Archive for the ‘elections’ Category

Williams vs Musial in Left as Trump vs DeSantis as the Nominee

Posted: February 7, 2023 by datechguy in baseball, elections, politics, Uncategorized
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In the 1985 edition of the Bill James Historical Baseball abstract James ranks the best players at each position based on both “Peak Value” (How they played at their peak) and “Career Value” (How they played over their career). At the position of left field James Ranked Stan Musial as the #1 of all time with Ted Williams 2nd. By the 2001 edition of the book which didn’t have the Peak vs Career editions he had flipped the pair based on his revised win shares formula but back in 1985 he made this argument concerning his choice:

Look I am not saying anything at all negative about Ted Williams. The further we go into the analysis of batting statistics the closer we come to being forced to accept the conclusion that Williams, not Babe Ruth, was the greatest hitter who ever lived. I think he was the second greatest left fielder who ever lived. That’s not critizism.

But if I had to choose between the two of them I’d take Musial in left field, Musial on the basepaths, Musial in the clubhouse and Williams only with the wood in his hands. And Stan Musial could hit a little too.

This is actually one of my pet peeves. I get sick of hearing people say on talk radio, “Aaron Rogers sucks, when talking about Brady or or Lebron sucks when talking about Jordan. One can acknowledge that Brady is better than Rogers or Jordan is better than James without deciding the other stinks.

And that takes us to Trump vs DeSantis.

In one sense this conversation is premature as Ron DeSantis hasn’t announced that he’s running but I’m getting really sick of the “DeSantis sucks” stuff coming out of the Trump camp and the “Trump sucks” stuff coming out of some republicans.

If you look at the data, from the economic numbers to the accomplishments one had to conclude that not only was Donald Trump the best and most effective president of the 21st century so far, but you can make a credible argument that he was superior to Ronald Reagan and the best GOP president since Teddy Roosevelt who I think is the most compatible president to Donald Trump.

One can see this, acknowledge this and even assert, as I do, that the 2020 election was literally stolen from him, and still decide that DeSantis is the better choice in 2024. That’ doesn’t mean that Trump is a bad choice it just means that you think DeSantis is a better one.at this time.

On the other hand if you look at the data, again from the economic numbers to the accomplishments and conclude that Ron DeSantis is not only the most effective and successful GOP governor currently in office but that he is likely the best GOP governor that we’ve seen in the 21st century and I don’t think it’s close.

One can see this, acknowledge this and even assert that he would make an excellent president and still decide that Donald Trump is the better choice for 2024. That doesn’t mean DeSantis is a bad choice, it just means you think Trump is a better one at this time.

I supported Rick Santorum in 2012, in 2016 I supported Ted Cruz over Santorum, not because I thought Santorum was bad but because I thought Ted Cruz was a better choice at the time.

I will happily support either Trump or DeSantis as the GOP nominee but let’s not pretend that either one of them is a bad choice, and let’s stop hitting either as if they are.

Oh and if you claim to be a conservative and say you won’t vote for Trump or DeSantis over a Biden, Harris, Newsom or an Obama then please don’t waste my time with your opinion because you’re no conservative.

My take on the Twitter Files revelations: the truth dies in darkness

Posted: December 4, 2022 by John Ruberry in culture, election 2020, elections, elections, media, News/opinion, politics, Uncategorized
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By John Ruberry

On Friday night Substack journalist Matt Taibbi released the first installment of the Twitter Files, which outlined the efforts by Twitter, with assists from the Democratic National Committee, to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story in 2020. It’s a dynamite story–a political party worked behind the scenes with a Big Tech company to suppress a damaging news story about a presidential candidate, in this case Joe Biden, so he could defeat the incumbent, Donald J. Trump.

That tale of intrigue is something that you would think that you would find only in political thrillers. You know, the stuff of books, movies, or TV series. Except the Twitter scandal really happened. In response, the elitist mainstream media chose one of three tactics, or a combination of them, to confront this scandal: ignore, bury, or insult. In this post I’m going to discuss the first one in depth, and I’ll get to that in a moment.

But first a look back at an incident from 2005, the year I started my own blog, Marathon Pundit. What was then called the blogosphere was a relatively happy place. In comment threads and in behind-the-scenes emails, there was regular communication between conservative and liberal bloggers and journalists, even some camaraderie, at least here in Illinois. Politically our two camps didn’t agree on much–but there was one subject where we were in unison. All of the Illinois bloggers and mainstream media reporters hated the Reverend Fred Phelps and his twisted house of worship, the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. 

Some background: Phelps, who died in 2014, would bus in the few dozen members of his church, which then, as it does now, consisted only of the extended Phelps family, and protest at the funerals of soldiers and sailors killed in action in Iraq or Afghanistan. They held signs that read, among other things, “God Loves Dead Soldiers.” Phelps, who probably was in need of intensive psychiatric care, based his opinion on God and US military deaths on America’s acceptance of the gay lifestyle. 

Back to Illinois: There was a Phelps protest in East Peoria, Illinois in 2005 at the funeral of a US Marine gunnery sergeant, who was killed in Iraq, which the local paper, the Peoria Journal Star reported on, but it left out the Westboro Church protest. And that infuriated Bill Dennis, who wrote the now-inactive Peoria Pundit blog. 

Dennis had this say 17 years ago:

More than once, I’ve read the opinion that the media shouldn’t give Phelps and his people any “publicity.” Whether or not any particular groups gets publicity from news covering isn’t important. The news media needs to cover the news, whether or not it’s news we want to hear. It’s not the media’s job to keep us from having to hear ugly messages. The people who work in the information business need to reject the notion that the public is better off when it is kept in the dark. We wouldn’t tolerate the government doing that to us. Why does the media think it has the right to keep unpleasant news away from us?

It’s the news media’s job to answer questions, not to turn their head and pretend they didn’t hear the question.

The media’s opinion of what information should be provided to its consumers has now become dangerous. Big Tech, meaning of course Twitter, and as well as Google and Facebook, as well as traditional sources such as the legacy newspapers and broadcast networks, actively worked to suppress or ignore the Hunter Biden laptop story, which was revealed in October 2020 by the New York Post, as the presidential election season was underway. Yes, season–voting was already underway just about everywhere. Those media villains–I believe it’s fair to include those three Big Tech behemoths are part of the media–committed election interference. Think of a football game where the beat reporter for an NFL team is standing on the sidelines when the opposing team is about to score a touchdown–who then runs on to the field and tackles the player carrying the ball. Let’s call that wronged player “Trump.”

That’s what happened in 2020. 

What is the slogan of the Washington Post, which has so far has written just one story about the Twitter Files? Oh yeah, “Democracy dies in darkness.” At least the most recent time Clay Travis checked, which was this morning, the New York Times hasn’t reported on Taibbe’s Twitter revelations. Travis Tweeted a few hours ago, “It has now been two days since @twitter & @elonmusk posted actual emails & correspondence of internal documents relating to the Hunter Biden laptop censorship in 2020. The @nytimes has still not covered the story at all.”

In a story published today CBS news barely mentions Taibbi’s scoop–but it attacked Twitter owner Elon Musk. Oh yeah, attacking. A whole bunch of leftist journalists, propagandists really, went into that attack mode I discussed earlier, vilifying Taibbi for performing superb journalism.

And in regard to that Phelps story from ’05, it wasn’t just the Peoria Journal Star committing the sin of omission. You remember I said that back in the day conservative and liberal bloggers and journalists used to interact regularly about stories. I can’t find the email I sent so long ago, but I reached out to a big shot left-wing Chicago newspaper columnist about what the Peoria Pundit and I saw as media malpractice. His polite reply to me was something like this, “But if we report on Phelps and his hateful protests, then we are only doing what he wants–giving him publicity.” 

No, Mr. Newspaper Columnist, it is your job is to report the news. Not hide it, shape it, or twist it.

Democracy dies in darkness. So does the truth.

John Ruberry regularly blogs from the Chicago area at Marathon Pundit.

The #Unexpectedly Chronicles One Post Election Prediction that I GUARANTEE Will Come True

Posted: November 7, 2022 by datechguy in elections, politics, Uncategorized
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It is very hard to predict anything particularly the future and it’s even harder to predict the results of an election when you know the other side is going to be counting the ballots in key precincts without being watched but there is one prediction I can make with complete certainly.

I guarantee you that after the new GOP majority congress comes in. Whether that majority is large or small the MSM and the cable networks will suddenly decide that the opinions of the minority leaders of the house and senate will be will not only newsworthy and relevant but worth plenty of screen time and air time for their viewers, listeners and readers and said opinions will be advanced with the greatest possible reverence and spin.

Of course if the left manages to hold the senate then only the House’s minority leader will be relevant enough to air.

Democrats Spinning Pelosi Like it’s 1983 not 2022

Posted: November 1, 2022 by datechguy in crime, culture, elections, politics, Uncategorized
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The only way I can lose this election is if I’m caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy.

Louisiana Gov Edwin Edwards 1983

10th Doctor: Actually, the most impressive thing about you is that after all this time, you’re still bone dead stupid.

Doctor Who The End of Time Part 2 2010

For people who are both supposed to be progressives who have rejected the norms of Christianity and the smartest people in the room our democrat friends seem to be not only out of touch with reality but bone dead stupid as they still think it’s 40 or 50 or sixty years ago.

For example if Edwin Edwards running as a Democrat was caught in bed with a live boy or a dead girl today, not only would he lose no votes from the party of “Drag Queen Story Hour” but the media would call anyone who objected “homophobic” if it was a live boy or “necrophobic” if it was a dead girl.

Put simply there is not a registered Democrat or Independent today who will vote against any Democrat based on a sexual tryst of any type.

But you know what a Democrat or independent will vote against a Democrat for, if they think their policies put them in physical danger.

This year both crime and illegal immigration are issues that are killing Democrats in Georgia, New York, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and all over the nation. The rise of violent crime particularly and the fear thereof is front and center almost everywhere.

So I ask this question to the Democrats in media, in politics and online: Ignoring for a moment the facts of this particular case, What narrative would you rather have dominating the news in the week before this election?

Paul Pelosi, husband to the person 2nd in line for the presidency while taking part in a tryst with a man in the Gayest city in America, which is nobody’s business but his own, was injured in his own home when it went bad.

OR

Paul Pelosi husband to the person 2nd in line for the presidency residing in the most Democrat City in the Most Democrat state in the country was violently attacked in his own home by a mentally ill illegal alien who somehow gained access to it.

I submit and suggest the first story wouldn’t cost the left a single vote they hadn’t already lost years ago but the 2nd is dynamite because it suggests that under Democrat rule even the spouse of the one of the richest and most powerful Political leaders isn’t safe in his own home in a year when both crime and illegal immigration are issues front and center.

Now the facts are what they are and hopefully they will all be out there quickly but when I see every Democrat pushing the 2nd line thinking it will hurt the GOP all I can do is laugh and think of Casey Stengal’s famous cry when he saw the ineptitude of his 1962 Mets:

Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game? 

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