Fish Fear Me

Can't Do, Part Two

(Rant Warning)

Three weeks ago I was upset at the news that the roof of the Metrodome wouldn't be repaired until perhaps as late as the end of March. So you can probably imagine my response when I read this today:

If the entire roof of the Metrodome needs to be replaced, it may not be finished in time for the start of the Vikings exhibition season in August.

Ted Mondale, the newly appointed head of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, said after Thursday morning's commission meeting that weather has delayed evaluation of whether part or all of the fallen roof needs to be replaced.

"If we need complete replacement of the roof, it will take five to six months,'' Mondale said.

Workers were on the roof today and an engineer's evaluation is expected soon that will help determine whether the commission will replace torn panels or install a new roof. He said the safety of the roof and the public is his priority and he will not rush the work.

I'm gobsmacked. They can't be safe and do this any faster? Bullshit. Ted Mondale is flat-out full of shit.

I'm normally more cautious than this, but the hell with it. That kind of timeline is prima facie evidence that the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission doesn't give a flying fuck about the thousands of people other than the Vikings who use that facility and that the staff in charge is nothing less than incompetent.

Executive Director Bill Lester should be fired since he apparently doesn't have the decency to resign. The one thing he has to do, the one fucking facility that he has to keep functional for the general public is the Metrodome and that's nothing but a clusterfuck now. And you know what? I see no evidence that he even gives a shit about that. If he does, by all means somebody show me, because it appears from my perspective that the man is completely unmotivated and unable to serve the public.

I'm serious: Fire Bill Lester.

What an epic fucking fail. And you know what's even worse? Our political leadership of all stripes is just going to accept it and the reason for that is we, the general public, are just going to accept it too. 

I suppose in today's climate I should make clear that my anger about this should not be taken as edging towards or advocating anything over the top. I'm simply wanting some accountability for the failure to keep the Metrodome functional and the additional failure to aggressively fix the problem so it could once again function for the thousands of people who use it during the harsh winter months here.

Fire. Bill. Lester.

Another Step Toward War

Saturday, January 19, 1861

The Georgia state convention passed an ordinance of secession today, becoming the fifth state to secede from the Union, along with South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama. The ordinance passed 208 to 89, with a substantially larger minority opposed to secession than was seen at earlier state conventions.

I Hear The Cry Of The Cold Beer

I think a sample size of 362 people across multiple sporting events is too small, but my gut tells me that the numbers here probably aren't too far off:

The University of Minnesota's School of Public Health conducted research published Tuesday indicating that fans do, indeed, have a powerful thirst. In a study that says it is the first to measure the blood alcohol content of fans leaving pro sporting events in the U.S., researchers found 8 percent of fans had a BAC above 0.08 -- the legal limit to drive -- while 40 percent were between 0 and 0.08, indicating they had consumed at least some alcohol.

We're talking about just adults here, legal adults I assume, so I think the percentage having at least some alcohol may be reasonably close. The reporter seems a little scandalized by that but it doesn't sound like a problem to me. What's the big deal about one or two beers at a ballgame? And this statement from the researcher seems way out of line to me:

"If we assume that our results accurately represent individuals attending professional events, it means that -- on average -- almost 5,000 attendees leaving one National Football League event would be above the legal BAC limit for driving," Erickson said. "That's a lot of drunken individuals who could be involved in traffic accidents, assaults, vandalism, crime and other injuries."

Even if 5000 people leave an event over the legal limit for driving, there's no way that equates to 5000 possible drunken drivers. Sporting events tend to be group events and group events among adults these days tend to have a designated driver. In fact, I bet a significant number of those over the legal limit allowed that to happen specifically because they had a designated driver. Give me a buck for every time I've heard or said, "Hell, I'm not driving!" I could practically retire.

As for "assaults, vandalism, crime and other injuries", yes, there will be a few doorknobs who get sloppy and fall down or do something stupid. If you get 60,000 people together that's the way it is...and some of them will even have been drinking. The overwhelming number of those .08 or more are going to be just fine though, as long as they don't get behind the wheel. I'm sure the wimps and prudes crowd disagrees, but then, they're wimps and prudes.

Things You Can Use

I noticed today that Ann Althouse has a "civility bullshit" tag and I immediately realized that something like that is almost certain to come in handy here as well.

And whoop, there it is:

"We were just having a discussion about the Chicago mayoral race," King told viewers.  "My friend Andy Shaw…used the term 'in the crosshairs' in talking about the candidates out there. We're trying, we're trying to get away from that language. Andy is a good friend, he's covered politics for a long time, but we're trying to get away from using that kind of language.  We won't always be perfect, so hold us accountable when we don't meet your standards."

Of Course

Brett Favre has officially filed his retirement papers with the NFL. 

Naturally, the occasion was marked by a massage therapist threatening to sue him for sexual harassment.

Another day...

Straw Men

Do you think Paul Krugman actually believes this?

One side of American politics considers the modern welfare state — a private-enterprise economy, but one in which society’s winners are taxed to pay for a social safety net — morally superior to the capitalism red in tooth and claw we had before the New Deal. It’s only right, this side believes, for the affluent to help the less fortunate.

The other side believes that people have a right to keep what they earn, and that taxing them to support others, no matter how needy, amounts to theft. That’s what lies behind the modern right’s fondness for violent rhetoric: many activists on the right really do see taxes and regulation as tyrannical impositions on their liberty.

How about this guy, do you think he really believes this?

In 2010, we have a different environment. An ideology that treats all taxation as theft — as illegitimate, coercive, perhaps even morally equivalent to violence — is now sufficiently prominent that it effectively renders policy ideas that involve use of resources by government and potentially even redistribution impractical. 

Krugman at least starts with a real belief in property rights before completely distorting that into some parody of "let them eat cake." Steve Waldman's "sufficiently prominent" ideology from the second link is just a complete fantasy. There are, of course, cranks out there who really do believe that all taxation is theft. They are not statistically significant let alone prominent in any way. 

If anything actually is sufficiently prominent in this country it's the level of taxation. According to an interesting website called US Government Revenue, the estimated GDP for 2011 is $14.6 trillion and governments at all levels in the US will take in $4.6 trillion. In addition, the feds will borrow and spend an additional $1.2 trillion. That's an awful lot of "impractical."

If this is what the "reality based community" is going to bring to the table for the next couple of years then President Obama and Democrats in general are in serious trouble politically. You cannot win with a base that is either completely dishonest or completely batshit crazy and at the same time very vocal about it. Especially considering that the general public is paying more attention than ever and the mainstream media controls less and less of the narrative with each passing week. 

Common Cause's Violent And Racist Rhetoric

From the Common Cause website(their emphasis):

Our government is supposed to be of, by and for the people. So are you ready to take it back? 

I denounce such violent and racist rhetoric and will wait with bated breath for Charles Blow and Frank Rich to do the same. I hope the Rancho Mirage police will be ready when this obviously insurrectionist movement descends on their city on January 30. Hey, I'm supposed to be out in Long Beach that day, so maybe I'll check it out.

Don't Blink

It's not quite as unusual as a solar eclipse, but today is one day where I'm going to at least partially agree with something that Charles Blow has written in The New York Times:

Great. So the left overreacts and overreaches and it only accomplishes two things: fostering sympathy for its opponents and nurturing a false equivalence within the body politic. Well done, Democrats.

Now we’ve settled into the by-any-means-necessary argument: anything that gets us to focus on the rhetoric and tamp it down is a good thing. But a wrong in the service of righteousness is no less wrong, no less corrosive, no less a menace to the very righteousness it’s meant to support.

You can’t claim the higher ground in a pit of quicksand.

I agree. Thank you, Mr. Blow. 

But. Come on, you knew there had to be a "but."

But, even if the shooter had been a Tea Party member or a registered Republican and legally sane, it still would be wrong to assign collective guilt based on the action of an individual. Just because it involves political philosophy instead of race or religion doesn't make collective guilt any less ugly and dehumanizing. But what about all of that "violent rhetoric" we keep hearing about?

For the most part it's hysteria. Seriously. All that talk from tea partiers about "Taking back America" is very, very, scary! Except of course, when Democrats called their plan to gain control of Congress in 2006...wait for it..."Take Back America." Democrats even had a "Take Back America Conference" in June of 2006. And that "armed and dangerous" quote of Michelle Bachmann that keeps getting recycled is a complete distortion. Taking it as a literal call to arms immediately grants one automatic induction into the Hysterical Tool Hall of Shame.

There's nothing wrong with martial metaphors and heated rhetoric in political speech. That stuff has been around forever and is harmless so long as it is not taken too far. You know, like actually saying things such as "Put him against the wall and shoot him." I would hope we could all agree that one is over the top, even if meant as some kind of metaphor. The lesser stuff? It's called free speech. People are certainly free to criticize it, but they really should at least try not to be flaming hypocrites when they do, and way too many Democrats fit that bill over the last week.

Charles Blow deserves praise for recognizing the Tucson shooting for what it is. I would urge caution on all sides though, to pay attention to the larger issue of attempted collective guilt. Nobody knows the future and the next deranged gunman could be a Democrat murdering a Republican. If that happens it would be just as wrong to blame all Democrats as it was to blame conservatives and Republicans for Tucson. I hope that my Democrat friends agree.

Just Like Lake Wobegon Now

(A guest post from Old Man Winter)

Today's snowfall gets us up to 50" for the season so far. The average here is about 47". 

I gotta say I'm relieved. You don't know what the pressure's like each year.

Been There, Done That, Got The T-Shirt?

I didn't see the memorial service in Tucson tonight so I have no personal observations to add regarding how it went. Via Instapundit, some say it was appropriate and some say not. I think I'll wait to see some video before offering my two cents about that.

I have to say that the slogan and t-shirt stuff has me scratching my head. I'm trying to think of a memorial service that had its own brand before and I'm coming up blank. I'm not protesting that at this point and I'm prepared to listen to an explanation, I'm really just a little befuddled. Has that happened before and I just don't remember it?