Not a Tiger Woods Fan, for the Right Reason

I am not a Tiger Woods fan. I am awed by his accomplishments, I am impressed with his physical gifts, but most impressed with his mental toughness and concentration ability that is unmatched in the history of golf, maybe in the history of professional sports. So what is my problem with Tiger Woods? Why am I not a fan? The answer is easy, I do not watch a lot of golf on TV, but I almost always watch The Majors. Tiger Woods has in the past completely ruined the majors by essentially lapping the field...making Saturday's "moving day" the day when he blows by the field and Sunday's final round a boring battle for second place. I know he does not always make chumps of his PGA rivals, but he has done it enough that I root against Tiger Woods, not because I don't like him and don't admire his game as well as his constant dedication to improving his already spectacular game. I root against Tiger Woods, at least for the first three days of the major tournaments, so the last day will be worth watching. I look forward to golf's majors tournaments. Watching Tiger Woods increase his 5 shot three round lead into a 10 shot pummelling of the field just is not that much fun.

However, this year Tiger is injured. While he is on track to be back in time to play in the US Open, there is a risk that he could miss the tournament. Pondering the possibility of a Tiger-less US Open, I must admit, is much more unattractive to me than the prospect of another 10 shot Tiger Woods victory. Winning a Tiger-less major in golf's Woods-era, would be like having 2 extra games to break Babe Ruth's home run record...there would always be a cloud over the victory..."congratulations Mr US Open winner on your victory today...do you think you would have won if Tiger had played?" Sorry, but the question would have to be asked.

So I am a reluctant anti-Tiger fan. However, we need him back for the US Open. I am rooting for Tiger's speedy return and hope that he comes to the US Open in great form. So while I truly hope there is a full field for The Open, I hope my reward for backing Tiger's speedy and full return is not another Tiger blowout. I have seen those already. They bore me. I think I may be able to get on the Tiger Woods wagon when he is 45 or so and having to keep up with the wonder-kids of the next golfing generation. He will probably only win the US Open of 2020 by a stroke or two...which would be great fun.

Expectations and Reality

Do you think the Founders of this nation considered the prospect of an ignorant electorate with no vested interest in society electing equally ignorant representatives to the highest positions in the federal government?

I think that a flawed assumption of the founders is the assumption of an informed electorate. I think that there was an assumption of basic literacy. I think the Founders incorrectly assumed that the electorate would have an understanding of economics and history. Clearly this is lacking in today's America. Listen to the expectations from voters that the president is responsible for and should fix high gas prices, that the government should provide most if not all basic services, and that everyone is essentially owed a base standard of living. There is little to no sense of history, how we got where we are as a nation, mistakes we made as well as things we did right. This makes for an electorate susceptible to the latest political snake oil salesman promising government programs and benefits well outside the bounds of government responsibility and government's ability to pay.

The political class is not in much better stead than the voters they court. When presidential candidate Barack Obama cites the Roosevelt/Churchill/Stalin meeting at Yalta as an example from history that validates his ridiculous idea to meet unconditionally with the leaders of Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela. the clear axis of evil in the world and clear enemies of the United States, something is a little amiss in how we have implemented the ideas of the Founders. Maybe someone should point out to Barack that the United States, Great Britain, and The Soviet Union were allies in World War II and that the meetings in Yalta set the table to open a second front against the Germans. It was funny in "Animal House" when John Belushi asks the question "was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?". It is not that funny when the likely democratic presidential nominee confuses who was fighting who in the second world war.

Somehow I think that Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, and Adams has higher expectations of our political leaders and for the electorate in general. We may have a hard time finding a lot of voters who know the relevance of Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, and Adams. I wonder if Barack Obama knows that they were on the same team?

Can I ask a dumb question about Obama?

If Barack Obama's mother is white and his father is black, why is he the first African American candidate to be his party's nominee for president (assuming there is no Clinton diving catch to seal the democratic nomination)? Frankly, I don't care whether Barack Obama is black or white, I think his policies for this country will send it into an economic tailspin in short order. However, I find it odd, and almost a little racist that the press and everyone who writes about Obama refers to him exclusively as "the first black candidate" or the first "African American candidate". Isn't this a slap in the face of his mother and her family? Why does the white side of his family defer to the black side in the eyes of the media? I honestly don't know and I really hope that his race plays no factor in whether or not he is elected president of the United States. I think the time has come when the US will readily and easily accept and embrace a black man (or woman) as president, I just think that Barack Obama is the wrong man, black or white, for the job based on his leftist views, inexperience, and poor judgement. I would love to support Condie Rice or Colin Powell for president. I wish someone could talk JC Watts into re-entering the national political scene. However, it strikes me as odd that the Obama's black father makes him black and his white mother, still makes him black.

In an ideal scenario, a candidate's race wouldn't enter in the thought process for political office, but "firsts" will always be noted by the press. The time will come when the United States has a minority as president. I hope when the time comes, though it will be duly noted in the press, it will be an after thought in the hearts of the voters who elected him....or her.

Energy Crunch, What Energy Crunch. Here is the Answer

I had some time to kill in between dinner and a new episode of "Deal or No Deal" so I thought I would go ahead and solve this energy crunch that has manifest itself with gas prices approaching 4.00 per gallon. Ready? Here we go, Green light to off shore drilling and oil exploration in ANWR Announce plans to authorize permits to double the nation's nuclear power generation capacity Announce plans to double the nation's oil refining capacity Remove the shackles from America's massive coal reserves and exploit advances in new clean coal technology. Over the long term this plan would demonstrate America's actionable resolve to become far more energy independent over the long term. Over the short term this new found resolve would take the wind out of the oil speculator's sails which would result in siginificant and immediate price reductions in the cost of crude oil. Let's face it, absent political constraints, this is not a hard problem to solve. We need to make the most of the resources we have, we need to remove the self-inflicted constraints to our energy independence, and let the market delivery technology-based solutions over time. Think about the efficiency of our politcians. Here is a workable plan to solve the energy problems we all detest, developed while waiting to watch "Deal or No Deal" and I still have time to get some ice cream.

The Wrong Chickens

Jeremiah Wright, the America-hating preacher and mentor for Barack Obama is right about one thing, the chickens have indeed come home to roost for the United States. The problem is that reverend Wright had the wrong flock of chickens. Wright had his head up his rear when he was talking about the American foreign policy chickens coming home to roost on 9/11. No the chickens that have come home to roost are the ones that the United States congress hatched by refusing to allow off-shore and ANWR drilling for gas and oil reserves. The chickens coming home to roost were hatched when congress bowed to hippie environmentalists by not investing more in clean coal technology and new nuclear power facilities. These chicks are indeed in the roost thanks to weak-kneed, spineless congressmen and women who focused on their re-elections instead of leading this country.

As oil prices race past $ 120/barrel on their way to $ 200/barrel in the near future and gas prices hit $ 5.00/gallon in 2009, when will the American people demand that their leaders actually lead through this crisis and take demonstrable action to exploit our massive energy reserves? I am all for alternative energy and am certain that there is a technological solution to the energy crunch we face today. However, the ultimate solution(s) to our long term energy needs may be several years if not decades in the future. The answer to our energy needs is not growing in an Iowa cornfield. We have seen what a debacle that governmental stroke of brilliance has become.

Want to get out of this energy box? The answer is so strikingly easy, one would think that even politicians in Washington cold figure it out:

Use our massive coal/shale reserves; build new nuclear power plants; drill in ANWR and off shore; double our refining capacity over the next 10 years.

Done, problem solved. If we announced this energy program, oil speculators would dump their positions, oil prices would drop sharply, and in 10 years we would be masters of our own domains. I solved this problem in 5 minutes after dinner. The dopes in Washington still can't find their asses with both hands and a map. Anyone feeling better about the clowns "leading" the charge? ....me either.