Yeah, you read that right. I’m giving Obama an “A”. Hear me out. I’m not saying I agree with very much, if anything, of what he’s doing. I just think that he’s doing a yeoman’s job of accomplishing what he’s trying to accomplish.

He’s not trying to do things that I agree with ideologically, so why would that be the criteria? And his incompetence hasn’t hindered his pursuit of agenda in the slightest.

So, I almost have to chuckle at my compatriots who proudly announce that they’ve given our President “F’s” on his report card. Like he cares. He knows you disagree with him. The time to have that argument was last fall. Actually it was last spring when you were busy nominating John freaking McCain. But it was also in fall when so many Republicans were itching to fall in love with the cool candidate who gives good speech.

They were looking for a reason, any reason, to drink the Kool-Aid, and that’s exactly what Obama gave them. Just enough rope. He didn’t campaign as a moderate. He campaigned as whatever the audience he was speaking to at the moment wanted him to be. If you looked past the smoke and mirrors at his tell-tale record, there was no reason to believe he’d be anything other than an ultra-liberal. So if you’re surprised, it’s on you, not him.

Yes, he paid lip service to bi-partisanship, and transparency, and change. Every candidate does that. And in reality he’s simply same old. Every politician also does that. So if you’re surprised, it’s on you, not him.

Now it’s the morning after. You’ve got a pounding headache and horrified “What the hell did I do?” pangs in your gut. Nowhere to turn. You surely can’t admit this to your friends. All you can do is quietly wallow around in your own shame for four years and pray that you aren’t the next person Herr Commandant decides to fire as he wrestles with his own “reluctance” to control everything.

– B –

And then we have the Arlen Specter story, underscoring the fact that the solution to our problems in government is not as near as some would like to think. This story points out two kinds of politicians. I’m tempted to say THE two kinds of politicians as most are one or both of these.

First you have Specter, the opportunist. He pretends that his decision to come out of the closet that we all knew he was in had something to do with conviction and principles. Actually it’s just the opposite. His decision to switch teams shows a complete lack of principles and conviction. He’ll do or be whatever he needs to do or be in order to win elections.

Voters are culpable here as well. The moment Biden introduced the Senate’s newest Democrat, Specter became the favorite to win his own seat in 2010. Apparently Specter isn’t the only Pennsylvanian who could care less about integrity.

The second kind of politician is one who runs about wringing his hands and counting R’s and D’s on the Senate roll. Other than calling himself a “Republican” what good was Specter to the party? He was a major pain in the ass to GWB’s judicial nominees. And any time you heard about a vote where three or four Republican Senators crossed party lines, you knew he’d be one of them. Card Check was a minor miracle.

Medved was even on this the other day, talking about how the Republicans needed to recruit candidates to compete in blue states and districts. So you have someone who will vote like a liberal but call themself a Republican. Again, what good is this? The only reason you want numbers in Congress is so you can pass legislation. If you’ve got a contingent of representatives who will consistently oppose what you are trying to do, they are effectively not in your party, regardless of what label they wear.

It’s not about the name, it’s about the core values. Something which we see, once again, being in short supply in Washington.

– B –

Also, would someone please tell anyone named McCain that the election is over and we don’t have to pretend to respect them as Republicans anymore. This is even more annoying than the angry little man’s “I wanna try! I wanna try!” every four years.

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Originally uploaded by brianjb

How quickly I’m back in the Appalachians. Not a good development.

I had a bunch of little thoughts to blog stored up from the day, but I’m wiped, so they can wait. But I did want to share a pic of the view from my patio. This is perhaps the most beautiful of the state parks that I’ve been to so far. And as I write this there is a deer munching on the grass not 20 feet away from me.

I just love moments like this.

OK, one pick in the books – Stafford to the Lions.

ESPN is doing a formal tweet of the selection, “with the x pick in the x draft …” full team name, full player name, position and college. NFL pr guy is doing an abbreviated pick. NFL, as full as possible but less verbose than ESPN but including links to player’s profile on nfl.com.

Over in the civilian section, we’ve had one flat out tweet of just the pick – no value added. Also, some big fan was surprised at the Lions’s pick. But those are dwarfed by …

Someone re-tweeted the commish saying “I’m ready to get started,” cuz, you know, deep meaningful stuff like that deserves a second run.

But the grand prize for pointless waste of electrons goes to: “I LOVE HOW EVERYONE IS TWITTERING FROM THE #NFLDRAFT”

Update, updated:

Fair is fair: this one, from @janesports was good: “Mel Kiper’s hair is a celebrity in its own right. Just glistens in the spotlight.” (link)

As nonplussed as I am by both Twitter and the NFL Draft, I am looking forward to observing the union of the two this afternoon.

Got to hand it to the Commish. It doesn’t appear that there are any new ideas he isn’t willing to explore these days. For the draft, official NFL representation on Twitter includes Commissioner Gooddell (@nflcommish), PR rep Brian McCarthy (@nflprguy), Jamie Dukes (@jamiedukes) and Rich Eisen (@richeisen) along with the nfl’s general tweetstream (@nfl). To that group I added ESPN (@SportCenter), SI’s Peter King (@SI_PeterKing), Fox Sports (@nflonfox), and soon to be draftee Mark Sanchez (@mark_sanchez). btw, Sanchez is heading out to grab something to eat right now but will be back and is excited about soon being officially in the NFL. So, you heard it here second. (Didn’t want to have all my loyal readers rushing out to get the scoop on the USC QB).

I have a second column set up on TweetDeck searching the #nfldraft hash tag.

So, we’ll see how this goes. Certainly this is an event that lends itself well to twitter. The “action” is brief and well spaced out, allowing for conversation in between.

Will the commissioner start strong and fizzle within the first half hour? It happens. Tweeting during the draft seems like a fine idea and a modern way to connect. But once the shooting starts that all gets lost behind the reality that you have a job to do, and as much as you’d like to tell the world that you wish you’d worn different shoes, there are more pressing matters.

Waiting for the tools who will do nothing more than tweet and re-tweet the picks. Clearly some of the commercial users are set up to do just that. But I’m talking about over in the #nfldraft discussion. I guess what I’m suggesting is that there might be a bunch of people out there who are on twitter because “Elaine, you have to be on Twitter!” (see Seinfeld). So they are on twitter cuz that’s the place to be, but they don’t really have anything to add to the discussion. Thankfully, twitter is the place where not having anything to say is no barrier to saying stuff.

And then there is this: No sooner do I get the #nfldraft column set up than this pops up:

http://twitter.com/BenJoBubble/status/1614758256

Good one. Perhaps a little less thinking about tree would be in order in your case.

Also, the husband and wife sharing a user name thing … don’t do that to your friends. As cute and simpatico as you may think you are, most of the time the same 140 characters will mean something entirely different depending on which one of you they are coming from. Besides that, it’s just lame. Let me guess, you also wear matching outfits when you go out to dinner, and both of you talk on your answering machine greeting. (Her voice) “Hi! This is Jo!” (His voice) … and this is Ben!” and from there they both try to say the rest in sync, but fail, so you don’t actually know the specific words, but it’s an answering machine so you’re just praying that the beep will come, and soon at that. “Hi, this is Brian! and I just called to say that I suspect your whole marriage is just a big front behind which Ben is hiding an alternate lifestyle. Toodles!”

So, as tailor-made as these two things seem to be for each other, at the end of the day it’s still just the NFL draft, and it’s still just Twitter.

OK, so other than the draft, one of the nasty NFL tidbits making the rounds today was the possibility of playing a Super Bowl in London. London! What the?

I’m dumbfounded trying to express why this is a bad idea because I can’t think of one reason why anyone could possibly think that it was a good idea.

Nothing against the Brits mind you. I’m all for sharing stuff with them in general. But when you’re being a good neighbor you don’t start by handing over the keys to your Mercedes. Besides, didn’t the NFL have a pre-season game there last summer? I don’t remember that being a smash.

Financially, the NFL has the Super Bowl maxed. Max time and price on advertising. A total sellout in the host stadium, not to mention the commerce that pours into the host city with all of the contrived activities leading up to the big game. Moving to London, if anything, would threaten live attendance, and perhaps reduce the premium advertisters would be willing to pay. Oh, and great way to acknowledge the economic situation. American fans who do want to attend the Super Bowl in person just had a trans-Atlantic flight added on to the cost of their ticket. And all of that economic activity would be shipped overseas, you greedy corporation, you.

The thing I can’t figure out is how you would manage the time difference. When I was stationed in Hawaii, watching football was weird. I’d be getting ready for church on Sunday morning and the pregame show was on. On the plus side, the sun was still up after the last game ended. No staying up until all hours of the night to catch MNF. During the season we would get some re-broadcasts. But once the post-season hit, it was all live, meaning late morning to mid afternoon Hawaii time.

This would be pretty much the same thing. If you want the Super Bowl to land in prime time for Amercian audiences, the game has to kick off on, what, Tuesday afternoon in London? There is no way the time will be optimal for everyone.

But basically it just feels wrong. This is THE premier Amercian professional sporting league. And the Super Bowl is THE premier American sporting event. The Pro Bowl leaves something to be desired, OK. Fart around with that. Pre-season games, sure. Who cares? But you don’t mess with something that, not only is it not broken, it’s actually working to perfection.

48 hours from now, every football fan in America will be thinking that their team just picked up the guy who will put them in the playoffs, or the Super Bowl for teams that were already playoff caliber. Oh, every once in a while a team will make a pick that their fans, try as they might, can’t figure out how to get excited about. But for the most part, hope springs eternal for the next four months.

I guess that’s what makes the game fun, but it’s laughable. How many Ryan Leaf’s and Tony Mandarich’s do you have to see before you remember that this is an inexact science?

Speaking of Tony Mandarich, even he understands that the Lions have to pick up a QB. Maybe they draft one or maybe they deal their pick for a veteran. Either way, Detroit must make a splash in the opening moments of the draft. I’ve heard those in the know talk about how the league’s first 0-16 team has too many holes to waste a pick gambling on a QB. That’s logical. It is probably technically correct. Did I mention that the team was 0-16 last year? To avoid being run out of the Motor City … to avoid bloodshed, the Lions have got to pick a marquis, offensive skill player. There aren’t any RB’s or WR’s with enough juice. It’s got to be Stafford or Sanchez. If you must take a chance, go with Sanchez. He may not have as much experience, but he seems more ready for the pro game and probably can be pressed into service sooner. Now whether that’s a good thing …?

Many fans relish the draft, pore over all the scouting reports and agonize on every selection. *clench* *gulp* My guy just has to survive 22 more picks and we’ve got him!

However, there is one young man down in Mississippi who can’t wait for the weekend to be over. Yes, scruffy Brett Favre is anxious to announce that he’ll be returning to once again make something happen out there and draw up plays in the dirt. First though, he’s got to let the Jets conduct the maority of their off-season personnel decisions based on the assumption that he’s retired. Once that’s done, the path is clear for his triumphant return. Heck, that might just be enough to lure John Madden out of his retirement. At very least, the Dick Vitale of the NFL, upon hearing of a Favre return would …

Time to beat the drum again. Last night I had to work late, so Hugh Hewitt was on for the ride home. I like Hugh, and agree with him on most things. He’s kind of a thinking man’s conservative … most of the time. But every once in a while he gets caught up in the madness and loses himself. Like last night when he called for voters to remove every last Democrat from Washington.

Now, I’m with him in the general sense that voters need to pick up their brooms and start cleaning house. But with all due respect to HH, if you think this is about Republicans vs. Democrats you are part of the problem! This is not about labels. This is about those who think vs. those who are slaves to their own emotions. It’s about those who have a core worldview against which they measure the messages they receive vs. those who are blown to and fro by the ever-changing winds. It’s the strong few vs. the weak many.

Some understand that the Constitution was painstakingly crafted and still narrowly ratified because of our forefathers’ deep-seated fears that exacty what is happening now would come to pass. For others our founding document is a random nuisance.

Lately I have been struck at how each day’s big stories all seem to boil down to this basic tension. Take the Miss California incident. On the surface it’s a gay marriage story. But underneath it was about the contest within a person. She was put in a situation where the dilemma was clear. She could speak from the heart at her own peril, or she could offer up a meandering non-answer, as so many do these days, and profit in the short-term. God bless Carrie Prejean. She will pay a price, but in the end I believe she’ll be stronger for passing this test. And our society will benefit from another high profile reminder that there are still those who value integrity.

Right now our federal government is hard at work ripping from us every last dollar, privilege, and enjoyment that they can get their hands on. But there are things; core values, beliefs and faith; that can not be taken. A person only loses such things by surrendering them. Miss California refused to sell her soul. You can disparage my beliefs, but you can’t confiscate them.

So fine. If you want to talk about Republicans and Democrats, let’s. To suggest that you can paint party members with a broad brush and declare Republican good, Democrat bad, is lunacy and fails to acknowledge what we see of human nature every day. There are a number of Republicans who need to be shown the door just as much as many Democrats. And by the same token, there are some Democrats who lend a valuable, thoughtful voice to the national conversation. We all benefit when there is constructive opposition. Were Arlen Specter or John McCain to be replaced, even if by a Democrat of sound mind who understands their duty to serve, I would lose not one moment of sleep.

Right now we live in a pivotal time. The foundatations of greatness that our forefathers envisioned for this nation are under assault from every possible angle. Liberty hangs in the balance. If, in these conditions, you are still busting out with “Us Republicans need to beat those Democrats,” I repeat, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM!

Yeah! It’s been a while since we’ve had a good treasure trove of quotes from friends, neighbors and acquaintances of a serial killer. Gotta hand it to the Craigslist Killer’s crew. They didn’t waste any time getting themselves in front of cameras.

OK, just so we understand how deep the denial runs … they have got this guy dead to rights. The only shred of doubt seems to surround how many other cases might be also attributed to him.

So, you had the neighbors. And first of all I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get a “quiet and kept to himself a lot.” I mean, what self-respecting serial killer doesn’t keep to himself a lot? You gotta have a code, dude!

Anyway, there was a “It doesn’t make sense.” Now that I get. That’s reasonable. If they would just leave it there, it would be fine. But no.

By the way, one of my goals is to someday be out in front of a serial killer’s house shortly after the guy is busted. As soon as I get within earshot of a reporter I’d say, “Man, I knew this was going to happen! That guy had serial killer written all over him!” That is so outside of the crime reporter’s playbook, I don’t think they’d know what to do with it.

Anyway, back to the neighbor: “He was smart, he carried himself well, he was clean, a good looking guy.” I am glad to know that he was clean. Maybe that’s a trade up. Those guys who keep to themselves … no telling when they last bathed.

The fiance is a real piece of work. According to her he “could not hurt a fly.” Which is true. The gun he owned … not the preferred weapon for fly-hurting. And really, can anyone just hurt a fly? With flies isn’t it all or nothing? You either smoosh it, or miss entirely. So I guess, maybe she was sayig the he was a little slow?

His fondness for flies was only exhibit A, however. The fiance also mentioned that they are / were to be married this summer and “share a wonderful, meaningful life together.” You can just picture the cops smacking themselves in the forehead. Beautiful, wonderful life? Why didn’t you say so? Clearly we’ve got the wrong guy. Evidence, shmevidence. There’s no disputing a beautiful, wonderful life.

Of course I really liked the guy on TV who said that he thought he might have helped him (the killer guy) move in to the college dorm their first year. Thanks, dude. That really helps. This story has taken on so much depth for me.

Actually it has. Engaged to a drama queen, and surrounded by morons … it becomes real easy to understand the guy’s desperation.

Time to get caught up on Celebrity Apprentice. The pace is accelerating. Five celebs have been shown the boardroom door since my last CA post.

First, in what was billed as a shocker, neither team came up with an acceptable viral video for ALL Small and Mighty Laundry Detergent and the Donald decided to dispatch one player from each team. Actually I don’t believe this is a first. If memory serves, way back in season 2, Donny Deutsche gave a big thumbs down to both teams’ commercial for a body wash. And, multiple firings are certainly nothing new. What was interesting was that both firings had nothing to do with the victim’s performance on the video task.

Tionne Watkins: Melissa Rivers was so pleased with her team’s unity on the task that she decided to ask for volunteers to return to the boardroom should the team lose. Unknowingly she was giving teammate Tionne just enough rope. Trump invoked the Bradford rule, remembering a former candidate, as he fired Tionne for unnecessarily putting herself in harm’s way. Personally I was relieved. If not for this, Melissa Rivers would have been fired, and I thought she did a bangup job on the task.

Khloe Kardashian: Khloe had missed the previous task because she had to be in California as a result of her DUI conviction last year. Turns out the Donald was unaware of the DUI, and has a personal sore spot with that particular crime. Khloe was shown to the street. Tough one for a couple reasons.

First there was the subjective Donald. If this was a deal-breaker one wonders how Kardashian wound up on the show in the first place. A quick Google search would have prevented this whole episode. For a fan of the show it isn’t hard to imagine how Trump would have dealt with a PM who made a similar oversight. You SHOULD have known.

Second, Khloe seemed to have a pretty good attitude about the whole matter. Whereas you would need multiple limbs to count how many celeb brats have made a total circus out of such circumstances in recent history, Khloe owned her mistake and seemed to take her penalties seriously. Given that, I wish Trump would have settled for expressing his displeasure but also acknowledged Kardashian’s maturity in dealing with it. Still, you can’t cry, “Unfair.” At the end of the day this was just one more consequence of her mistake.

Unfortunately this allowed Clint Black to dodge a bullet. While Melissa Rivers led her team in coming up with a great video that the judges enjoyed but couldn’t use, Black went one-man-band in coming up with a finished product that was unappealing and off target. He so deserved the axe on that one.

Bryan missed the ALL task for a concert and returned somewhat lacking in starch. The teams were tasked with developing a store display and marketing for LifeLock. KOTU excelled on this one while Bryan’s team began its descent into chronic drama. In the boardroom McKnight didn’t put up a fight as Trump fired him while both teams were still sitting there.

The Melissa and Joan vs. Annie drama moved to center stage during this task. Pretty good feat when you consider that the three ladies aren’t even on the same team! Also it became obvious that despite the drama, Athena is the far more talented of the two teams. The groups had to select and auction off pieces from Ivanka’s jewelry collection. So, it was another get out your friends task. Clint was an absolute trainwreck as an auctioneer. On the other side, Annie’s manner has become pretty abrasive, but she really shined in this task. Also, it was great to have Piers Morgan step in as a guest judge. In the end the Trumps felt that the selection of jewelry was the key difference. Melissa selected large, gaudy, but auction-friendly pieces while Natalie went with classier, but harder to see from the audience items. Adios Natalie.

The teams were tasked with developing a new offering for Schwan’s LiveSmart line of frozen foods. This one seemed close, and both groups reached the finish line with deficiencies. The Schwan guys liked Athena’s gluten-free pasta and meatballs better, but Jessie offered no marketing plan (part of the challenge) whatsoever. KOTU had decent marketing and a tasty, but not as cutting edge entre, and their meal included a desert that wouldn’t work in the frozen format. Athena prevailed which probably saved Jessie who really came up flat in his first stint as PM. Hershel had the misfortune of being the losing PM, and of having overruled Clint on a couple of matters where Clint turned out to be right.

Here we go. We’re down to six, and it appears, at least for the next task, that the team format will be set aside, which should be interesting as the lines of dramatic contention are firmly entrenched. Also, CNBC’s Jim Kramer will be on next week which I’m looking forward to. He was awesome in his appearance last year.

Who looks strong? My money is on Annie and Melissa or Joan for the final two. All three have done well, and recent episodes have been so carefully edited to embellish the battle front between them.