Super Tuesday I

Tuesday was another big day for Democrats. Kerry established himself as a candidate with national appeal, winning in the Heartland, the mid-Atlantic and the West. Edwards and Clark stayed relevant with wins in South Carolina and Oklahoma, respectively. Howard Dean, on the other hand, took a bit of a beating. However, based on his own comments and the fact that he was already concentrating on Washington state, Dean was obviously expecting the poor results on Tuesday. But, the most disappointed candidate of the evening was Senator Lieberman. After getting trounced in Delaware, Senator Lieberman dropped out of the race. So, that's the update on the Democratic horse race.

Judge Moore for President?

It seems that John Fund at the WSJ is reporting that Judge Roy Moore from Alabama Ten Commandments fame is considering a third party run at the White house. The World Mag Blog took note of Fund's reporting this morning. My brief thoughts on the matter are posted here in the comments. If Moore really does make a run, I will certainly have much more to say about his candidacy. In the meantime, let me say this: If anyone from that controversy must run for President, let it be Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, and let it be in 2008 -- not before.

Quote of the Day 2/4/04

"Every society has to deal with the problem of how to deal with those who are unable to pay their debts. …. On one end of the spectrum you have being tied to a corpse in a debtors’ prison. On the other end of the spectrum you have bankruptcy where – poof! – your debts are relieved." Prof. Sam Calhoun in Commercial Transactions class on 1/5/04

The Janet Jackson Controversy

After two days of research and thought, I have reached a conclusion on the flash seen round the world. I believe everyone is telling the truth. I believe that CBS and MTV did not know that bare breasts would be involved. I also believe Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake when they say that a costume malfunction was the reason for the controversy.

I never really had much of an opinion about what CBS or MTV knew ahead of time, but at first I found it hard to believe that Jackson and Timberlake did not know what they were going to do. After all, JT ended the song with the words, "I'll have you naked by the end of this song," and took a swipe at Jackson’s breast. Furthermore, why would Jackson be wearing a pasty if she was not intending to show it? I don’t know many women who wear pasties under their clothing.

However, I first thought that maybe there was actually a costume malfunction when I saw a closer view of Janet Jackson’s face. She does look truly shocked. But, I really came around to believe JT and Jackson when much closer inspection revealed that there was no pasty involved. Rather, there was a nipple clamp. I still don’t know many women who wear these, but I do know that even L'il Kim doesn’t generally consider these to be outer wear.

So here is my conclusion: JT meant to tear the black, outer portion of Jackson’s samurai outfit. There was supposed to be a red bra that remained intact. The red bra would have been racy enough to reveal the nipple clamp but not so racy as to reveal anything that violates FCC rules. So, pushing the envelope was not an accident but baring all the contents of that envelope probably was.

But there is a lesson to be learned here by CBS and the NFL. Even if they did not know exactly what was going to happen, they did know who MTV was when they invited them to produce the extravaganza. I can’t feel too bad for CBS officials who were surprised by the flash. Rather, I would remind them of the old Indian adage, "You knew I was a snake when you picked me up."

Quote of the Day 2/3/04

"Between friends, differences in taste or opinion are annoying in direct proportion to their triviality." W.H. Auden

Liberal censorship

I think this article is an interesting example of how liberals are terrified of honest debate in the market place of ideas. While liberals are the first to cry "censorship" when conservatives try to use market forces like boycotts to lessen the impact of messages mainstream America finds offensive, it is the liberals who resort to actual censorship by punishing dissenting views and removing them from the debate. This is particularly true at America's universities.

This particular story comes from Oklahoma University. It is of particular interest to the Banshee Blog because it mentions OU President David Boren (see "Mock Con: Session One in the Books" from January 30).

I found this story on Clay Whittaker's blog which, by the way, is generally worth checking out. If you go there, make sure you read his About Me section.

Super Bowl

Due to the fact that the Super Bowl was sandwiched in between such momentous events as Mock Con and Groundhog's Day, the big game did not get the treatment that it deserved on Banshee Blog. I'm sure that any of you who really cared about the game either watched it or read a detailed account of it by now. Therefore, I will not commence with a play-by-play. So, here's some commentary on various aspects of the game.

Monday Morning coaching: I normally hate this sort of thing, but I simply cannot resist a little critiquing of the Panthers' coach John Fox. Why, oh why, did the Panthers go for a two-point conversion with 7:30+ left in the game? I know that they were trailing by 5 at the time, but there was so much ball left to be played. Both teams scored again several times before the game finally concluded.

Here's how it went down. The Panthers failed on their first two-point attempt, and the score remained 21-16 in favor of the Pats. Then the Panthers scored another TD to take a 22-21 lead. Due to their first failure, the Panthers were forced to go for two again. They failed again. Instead of kicking two PATs to make the score a natural 24-21, the Panthers now only had a 1-point advantage. The weird score spread created by the Cats led the Patriots to successfully try a two-pointer after their next TD. That made the score 29-22 in favor of the Patriots. The Panthers next TD and PAT tied the game at 29. We all know what happened next -- another heroic Vinatieri FG to give the Patriots a 3-point victory.

I know that was a little convaluded, so here's the summary for those of you who skimmed over the last paragraph. If the Panthers had not commenced with the two-point conversion attempts with almost one half of a quarter remaining in the game, they would almost certainly have had 2 more total points. The Patriots would in all likelihood have had one less point because the scoring sequence would have remained normal. Therefore, the Panthers would have been leading 31-28 when Vinatieri kicked his last-second field goal. Then all of America would have been blessed with the first overtime game in Super Bowl history.

Kickers: The play by the kickers in this game was bizarre. First of all, Adam Vinatieri, one of the game's all-time greatest clutch kickers, continued his Reliance Stadium struggles and missed two field goals in the first half. Then Vinatieri's squib kick (probably not his call) at the end of the first half led to a gift FG for the Panthers. But, Vinatieri's mishaps will all be forgotten since he split the uprights with 4 seconds to go.

But the kicker I really want to talk about is the Panthers' John Kasay. Kicking the ball out of bounds with 1:30 to go is just abominable. It's inexcuseable. Kasay is a kicker for a living. His job in life is to kick a football. And yet, he couldn't even get it onto the 50-yard wide field when it counted. I doubt Kasay could have kicked it into the Pacific from the beach with that effort.

MVP: I'm certainly not going to quibble with the selection of Tom Brady for MVP. Brady played very well in this game. Well enough to earn the MVP honor. But, I'd like to make a pitch for Patriots' linebacker Mike Vrabel. Vrabel caused the fumble that set up the Pats' first TD. Vrabel also had a couple of sacks in the game. And to cap it all off, Vrabel caught -- yes, that's right -- caught a TD pass to give the Patriots a 29-22 lead with 2:51 remaining in the game.

Quote of the Day 2/2/04 Groundhog Day

"You want a prediction about the weather, you're asking the wrong Phil. I'll give you a winter prediction: It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life." Phil Conners (played by Bill Murray) in Groundhog Day.

Take That!

Just how deep does the support for President Bush go? Apparently very deep. Punxsutawney Phil, the famous Pennsylvania weather predicting groundhog was awakened early this morning. When his handler said, "I bring greetings from President Bush" Phil replied . . .

"I'm glad I live in this luxurious burrow on the Knob
and not in a dirty, smelly spider hole like a slob.
When I come out I don't want to negotiate;
But to just do my job and prognosticate.

Unfortunately, Phil predicted we will be slogging through six more weeks of winter.

Quote of the Day 2/1/04 Super Sunday

This quote is in honor of Super Sunday.

"Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing." Vince Lombardi