Category Archives: Political Commentary

Subverting Private Enterprise

YouTube joins the War on (Some) Drugs.

Bad on them. The DEA is certainly welcome to post whatever nonsensical propaganda they want on the site, but the suppression of dissent is odious. What kind of arm twisting went on for that?

[Update a few minutes later]

In reading the comments, I see that there’s nothing unusual about this. Anyone who uploads a video can disable comments and ratings.

[/VOICE=”Emily Litella”]
Never mind.
[/VOICE]

Still, as one of the commenters points out, this could end up backfiring on the drug warriors. First, who’s going to go out of their way to look at anti-drug propaganda on YouTube? Second, expect dozens of parodies of the thing to appear very soon, which will get viewed and linked.

The Value Of Blogs

…and blog comments at their finest. Here’s a bunch of encomia to Bo Schembechler, including a lot of classy ones from fans of other schools, including Ohio State:

Bo Schembechler not only revived college football’s winningest program, he also revived this rivalry.

In the mid-sixties Michigan wasn’t even the best team in the State of Michigan. Michigan State was the team that played “the game of the century in 1966, a 10-10 tie against Notre Dame. And the Nat’l Champion Buckeyes beat U-M 50-14 in Bump Elliott’s final game.

Bo not only shocked the college football world a year later when his underdog Wolverines beat the heavily favored, unbeaten, and top-ranked Buckeyes 24-12 in his first try against Woody, he restored the winning tradition to Michigan Football and put the emotion back into what is now considered the sport’s greatest rivalry.

He also ran an airtight program. No rules violations, no favors, no cheating. Period. And his teams were held to a much higher standard of sportsmanship than the norm. No trash-talking and no cheap shots by Michigan football players were tolerated.

Bo gets a bad rap on his bowl record. Bo always had a reputation for being such a tough guy that the nation never knew that he considered a bowl trip to be a reward for his players and thus didn’t crack the whip for those games quite as hard. That, combined with the tougher competition led to a .500 bowl record.

Bo’s stubborn, run-oriented offensive schemes may have cost him a few games, but that same stubbornness re-established and maintained a superior level of play on the field and conduct off the field that is the essence of Michigan Football.

And here’s an example (and a sadly prophetic one) from a fan of tOSU:

Bo came to Ohio State and spoke at Woody’s memorial at the OSU Stadium. His words of his love for Woody made me cry. Today I cried again at the news of his death.

Someone sent me an interview comment where Bo was asked what he would like the most and he said to watch the game with Woody. I guess he got his wish.

Rest in Peace Bo.

Go Buckeyes!

May be.

Jim Tressel has a hell of a job getting his players up for this game tomorrow. My advice to him for a pre-game speech:

Men, you know that with Coach Schembechler’s death yesterday, those Wolverines are going to be even more fired up than they were before. They were already motivated, and now they’re going to be even more so, to “win one for Bo.”

And Bo sure would want them to win. But he’d also want them to win against the best Ohio State team they could, because he could never stand a cheap win. In fact, the last thing that he’d want is for his team to win just because he died the day before the game. He’d want his team to play their best, but he’d also want you to play your best, and let the best team win.

There’ll be more than one team on that field today who want to win one for Bo Schembechler. Let’s go out there and do it for him.

[Update a few minutes later]

I hadn’t thought about this, but as the 1968 Tigers healed a wounded Detroit, still reeling from the riots the year before, Bo also healed a war-torn and fractious late-sixties Ann Arbor (a place I knew, and loved, well, from visiting my sister who was attending college there at the time). John Papanek explains.

And for those who still don’t understand the significance of this game to college football, here’s some interesting trivia:

Prescience

Paul Hsieh notes that his fantasy will come to pass tomorrow. And here’s some backstory and prognostications from opposing fans.

Go Blue.

[Update at 12:30 PM EST]

What timing. It’s an end of a era. On the day before this monumental game involving a team with which he was so closely associated, no mo’ Bo:

Broadcast reports say Michigan coaching great Bo Schembechler has died at age 77 after collapsing at a television studio and being rushed to the hospital.

Wonder how that will affect the psychology of the game tomorrow? None of the players played for him, of course, but I’d imagine that they’d met him (he remained Athletic Director, I think), and knew what he meant to Michigan. If they weren’t motivated enough, this may inspire them to go out and win one more for the old man. Hail to the Victor.

This Is How It’s Done, Senator Kerry

Charlie Rangel has apologized for his slur against Mississippi:

There is no excuse for my having said that. I am fully aware that every American loves their respective state and city, and I’m afraid that my love and affection for New York got in the way of my common sense and judgment, and for that I sincerely apologize.

Well done.

It’s a good think that he didn’t get advice from Kerry. It probably would have come out something like this:

I’m sorry that the people of Mississippi are too stupid and crazy to realize the inherent and nuanced truth of my statement, when I asked who would want to live there. Of course, it hadn’t occurred to me, or any other well-bred, educated people, that the place is full of ignorant inbred rednecks who probably love the place.

This Is How It’s Done, Senator Kerry

Charlie Rangel has apologized for his slur against Mississippi:

There is no excuse for my having said that. I am fully aware that every American loves their respective state and city, and I’m afraid that my love and affection for New York got in the way of my common sense and judgment, and for that I sincerely apologize.

Well done.

It’s a good think that he didn’t get advice from Kerry. It probably would have come out something like this:

I’m sorry that the people of Mississippi are too stupid and crazy to realize the inherent and nuanced truth of my statement, when I asked who would want to live there. Of course, it hadn’t occurred to me, or any other well-bred, educated people, that the place is full of ignorant inbred rednecks who probably love the place.

This Is How It’s Done, Senator Kerry

Charlie Rangel has apologized for his slur against Mississippi:

There is no excuse for my having said that. I am fully aware that every American loves their respective state and city, and I’m afraid that my love and affection for New York got in the way of my common sense and judgment, and for that I sincerely apologize.

Well done.

It’s a good think that he didn’t get advice from Kerry. It probably would have come out something like this:

I’m sorry that the people of Mississippi are too stupid and crazy to realize the inherent and nuanced truth of my statement, when I asked who would want to live there. Of course, it hadn’t occurred to me, or any other well-bred, educated people, that the place is full of ignorant inbred rednecks who probably love the place.