiya television reported last night.

    The reported surrender of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the highest ranking member of the former regime still at large, follows the arrest at the weekend of two leaders of the insurgency along with Saddam Hussein.

    If this is true, why aren't the major networks reporting it? Is this a secret only Al-Arabiya is willing to divulge?

    Everyone seems to be preoccupied with Strom's secret daughter, or Hinckley's unsupervised visits.

    UPDATE: Well, MSNBC is at least saying that there was a "major raid".

    ANOTHER UPDATE: The Singapore Straits-Times is reporting that he was captured, too. Maybe this is just an attempt to scoop the American networks while having little verifiable basis for the assertion. It wouldn't be the first time: just ask the "newspaper of record."

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    .: posted by Dave 3:58 PM


    Terry McAuliffe attempts to usurp "Baghdad" Jim McDermott as the idiot Democrat of the week.

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    .: posted by Dave 3:46 PM


    Chris at Two Hour Lunch isn't pleased with Hillary Clinton today. I think he's still riled up after her visit to the troops on Thanksgiving. Chris is a Desert Storm veteran, and I can see why Mrs. Clinton's opportunistic criticism of the CIC (Commander In Chief for those of you lacking proficiency with TLAs) rubbed his rhubarb the wrong way.

    As I posted on his blog, I believe Hillary is just posturing herself to be pro-Iraq liberation, and anti-Dubya at the same time. That doesn't play well with the troops, but it's not a bad point at which to start your 2008 presidential campaign. Which leads me to my early prediction: Condi Rice v. Hillary Clinton in 2008.

    UPDATE: I like this ticket even better: Condi Rice/Dennis Miller vs. Hillary Clinton/Michael Moore. Boo-yeah!

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    .: posted by Dave 3:41 PM


    Lean Left discusses the virtues of affirmative action:

    If you are opposed to affirmative action, you must first tell me what you are going to replace it with. Because today, right now, if you are not white, you are going to have a harder time getting a job, a raise, or an interview because and only because you are not white. Tell me how you are going to deal with that, and only then will I pay attention to what you have to say about affirmative action.

    Because affirmative action is the only program that has any concrete effect on overcoming that prevalent racism. If you are going to remove it without putting something in its place, then all you are doing is acquiescing to that racism. I do not consider that a valid option.

    No matter what the study purports to show, one fact remains: two wrongs do not make a right. I don't care if your Asian, Hispanic, black, or white. If you are more qualified, and your references are better than the other candidates, you are my first choice for the job.

    Racial blindness does not start with "leveling the playing field". It starts with acknowledging that the playing field is based upon qualifications, and credentials. Nothing more. In order to negate race as a consideration, we have to start somewhere. Affirmative action does not negate race. It fully acknowledges it as a factor, and allows it to be a full-fledged consideration. By doing so, racial hurdles will remain. Ending them will only come by... well, ending them. BOTH ways.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:56 AM


    Tuesday, December 16, 2003

    < rant >

    (Donald) Rumsfeld defended the Pentagon's release of a videotape of Mr. Hussein after his capture, saying Iraqis needed to see proof that the former dictator was "off the street, out of commission."

    Just what the *&$% gives anyone the idea that Rummy has any reason to defend the action of releasing a video of Hussein in custody. Would they rather us hint that we captured him?

    Cardinal Renato Martino said Mr. Hussein should face trial, but he stressed the church's opposition to the death penalty. He told reporters the Vatican hoped Mr. Hussein's arrest would "contribute to the pacification and the democratization of Iraq."

    Cardinal Martino said he felt "compassion" for Mr. Hussein, even if he was a dictator, after seeing images of "this destroyed man" being "treated like a beast, having his teeth checked" by an American military medic.

    Object to the death penalty all you want, but in what bizarro world does this monster not deserve a dose of his own medicine? As for being treated like a beast, since when is a dental exam beastly? At some point, compassion becomes simple stupidity. This is one of those times. If Sunday was humiliating for Hussein, just wait until the Iraqi people get him in their crosshairs.

    < /rant >

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    .: posted by Dave 4:56 PM


    Who should decide Hussein's fate? Donald Sensing asks just that.

    Here's my take:

    According to the bylaws of the Baghdad based national war crimes tribunal, the Iraqi judiciary can prosecute genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Other crimes in their jurisdiction include "squandering public assets and funds" and "threatening war or the use of the armed forces of Iraq against an Arab country." Both could be easily applied to Saddam.

    So, these are the recently established laws of the Iraqi governing council. The basic infrastructure is there. The question then becomes, "Do we recognize their sovereignty?"

    Bush and Blair are, as Donald Sensing noted, on public record as saying that Hussein should be tried by the Iraqi people. If Iraq is a sovereign nation, then that is the course that should be pursued.

    Also, it would be in the best interest of the Iraqis for them to see this despicable person tried, and, sentenced to whatever punishment they deem necessary. Detaching the proceedings from those directly affected by them would facilitate the view that America is nothing more than a colonial bully. Giving him to the Hague would be even worse. Hussein does not deserve a platform for his megalomania, just as Milosevic did not deserve the one he was given several years ago.

    It would be ideal if Hussein met a fate similar to Mussolini. However, it is the Iraqi people that should make that decision.

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    .: posted by Dave 2:54 PM


    Monday, December 15, 2003

    Lest we forget about the ruckus with Halliburton, today's Wall Street Journal reports that Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root may have been coerced into paying higher than acceptable wholesale prices for the fuel which they provided under contract with the U.S. government. Halliburton has been lambasted recently for such overcharging, but the latest documents shed new light on the matter:

    Corps of Engineers documents indicate KBR attempted to negotiate lower rates from their Kuwaiti subcontractor -- Altanmia Commercial Marketing Co. -- earlier this month, and also tried to line up alternate contractors inside Kuwait as early as October. In a letter to KBR, a senior contract negotiator for the Corps of Engineers cited possible "political pressures" from the Kuwaiti government and the U.S. embassy in Kuwait to negotiate future fuel-import business exclusively with Altanmia.

    If this is true, the blame should rest on the government agencies in question, not Halliburton. But wait, that wouldn't score points with the anti-Bush crowd, now would it?

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    .: posted by Dave 11:14 AM


    In other news, IBM has announced that they are moving as many as 4730 programming jobs to India, China, and elsewhere.

    Unlike low-wage manufacturing, the U.S. computer-services jobs to be moved overseas by IBM typically pay $75,000 to $100,000 or more a year, according to one person familiar with the operations. In contrast, hiring a software engineer with a bachelors or even a masters degree from a top technical university in India may cost $10,000 to $20,000 annually, analysts say.

    That's quite an incentive for work to be offloaded to emerging markets. How will this affect IBM? IBM's director of global employee relations warned that:

    Offshoring "is going to raise a lot of tensions," and is likely to foster union activity at historically non-union IBM. In particular, he predicted "to train someone to do a job that you know will no longer be yours" raises issues of "dignity and fairness" that unions might exploit.

    That's an understatement. Train for ten years, get canned because someone overseas can do the job for 1/10th of the price. As a software developer myself, I still maintain that offshore developers cannot do the job that onsite developers can do, because the offshore worker cannot know the requirements of the system unless he/she is immersed in the workings of the system, or understands the business case. Executives who only see the bottom line might disagree, for now.

    I predict that jobs will stay on-site, but job growth will be greater in the area of offshore outsourcing. If this becomes an election issue, and it probably will, look for some legislation that forbids businesses who do work for the U.S. government from offloading jobs to foreign vendors.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:03 AM


    Why should the trial of Saddam Hussein be an Iraqi affair and not an international one?

    "Enlightened" minds in the West are already calling for an international tribunal to try Saddam. It's not possible, they say, to find "impartial" judges in Iraq. (By this logic John Malvo, the Beltway sniper, should be tried in Germany.) But the restoration of Iraqis' sense of justice--visibly and psychologically--is of course precisely the reason he needs to be tried before the Iraqi people in Iraq itself.

    Agreed.

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    .: posted by Dave 10:23 AM


    Sunday, December 14, 2003

    Time Magazine asks Dennis Miller:

    Your politics have drifted right in recent years. How come?

    I'm left on a lot of things. If two gay guys want to get married, I could care less. If a nut case from overseas wants to blow up their wedding, that's when I'm right. (Sept. 11) was a big thing for me. I was saying to liberal America, "Well, what are you offering?" And they said, "Well, we're not going to protect you, and we want some more money." That didn't interest me.

    That's the message that comes across to me, too. It certainly isn't going to wash in middle America either.

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    .: posted by Dave 8:05 PM


    Blogs are for opinion, and analysis. So are periodicals like the National Review, or the Nation. So what is UPI? United Press International, I thought, was a NEWS agency.

    Straight from Yoo-Pee-Eye itself:

    What's clear from the initial video footage of the capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is that this is not the evil mastermind at the controls of the resistance organizations that continue to harass the U.S.-led coalition.

    Thus the immediate benefits enjoyed by the U.S. occupation from his surprisingly meek capture will be psychological in that it proves to the Iraqi people that the brutal despot will not return to power. But little practical or actionable information will come from the arrest to assist U.S. and coalition forces in their hunt for the anti-occupation guerrilla groups.

    Excuse me... what in this statement is factual news? If the UPI wants to take a position of slanting their coverage, just say so. Of course, if the Beeb, and Reuters can do it, why not the UPI?

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    .: posted by Dave 7:54 PM




    Saddam's lice is on sale on eBay.



    Hat tip to Right Wing News

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    .: posted by Dave 7:49 PM


    Bill Whittle draws comparisons to Abe Lincoln's Civil War "quagmire" in 1864. Interesting.

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    .: posted by Dave 7:46 PM


    James Taranto reminds me of something - today is also the third anniversary of Al Gore's concession. A "sweet coincidence"? Very much so.

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    .: posted by Dave 5:58 PM


    So many of the residents of Fallujah and Tikrit are angry about the capture of Hussein. To this, I say, who gives a *&%$? Manhattan and Malibu are bastions of American liberalism, too, but they don't speak for most of America. Likewise, two Iraqi towns do not speak for Iraq.

    Trust me. These people are happy to be free of this demon, and they should be.

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    .: posted by Dave 5:43 PM


    So who is going to get the $25 million reward for the capture of Saddam Hussein?

    No one.

    The source of information is apparently someone who is being accused of crimes against Iraqis, and Americans. So... it took a rat to tell us where the king rat was. How ironic.

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    .: posted by Dave 5:39 PM


    France and Germany have tried, separately, for centuries to rule Europe in one way or another. Military conquests have failed, or have been short lived. Such attempts would be, needless to say, not well received in the 21st century.

    So, what should they try instead? How about political pressure directed towards a voluntary alliance of European countries? It seems that France and Germany would prefer to have a pure democracy in Europe, where (duh) they get more votes on EU policy, taxation, and laws, than other, less populous Euro-states.

    As expected, Spain, and Poland, objected to this stance. Neither wants to lose its sovereignty to a European conglomerate. Given history, who can blame them?

    So, there is a rift in the EU. On the one side is the old Europe, fresh from dictatorship, and Communist rule. On the other is new Europe, with visions of socialist, confiscatory, and bureaucratic grandeur. Where shall the two meet?

    Well, they could not agree on a common constitutional document. So France and Germany have decided to take the reins of leadership, and go ahead on their own. France's Chirac calls the move a "pioneer group" who wish to integrate faster than the other states.

    Why do France and Germany want more weight given to their votes than other states? Fairness? Hardly. This is the only way the two can ever gain true control of the Euro-continent. This is the only way they can ever compete with the British-American alliance. This is their last shot at some world identity.

    It's a shame common sense allies like Spain's Aznar, and Poland's Miller stand in their way. The UK's prime minister, Tony Blair, calls the idea of a European super state "an idea whose time has come and gone." Unless the French/German/Benelux faction amends their position, Blair will likely be right.

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    .: posted by Dave 4:04 PM


    Al Hunt, on how the Hussein capture affects Dean's candidacy:

    Others noted, the activist anti-Bush democrats who will turn out in the initial Iowa caucuses and then the New Hampshire primary–where Dr. Dean has a humongous lead–may be largely unaffected by the Hussein capture. Thus, one leading Democrat who isn't involved in any of the campaigns, sees a political nightmare: "It helps Dean get the nomination and kills him in the general election. I can just see the Bush commercials now."

    This is exactly why Republicans have been salivating at the thought of Howard Dean, Democratic presidential candidate. Like it or not, Gephardt, or Lieberman are more electable nationally than Dean, especially when issues like national security, or terrorism are concerned.

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    .: posted by Dave 3:43 PM


    Heard from the left:

  • Yeah, but where are the WMDs?
  • Sure, but what about the attacks on our troops?
  • OK, now when are we going to leave Iraq?
  • Mmm hmm. Now about this al Qaeda group...
  • So... what about Osama bin Laden?*


    • * It took Christiane Amanpour about 15 seconds to leap onto this bandwagon.

    Get ready for an onslaught of desperation from those who hate George W. Bush more than they want any policy initiative by his administration to succeed. Remember, if Dubya did it, it must be bad!

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    .: posted by Dave 3:36 PM


    Ten to twenty inches of snow last week. Four to eight today. Twenty MPH gusts. Ahhhh.... It's great to live in New England.

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    .: posted by Dave 2:46 PM


    So how is the Democratic Underground reacting to the Hussein capture? Well, let's take a peak:

  • Be prepared--we're gonna have to face another 4 years of Bushit. Canada is looking better and better.
  • I firmly believe that for teh (sic) US to survive as a democracy and for the COnsitution (sic) to survive, Bush MUST be driven from power along with his neo-conservatives cronies. The Republican party must go back to its roots as a bastion of conservatism instead of as a vehicle for Empire and fascism which is where Bush is currently pushing it. So ANYTHING that helps Bush is a bad thing.
  • interesting that it just happened NOW of all times, when chimpy's poll numbers were dropping like stones. magnificent timing!
  • this administration has had the most incredible luck regarding timing. Nastiness about Halliburton, et al? No worries there--Saddam's been captured.
  • THAT IS GREAT! Thanks, Bushies, for a job well done. Your services are no longer needed. Get out and go home to the pig farm.
  • Let a team of Internationally selected doctors by the UN and nations that OPPOSED this invasion perform their own DNA tests - THEN - I might give this "capture" of Saddam some validity
  • What about the rich getting richer and never sharing, What about the stalled economy, What about the reasons why it took this g__d___d long to find this asshole, and what about Osama? Is this really a time for rejoicing?


    • I don't even think any commentary on my part is necessary here. These are the internet junkies mobilizing in favor of Howard Dean? If this truly is the face of the "new" Democratic party, then the Republican majority will only grow.






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    .: posted by Dave 2:22 PM


    Today is a great day in the war on terrorism. Today, Saddam Hussein has been captured, and without a shot being fired, no less. Hussein was found in a 6 X 8 hole, where he was disoriented, disheveled, and otherwise unkempt. Apparently, Hussein had just lost the resolve to hide any longer.

    As news spread across the country that ex-president Saddam Hussein had been captured alive near his hometown Tikrit, prolonged bursts of gun fire, automatic weapons, pistols and heavier calibres filled the air in Baghdad.

    "It's a great joy for the Iraqi people because a great dictator has been arrested," interim Governing Council member Mahmud Othman told AFP.

    In central Fardous Square, people threw old bank notes bearing Saddam's face into the air.

    "It's not possible, it must be a double," said taxi-driver Taher, refusing to believe the eight-month hunt by crack US and Kurdish militia forces had come up trumps...

    In the Shiite holy city of Najaf, which suffered harsh oppression under Saddam's Sunni-led government, people took to the streets to dance, an AFP correspondent said.

    A local television channel urged people to party. Music was being played across the central Iraqi city.

    Huge crowds gathered around cafes with television sets tuned to Arabic satellite channels following every detail of the arrest.

    One can only wonder how much celebration is going on behind the scenes of the Franco-German coalition, and of the "Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party".

    World leaders reacted one after the other when finding out that Hussein had been captured:

    Tony Blair: "This is very good news for the people of Iraq. It removes the shadow that has been hanging over them for too long of the nightmare of a return to the Saddam regime," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said.

    "It also gives an opportunity for Saddam to be tried in Iraqi courts for his crimes against the Iraqi people," he said in a statement, adding, "And it gives us an opportunity to take a step forward in Iraq."

    Jacque Chirac: French President Jacques Chirac, who drew US ire for his vehement opposition to the US-led war, "is rejoicing in the arrest of Saddam Hussein," his spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said.

    "It is a major event," Colonna said.

    Gerhard Schroeder: "It's with great delight that I learned of Saddam Hussein's capture," Schroeder wrote. "I congratulate you on this successful operation. Saddam Hussein caused horrible suffering to his people and the region. I hope the capture will help the international community's effort to rebuild and stabilize Iraq."

    Interesting that Schroeder and Chirac couldn't even find the time to issue personal statements, but instead either used a mouthpiece, or a written telegram.

    So was Hussein contrite for his actions?

    Members of Iraq's Governing Council said that they saw Saddam Hussein in US custody on Sunday and found him defiant and unrepentant after his three decades of iron rule.

    Adnan Pachachi, among four members of the council who were taken to see Saddam, confirmed his identity at a news conference.

    "He seemed rather tired and haggard but he was unrepentant and defiant at times," said Pachachi, who was foreign minister before Saddam's Baath party took power in 1968.

    "He tried to justify his crimes one way or another and said that he was a just but firm ruler," he said, flanked by other Governing Council members.

    "Our answer was that he was an unjust ruler because his crimes were responsible for the deaths of thousands of people."

    No one should expect Hussein to weep for the millions of dead for whom he is responsible, any more than Hitler would have been expected to do the same. Hitler's end was fitting: his own cowardice culminated in his suicide. How will the Hussein story end?

    Iraqi Council member Ahmed Chalabi said that the 66-year-old Saddam, discovered Saturday evening in a camouflaged farmyard hole near his hometown of Tikrit in northern Iraq, would be tried in public.

    "The nightmare that was haunting the Iraqi people has been lifted. Saddam is under arrest and he will be tried publicly and punished for his crimes," Chalabi told Iraqi television...

    A special tribunal to try Saddam-era war crimes was set up by Iraq's US-installed interim leadership on December 10 but is unlikely to begin work before a new government takes power in July.

    It will sit in the former president's personal museum. Defendants would have legal defence and its findings could be appealed. So far, Bremer has pointedly made no comment on whether Saddam would be tried there.

    Another Iraqi Governing Council member, Adnan Pachachi, said Sunday that: "this issue will be discussed further, and we will see how the new tribunal will deal with Saddam."

    In Cairo, Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa told reporters that the Iraqi people should decide the fate of Saddam, toppled in the US-led war that began in March.

    "One must let the Iraqi people have its word on this important event which amounts to the old regime's definitive outcome," Mussa told reporters shortly after the news broke from Baghdad.

    "It's the Iraqi people who must decide the fate of the old regime and its old leaders," especially "after the unacceptable and serious developments discovered after the fall of the regime," Mussa said.

    He was referring to the discovery of mass graves.

    Even British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose country went to war at Washington's side, said Saddam would face local justice.

    "This is very good news for the people of Iraq. It removes the shadow that has been hanging over them for too long of the nightmare of a return to the Saddam regime," Blair said in a statement released by Downing Street.

    "It also gives an opportunity for Saddam to be tried in Iraqi courts for his crimes against the Iraqi people.

    A minor party of France's opposition, the Greens, said it wanted to see a trial of the former Iraqi leader take place in the International Criminal Court, a body the United States has sought to diminish.

    "In no way would we accept the same conditions of detention or justice as those applied in Guantanamo," said a spokesman in reference to a US military camp in Cuba that has held hundreds of alleged "enemy combatants" in months of legal limbo.

    I would have to agree that the Iraqi people should decide his fate, even if such a fate is a heinous death that the European anti-death penalty zealots would find repulsive. However, handing Hussein over to the ICC would be ridiculous. At most, the court would hand down a 30 year sentence (READ: Milosevic). President Bush, Bremer, and company need to handle this political football correctly, and allow the Iraqis to administer justice on their own terms.

    At this point, it behooves us to reflect back on the occurrences of the past 3 years, starting with the White House race in 2000, and culminating at this moment in history. Had we gotten Al Gore as our president, does anyone believe he would have had the nerve to stand up for what is right and just (NOT what is politically acceptable)? Gore no doubt learned something from his predecessor about governing via poll, and, in the absence of presidential leadership, the polls no doubt would have leaned toward appeasement of the United Nations. The state of the world at large took a turn when the electoral college selected George W. Bush as the 43rd American president. For that, Iraqis all over are thankful.

    Now, turn your attention to the current campaign for president in 2004.

    What did Howard Dean have to say?

    "It is a great day of celebration. President Bush deserves a day of celebration," Dean said during a brief news conference in West Palm Beach. "We have our policy differences but we won't be discussing those today."

    "This, I hope, will change the course of the occupation of Iraq but I think the first order of business is to say this is a great day. I congratulate the Iraqi people," Dean said.

    So, says Dean, let's celebrate, and then get the hell out of town. No doubt, Dean will continue to try to make Iraq an issue, even though, now, no one can ask "So where is Saddam Hussein?" How long will it take for him to ask "Yeah, but... where is Osama bin Laden?"

    Other Democrats took a moment to pander to the masses:

    "I supported this effort in Iraq without regard for the political consequences because it was the right thing to do. I still feel that way now and today is a major step toward stabilizing Iraq and building a new democracy," Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt said in a statement.

    Joe Lieberman said, "I consistently supported Saddam's removal for the past decade, and am prepared to do what it takes to win the war on terrorism at home and abroad."

    Added Kerry: "I guess he supposes it's a good thing to get rid of Saddam Hussein. Well, I knew it was a good thing on that day, day one."

    Today, there are no "I told you so"s of which to speak. Today, our military resolve has shown itself to be fruitful, and the American position of seeking the extinction of Saddam Hussein has proven to be proper.

    Quotes attributed to Agence France-Presse, Reuters, and CNN.

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    .: posted by Dave 1:57 PM


    Tuesday, December 09, 2003

    Imagine if you will a world where college football embraces, at long last, the concept of a true playoff system. Imagine incorporating the existing bowls into the mix. Imagine the participation of so-called "mid-majors", giving them the possibility of winning the "big one". Imagine the excitement of March madness in December. Think it's not possible?

    Let's examine a proposal of mine. First of all, let's start the season in the last week of August, and play until Thanksgiving weekend. There is no reason we can't play 11 games in 12-13 weeks (depending on the calendar year).

    Now, take the following 4 weeks to play the playoffs. 15 games, 16 teams. The top 8 seeds get a home game. Let's take the conference champions of each of the following conferences: Big East, ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big 12, MAC, WAC, and the PAC-10. The final 8 slots are given to at-large teams based on a BCS-type matrix.

    The conference champions would be Miami, Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Kansas State, Miami Ohio, Boise State, and USC. For the sake of debate, let's give the remaining slots to the top remaining BCS teams: Oklahoma, Ohio State, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Iowa, Purdue, and Florida. Now, seed the teams as they are ranked in the BCS.

    Boise State at Oklahoma? Could be fun. Florida at LSU? The Gators already won that game this season. Rematch anyone? How about another rematch with Iowa at Michigan?

    Purdue at USC? Sounds good to me. Who wouldn't watch Georgia at Ohio State? Here's one I would LOVE to see... Miami Ohio at Texas. If Arkansas can win there, so can Miami. This is a quality team. Kansas State at Florida State? I would be there. Finally, another rematch, this time on the other team's home field: Miami at Tennessee.

    In an ideal world, these would be our matchups. Second round games would be played at, for example, the Holiday, Fiesta, Cotton, and Citrus Bowls. The semifinals would be played at, say, the Orange, and Rose Bowls. And the championship game? The Sugar Bowl.

    Four weeks. Sixteen teams. Fifteen nail-biting games.

    It HAS to happen someday. College football loses something every time we get to the postseason. All other sports decide their championships on the field. Even college football, at EVERY OTHER level, does so. It's time the college powers (including the networks) got together and did the same thing.

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    .: posted by Dave 6:02 PM


    Saturday, December 06, 2003

    Conservatives are blasting Bush for the Medicare bill, but it won't matter. Here's why.

    In a two party system, the constituency is inherently polarized. You're either with one, or the other. Bush's political handlers know this, and they know something else. Conservatives, whether they like Bush's spending propensity, or not, will still vote for him. He is the most viable choice for conservatives. To them, he is their moral beacon, and their commander-in-chief. He threw them a bone by cutting their taxes. Bush's political moves have been calculated, just like every executive predecessor.

    It is fully understood that, to broaden your constituency, you may have to alienate a majority of them some of the time. Bush did this by expanding the scope of Medicare into the arena of prescription drugs. But, because of his overall appeal to them, Bush will still get the vast majority of conservative votes.

    Compartmentalized politics was the reason Bill Clinton was able to serve eight years as the American CEO. Bush has taken yet another page from the Clinton play book, and executed its contents to his advantage. Remember when Clinton instituted welfare reform to appeal to moderates? He did so, knowing that the "Democratic wing of the Democratic party" (to paraphrase Howard Dean) would stil vote for him, because he was their only plausible option.

    Bush will have to soothe conservatives, but he won't lose them. This is why his Medicare policy won't mean a thing, politically. But it will mean the American taxpayer will take a hit for years to come. Such is American politics.

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    .: posted by Dave 5:26 PM


    Gephardt's first sensible statement this year:

    Speaking for a clear minority of Democrats at the convention, Gephardt suggested that Democrats need to put the 2000 race behind them.

    “We can’t just dwell on the past. We’ve got to look forward,” he told reporters, adding that Gore “probably won the popular vote.”

    Well, he gives good advice to the Democratic party to quit dwelling in the past. And he's right. Gore did "probably" win the popular vote. But that's not what elects the American president. What amazes me is that the left cannot let this go. I doubt they ever will.

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    .: posted by Dave 5:12 PM


    Today, I am going to take a break from my blogging Sabbatical to express my disgust at our Congress, and their fiscal irresponsibility. Have you seen the content of the spending bill for 2004, $373 billion worth of waste. Never mind that I think 80% of what the government spends is waste. Let's look at some of the obvious pork...

  • $50 million for a rainforest project in... IOWA! Excuse me? Iowa is an agrarian state, not a tropical enclave. Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, had this fine piece of legislation added to the spending bill. This from project director David Oman: "There will be no facility like it in the United States. This will have a national scope and, yes, some federal assistance is appropriate." WRONG. The government should not be in the business of subsidizing pet projects, especially misplaced ones like this. You want a rainforest in the middle of Iowa? Get PRIVATE funding!

  • Jim Gibbons, another Republican spender, wants to toss $225,000 at a public pool problem. I might add that it is a problem that he helped cause as a child. Now, I'm not saying that he is culpable as a young child for something like that, but... well, here's what he has to say: "“I have an enormous guilty conscience for putting frogs in the swimming pool when I was about 10 years old... This is a very meritorious project, one that I am not embarrassed about at all." Well, Senator, you SHOULD be embarrassed. You want to assuage your conscience? PAY for it YOURSELF! It's not the mandate of the U.S. government to soothe the conscience of a man who destroyed a public pool drainage system 50 years ago. Got guilt? DEAL WITH IT.


    • This is just another example of how reckless public officials are with our money. It cuts across party lines. Dems, Reps, independents... it matters little. Grassley is supposed to be a fiscal CONSERVATIVE, for God's sake.

    At some point, this waste has to end. This is why the line item veto would have been a godsend - for executive-imposed fiscal discipline. However, it wouldn't matter with this administration anyway. They have yet to veto a bill of any sort. I doubt a tool such as a line item veto would make much difference.

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    .: posted by Dave 3:15 PM


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