It Just Won't Die

Poor Paul Hamm. After winning a gold medal, he thought he was living a dream. The FIG turned it into a nightmare by flailing away trying to save face over a judging mistake that may or may not have cost a South Korean the gold. Hamm's back in the U.S. presumably to get away from this horrible experience, but the FIG sticks Hamm's nose in it by asking him to give his medal to bronze medalist Yang Tae-young. In the letter (reprinted in the extended entry), FIG president Bruno Grandi wrote, "The true winner of the all-around competition is Yang Tae-young." But on the FIG's website it states, "Paul Hamm cannot be responsible for a judging error." Hamm's not responsible, yet he should be the won to give up his prize. Also in the letter, Grandi writes, "At this moment in time, you are the only one who can make this decision." Yet he told a reporter,

He deserves the medal, and the ranking is clear. ... I respect totally Paul Hamm and all the decisions he makes. If he says give back the medal, I respect it. Don't give back the medal, I respect the decision. He is not responsible for anything.

The USOC came storming to Hamm's defense:

The USOC views this letter as a blatant and inappropriate attempt on the part of FIG to once again shift responsibility for its own mistakes and instead pressure Mr. Hamm into resolving what has become an embarrassing situation for the Federation. The USOC finds this request to be improper, outrageous and so far beyond the bounds of what is acceptable that it refuses to transmit the letter to Mr. Hamm.

The USOC has informed the FIG of this and requested that it immediately withdraw its letter.

It is the opinion of the USOC that Mr. Hamm did exactly what an Olympic champion should do: he performed to the best of his ability, he competed within the rules of his sport, and he accepted his gold medal with pride, honor and dignity.

...

The USOC considers this matter closed and looks forward to celebrating the tremendous success of the Athens Games and the inspiring performances of athletes from around the world, not the least of which is that of Olympic champion Paul Hamm.

Paul Hamm is supposed to be more benevolent than anyone in sports history. Because of a mistake he had nothing to do with he's supposed to ease FIG's embarassment by giving his gold medal to someone who didn't win it. That's not "fair-play" (to use Grandi's word); it's asking someone else to take responsibility for FIG's failure. Hamm thinks he's the gold medal winner, and according to the rules everyone participated under he is. FIG doesn't deny this. There's no time machine in sports where you can change one event without affecting anything after it.

Grandi and the FIG disgust me for trying to play on the conscience of a champion. For shame!

"Officials Ask Hamm to Give up Gold"

[FIG President Bruno Grandi's letter to Olympic champion Paul Hamm.]

Dear Paul,

Firstly may I extend to you and to the USA team my heartfelt congratulations for your magnificent results at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

I have addressed this letter to you after having read the following statements attributed to you in the American press: “It was very hard to focus after what has happened the previous days. At this moment, I don’t feel that I have to give back my medal. If the FIG will decide that I have to give it back, I’ll do it. There are many different opinions about what I have to do. I can understand my Korean opponent. I believe that something is going to happen soon.”

This declaration, which gave me great pleasure, was made by a great gymnast and true champion who has the highest ethical values. This act, which demonstrates the highest level of honesty, places you amongst the true Olympic champions. I wish to confirm that your words grant you the highest esteem from the worldwide gymnastics family.

I wish to remind you that the FIG Executive Committee has admitted the error of judgement made on the Parallel Bars and suspended the three responsible judges, two from the A panel and the FIG Technical Committee member. Indeed, the start value of the Korean gymnast Yang Tae Young was given as 9.9 instead of 10. As a result, the true winner of the All-Around competition is Yang Tae Young.

If, (according to you declarations to the press), you would return your medal to the Korean if the FIG requested it, then such an action would be recognised as the ultimate demonstration of Fair-play by the whole world. The FIG and the IOC would highly appreciate the magnitude of this gesture.

At this moment in time, you are the only one who can make this decision.

With my bests regards and deepest respect,

Bruno Grandi, FIG President

Guessing Game

Is this or is this not the weblog of Quentin Tarantino?

QT's Diary

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Weblogging at 07:46 PM | Comments (2)

Technorati Needs a Hand

Technorati's Election 2004 weblog aggregator can't figure out what side of the political spectrum TAM's on. Anyone know of a way to enlighten Technorati?

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Weblogging at 07:03 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2004

Now He's Done It

It's one thing for a Presidential candidate to look like a dork by wearing a cheesehead, but to mess up Lambeau Field means you don't deserve a Packers fan's vote.

"The Frozen Tundra of ... Lambert Field?"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 11:18 PM | Comments (2)

Kerry's House of Ketchup #24

Kerry speaks.

And August is supposed to be a slow news month. Maybe it is, and that's why so many of us are all over John Kerry's four-month stay in Vietnam. The GOP convention starts in a few days with Kerry's new Band of Brothers ready with counter-zingers to a tightly-scripted media event.

New polls show Bush is on the ups. As usual, KHoK is interested in what the Iowa Electronic Markets think. Kerry has taken a steep dive in the Presidential Winner Take All Market and in the Presidential Vote Share Market. The SwiftVets just might be doing damage.

Remember some guy named John Edwards and how was the answer to the Kerry campaign? He's vaporized into the background noise like all Vice Presidential candidates do.

Let's see what some of the blogosphere thinks:

• Along with siccing lawyers on the the SwiftVets with an FEC complaint, Kerry's defended himself by going on The Daily Show (and here).
  

• Erick Erickson is correct that asking for lots of debates isn't a sign of a candidate's confidence.
  

• You know Kerry's losing when one of his spinners went off the deep end. (Is she a former Deaniac? That would explain it.)
  

• Tutakai examines the Democrats' new appreciation for John Kerry's Vietnam War past and how the press has let them get away with it.
  

• At Bastard Sword there's a really, really long piece on the events of 03.13.1969.
  

• The letter Max Cleland tried to deliver to President Bush is at odds with John Kerry, the anti-war protester.
  

• Two more war heroes speak up against Kerry.
  

• Petrified Truth finds Kerry eagerly jumping to a conclusion while those who have deeply studied the issue come to a conclusion that's completely different.
  

• Either Kerry lives in a parallel universe or he committed a Bushism. Where's Slate when you need them? Although Kerry could try the parallel universe theory to explain Christmas in Cambodia.
  

• James Joyner delightfully fisks Eleanor "McLaughlin Group Punching Bag" Cliff on her attack on the SwiftVets.
  

• SwiftVet ad #4?
  

• In an example of overly-heated rhetoric, Catholic Kerry supporters compared President Bush to the anti-Christ.
  

• Political Wire links to Dick Meyer who tries to smear both Bush Presidents.
  

• Varifrank is done writing about Kerry but notes, "You sir, are a loser. You will go down in history as the man who made Dukakis look good."
  

• "Seared" is a common word in Kerry's vocabulary.
  

• The War Liberal wonders what's in Heinz ketchup and created a new double entendre. I'll never look at that condiment in the same way again.
  

Join in the fun by linking to the House of Ketchup. If you have an MT-powered weblog, just trackback to this post, and it will appear below. If your weblog software is incapable of trackbacks use Kevin's Trackback Form.

[Thanks go to the John F. Kerry Media Relations Center for the Sen. Zoop's "voice." Cheap gimmick not endorsed by Glenn Reynolds.]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

Go Right Ahead, Oliver

Maybe Oliver Willis can convince David Brock to put some of the money he got from George Soros into trying to disbar John O'Neill. (It were sure beat paying those people to watch Fox News all day.) I'm sure O'Neill wouldn't back down since he dared John Kerry to sue him for libel.

"Should John O'Neill Be Disbarred/Punished?"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 10:34 PM | Comments (1)

That's Just Mean

Look at the line up for day two of The Encore. Who do I see, Jimmy Eat World, The Gufs, or Robert Randolph? Why could these bands have been to the Big Gig instead of Summerfest, Jr?

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Summerfest at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)

No More Mr. Nice Guy

Alice Cooper says some LOL stuff on those rockers for Kerry:

To me, that's treason. I call it treason against rock 'n' roll because rock is the antithesis of politics. Rock should never be in bed with politics.

When I was a kid and my parents started talking about politics, I'd run to my room and put on the Rolling Stones as loud as I could. So when I see all these rock stars up there talking politics, it makes me sick.

If you're listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you're a bigger moron than they are. Why are we rock stars? Because we're morons. We sleep all day, we play music at night and very rarely do we sit around reading the Washington Journal.

Besides, when I read the list of people who are supporting Kerry, if I wasn't already a Bush supporter, I would have immediately switched. Linda Ronstadt? Don Henley? Geez, that's a good reason right there to vote for Bush.

"Alice Cooper: Anti-Bush Acts Treasonous Morons" [via The Volokh Conspiracy]

UPDATE: Some people were quick on the trigger and only read part of Cooper's statement. He had to clarify that the rockers for Kerry are guilty of "treason against rock and roll," not the U.S.

"Alice Cooper Clarifies Comment About Rock, Politics" [via Hit & Run]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 06:57 PM | Comments (0)

Ugly Americans--Not!

Somebody forgot to remind the gold medal-winning U.S. women's soccer team that they should refrain from waving the Stars and Stripes too much.

Congratulations, ladies.

"U.S. Soccer's Fab Five Go Out With Gold"

---

You can say that looks are deceiving when it came to the end of the U.S.-Spain men's basketball quarterfinal. With 23 seconds left in the game, a timeout was called for the U.S. team that had an 11-point lead. Coach Larry Brown claims he registered the timeout at the scorer's table (according to international rules) earlier and had no intention of embarassing Spain. Brown looked surprised the timeout was called, and pushed his players back onto the court when he realized what kind of perception he created. Spanish coach Mario Pesquera was furious and waved his finger in Brown's face after the game which set Brown off. Both coaches had to be restrained by their assistants.

"United States 102, Spain 94"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Sports at 05:17 PM | Comments (1)

Can You Do This with Powerpoint?

If a goofy, convoluted chart is good enough for the NY Times, it's good enough for NRO.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 04:49 PM | Comments (0)

Swiftvets Strike Again

The latest ad deals with Kerry in near next to Cambodia.

"New Swift Boat Ad: Kerry's Own Shipmate Calls Kerry a Liar" [via Drudge]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)

POWs Against Kerry

On the heels of the Swiftvets is Stolen Honor a new documentary on what former Vietnam POWs think of John Kerry. The clips are powerful. These men give us a glimpse of why they oppose Kerry. It isn't so much the medals, although that's a part, it's his anti-war actions that they think hurt others and the country.

Carlton Sherwood is producing the documentary. I'm doing some digging around on him to see if I can find more information about him besides being a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award winner. You know Media Matters and their ilk will be doing the same if they're not already.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 01:15 PM | Comments (3)

Hey Hey We're the Bloggers!

Ladies and gentleman, here is your starting webloggers for the Republican National Convention. (It's also the first time I've seen pictures of these people.)

Knock 'em dead guys!

"Meet the Bloggers, Part Two"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Weblogging at 12:35 PM | Comments (1)

August 25, 2004

Coordination or Legal Advice?

In a AP story about the lawyer who is helping the Swiftvets while working for Bush-Cheney is this:

Lawyers on the Democratic side are also representing both the campaign or party and outside groups running ads in the presidential race. Ginsberg's dual role has drawn attention because of an ad the Swift Boat Veterans group ran accusing Kerry of exaggerating his Vietnam War record, an issue that has dominated the campaign since early August.

And here's an example:

Joe Sandler, a lawyer for the DNC and a group running anti-Bush ads, MoveOn.org, said there is nothing wrong with serving in both roles at once.

In addition to the FEC's coordination rules, attorneys are ethically bound to maintain attorney-client confidentiality, Sandler said. They could lose their law licenses if they violate that, he said.

Someone should tell Sen. Max Cleland to stuff it with his hypocritical grandstanding.

"Lawyer Advising Vets Quits Bush Campaign"

UPDATE: N. Z. Bear documents how another lawyer is tied into the Democrats and MoveOn.org. Will either Mr. Sandler or Mr. Reiff be resigning anytime soon? Will there even be pressure on them to? [via Wizbang]

UPDATE II: Oliver Willis jumps all over the Bush lawyer resignation but "forgets" to mention the paragraphs I did. I guess Media Matters hired him for his selective reading.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 02:10 PM | Comments (1)

New Finds

Ambra Nykol is a young, smart, pretty wordsmith with lots of potential.

Then there's La Shawn Barber who has a homey, red state feel to her writing, and has the good sense to link to TAM.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Weblogging at 01:13 AM | Comments (0)

Olympic Notes

The passions surrounding Paul Hamm's gold medal have died down. After a few days of heated calls for Hamm to give up his medal to a South Korean that didn't win it, the ideas of giving up a medal or awarding a second gold have vanished. Good. Now Paul Hamm can start savoring his victory even though his father is ticked at a few people.

"Gymnastics Flap Gets Low Scores"

---

Kerri Walsh and Misty May took their domination of women's beach volleyball all the way to a gold medal. Their sweep of a Brazilian team capped off an undefeated run where they didn't even lose a game. So far, only the U.S. women's softball team has been more dominant.

"Fun, Frolic and Gold"

---

Another great story was hurdler Joanna Hayes who set an Olympic record in the 100m hurdles. The favorite, Canada's Perdita Felicien, hit the first bar. Hayes took advantage.

"Hayes Wins 100m Hurdles in Olympic Record"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Sports at 01:03 AM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2004

Keeping Hardball Clean II

Courtesy of PrestoPundit, on yesterday's Hardball, Chris Matthews continued his slandering of Michelle Malkin:

MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL.

Before we go to Dick Cavett, we want to get some final thoughts from Doug Brinkley and Stanley Karnow.

Let me go to Doug Brinkley on a hot point on this program.

Doug, there was a woman on the show the other night, Michelle Malkin or something, who was discussing in rather loose terms the idea that maybe John Kerry had purposely wounded himself to win a Purple Heart. Where would she get such an idea?

BRINKLEY: Well, from the Internet, from talk radio. This is a right-wing August takedown on John Kerry, and rumors, accusations, innuendoes flying. And that‘s just how gutter politics is played sometimes in America. I feel it is a completely irresponsible comment and she needs to apologize for making it. There‘s no evidence that says John Kerry ever shot himself.

Pat Buchanan defended Malkin saying she said it was a "self-inflicted wound." There was a "misconception." Matthews balked at that telling Buchanan, "No, there wasn‘t." He then claimed Malkin had 12 times to clarify her stance. But anyone familiar to these cable news yap fests it's about debate on speed. It's about blurting out nuggets, not whole sentences. That's especially true with possible ADD sufferer Chris Matthews.

Matthews took one final shot at Malkin:

The question is, was it purposely—did he purposefully shoot himself or not? That was the question that was being suggested by that discussion.

The only reason the "discussion" (and I use that term very loosely) went down that path was because Matthews leaped to the conclusion that Malkin accused Kerry of shooting himself.

Chris doesn't need to let civility, respect, and truthfullness get in the way of "keeping his show clean."

UPDATE: Matthews should not only apologize to Malkin for his boarish behavior, but also for declaring the "self-inflicted wound" accusation too dirty for Hardball. Even the Kerry campaign admits that's how Kerry got the wound that earned him his first Purple Heart.

"Has Kerry Backed Off Of First Purple Heart Claim?"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 06:51 PM | Comments (0)

Hot Stuff

I guess washing a child's mouth with a bar of soap when the child curses is out of the question too.

"Stinging Debate" [via Drudge]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Culture at 06:19 PM | Comments (3)

Leave the Golden Boy Alone

Michael Hunt offers some sense about Paul Hamm's gold medal:

Share the gold? It shouldn't even be on the table, and the USOC should be ashamed for even thinking about it. This isn't kiddie gymnastics, where everyone gets a prize for showing up. Credit the South Koreans for sticking up for their guy, but this isn't Salt Lake City, where the judging was fixed. It's just, well, weird beyond belief.

But since we're talking about a U.S. gymnast here, and one from Wisconsin at that, let's focus on an analogy we can all understand.

Let's say Brett Favre has just thrown a touchdown pass against, just for conversation's sake, the Bears. It's a close play, but the Chicago coach of the moment has neglected to consult with his guys upstairs. But sometime after the game, say Monday afternoon, the Bears raise a stink.

Think that holds up?

Even gymnastics has protocol for filing protests, and the South Koreans were way late with the red flag.

Beyond that, blown calls are squarely in keeping with the American way. It's part of the game. You complain, but you accept it and you move on. Human error is part of the deal. And there might be no more erring humans than what we have right here. Asking Paul Hamm to clean up their mess rates about a 0.1. Oh, wait. I meant a 0.2.

George Vecsey also gets it right.

Fortunately, FIG President Bruno Grandi sharply said the decision won't change including awarding Yang Tae Young a gold medal. And no, Hamm still shouldn't give his medal away nor should he be brow beaten in the media.

"Burden of Dispute Misplaced on Hamm"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Sports at 12:48 AM | Comments (1)

August 23, 2004

Keep that Medal

USA Today's Christine Brennan is part of the "America should apologize for doing well" crowd. She put pen to paper and called for Olympic champion Paul Hamm to give his gold medal to South Korea's Yang Tae-young. In Brennan's view, "Hamm would reap benefits he cannot yet imagine; addition by subtraction, if you will." Hamm must relinquish his gold medal because "it [is] the right thing to do."

That's garbage!

Metaphysical certitude in any human endeavor is impossible. Mistakes are made by everyone. In sport officials make mistakes often. Umpires call strikes that are no where near the strike zone. In basketball, referees miss charging fouls. In hockey, officials fail to call off-sides. In these sports, teams can't complain after the game is over that because of bad call they should receive credit for a partial victory.

In the men's all-around competition, the South Korean coaches could have and should have immediately complained about Yang's start value. That's the rule in gymnastics. They didn't do that, and Yang lost out on those precious points. Is it fair in some Platonic sense? No, but such utopianism only exists in books and the minds of Leftists.

I'm not a die-hard rules-are-rules guy. Common sense and logic should trump that. In this instance, everyone knew what the rules were, and they were followed. To go back and changes scores would be absurd because it would toss every gymnastics competition, past and future, into chaos. A winner would be chosen that day, but none of the participants would be sure the final standings would have any permanence. Days, weeks, months, even years could past, and someone could find something to question the results.

I'm sure if we looked hard enough at the replays of all Yang's performances we could find some flaw the judges missed. U.S. men's gymnastics coach Miles Avery said Yang should have been deducted 0.2 because of an extra hold on the parallel bars. Does Yang and the South Koreans really want to do that? Do sports fans really want to be stuck waiting for weeks of analysis and lawyerly gobble-dee-gook from the Court of Arbitration for Sport?

We also don't know what would have happened if Yang's parallel routine were correctly scored. Hamm knew how much he needed on the high bar to get the gold. Who's to say Hamm wouldn't have thrown in some even more difficult elements to pump up his score and top Yang? Who's to say Yang wouldn't have changed his routine knowing he was ahead? Paul Hamm has it exactly right:

We don't know what the outcome of the meet would have been. Maybe the other gymnast (Yang) would've relaxed going into high bar (the last event), maybe he would've made a mistake. Who knows? The point is we don't know. That's why a score has to be contested by the end of an event.

Playing "What If?" turns sport into a parlor game instead of the serious competition that this is. Thus, I've changed my mind: no second gold for the Yang. Unless we find some form of corruption, like in the 2002 figure skating scandal), the final results should be just that, final. At what point does a final decision really become final? In international competition we know: in an all-around the scores are set at the end of the rotation barring a protest. The rules were followed. Paul Hamm shouldn't be put on a guilt trip for winning. Leave him alone and let him enjoy his accomplishment.

"Only One Maneuver Remains: Give Up the Gold"

"USOC 'Willing to Consider' Second Gold in Gymnastics"

[Warning spoiler below.]

Paul Hamm took the silver medal in the high bar. He tied Italy's Igor Cassina with a 9.812. Based on a "complex tiebreaking formula used in gymnastics," to use the AP's words, Cassina won. Should Hamm be able to go back to the video tape and find one of Cassina's mistakes the judges missed? Of course not. But the South Koreans (and too many overly-sentimental Americans) want to jump into the Wayback Machine and make the past perfectly fair.

"Paul Hamm Waits Out Boos, Then Wins Silver"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Sports at 05:20 PM | Comments (2)

There's Gold in Those Medals

With all that's happening with the Olympics you just want to read economics and business posts, right? Er, probably not. But check out the latest Carnival of the Capitalists.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Economics at 02:14 AM | Comments (0)

Setting Drudge Straight

Drudge is trying to pump up Pat Buchanan's new book and himself by claiming he got some scoop. "DRUDGE breaks the embargo on the book."

Wrong!

The book's been on sale since last week, and you can get it from Amazon through the link Drudge provides.

If you want the book just go to your nearest Barnes & Noble. More than likely it will be prominently displayed since Buchanan has plenty of media exposure.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Books at 01:36 AM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2004

The Real Dream Team

"Iraq Pulls Off Another Soccer Stunner" [via Drudge]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Sports at 06:45 PM | Comments (2)

Keeping Hardball Clean

TAM asks and someone delivers. Ed Moltzen offers up the 04.27.04 Hardball where Chris Matthews lets John Kerry spout out about President Bush's National Guard record:

MATTHEWS: What went out, it basically tracks what you did the other day on “Good Morning America.” And the question your staff put out, under your name, is, is Bush telling the truth, President Bush, when he said he had no special privileges or favoritism in jumping 150 places to get in the Air Guard in Texas?

What do you think about that? Is that something you care about? You want to know the truth?

KERRY: He ought to answer that question.

But wait, there's more! Matthews then practically asks Kerry if Bush should prove he wasn't AWOL:

MATTHEWS: Is it accountable—should the president be accountable for skipping that—that physical when he was in the military?

KERRY: It‘s up to—it‘s up to Americans to decide.

MATTHEWS: Should he prove that he was in the Guard and actively involved in the Guard when he was out of town, he was in Alabama?

KERRY: Chris, as I—as I said, I‘ve never begrudged people the choice they made.

MATTHEWS: But your statement today asked for particular information.

KERRY: But once you—but once you‘ve made a choice, I think you have an obligation to fulfill the choice you‘ve made.

If you thought that was all, here's another portion of the show:

MATTHEWS: Is it relevant that you served in combat and faced enemy fire and the president of the United States did not? Is that a relevant fact, when picking a commander in chief for the next four years?

KERRY: Again, it‘s up to Americans to decide.

I'm still not done. Here's some innuendo about Bush and Cheney testifying befor the Sep. 11 committee:

KERRY: Well, everybody bought into the intelligence. How—what bothers me about this administration is they‘ve even fought the effort to get to the bottom of why the intelligence was bad.

I mean, when Roosevelt was president and Pearl Harbor took place, it was almost instantaneous that he appointed a commission and said, “We‘ve got to know exactly what happened.”

In the case of this administration, not only did they fight against it, they‘ve stonewalled it. They wanted to terminate it early. And now, for some unknown, unbelievable reason, the president of the United States actually has to testify with the vice president at his side. I don‘t get it.

MATTHEWS: Do you think he‘s—he‘s afraid that his testimony won‘t jive with the vice president‘s?

KERRY: You‘ll have to ask them what the real reason is. I noticed in his press conference that he certainly didn‘t answer that question.

MATTHEWS: I mean, they‘re not the Menendez brothers. I mean, they don‘t have some major crime to hang—hang up. You were a prosecutor. You just brought me into an area of great opportunity here.

If you had two witnesses, two material witnesses, you had two, even defendants, and they said, and they were accused of operating together in some sort of theft or whatever, and they said, “Can we testify together?” What would you have said as a prosecutor?

KERRY: Well, first of all, I don‘t like the analogy you‘re making to the president and vice president.

MATTHEWS: Well, I make the analogy, but generally, in terms of human nature, do you think people have good reason for wanting to testify together?

KERRY: Fundamentally, I think you always want people to testify on their own two feet, standing alone. And obviously, you want to be able to see what the different views are...

MATTHEWS: But he says he never makes mistakes. So why would he be afraid to do it alone?

KERRY: Ask him.

Are any of these accusations any worse than what Michelle Malkin said? My how Matthews keeps Hardball clean. It's so clean the mud's still dripping off it.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 05:56 PM | Comments (12)

Two Requests

1. Can the Weekly Standard guys running the sub Standard move off BlogSpot? They just look cheap.

2. Since Chris Matthews said, "We are going to keep things clean on this show. No irresponsible comments are going to be made on the show." TAM readers should help me find any previously "irresponsible comments" to help Chris "keep things clean."
   

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Miscellaneous at 05:24 PM | Comments (4)

Hardboiled

Hardball hasn't been on my required watching list since the 2000 Florida election mess. I briefly caught Michelle Malkin on the show, and how Chris Matthews laid into her. I especially liked Matthews' false piusness when he said, "We are going to keep things clean on this show. No irresponsible comments are going to be made on the show."

Matthews also did a fine job twisting up Larry Thurlow with process questions about the Bush campaign Thurlow would know nothing about. He barely addressed Thurlow's claims about Kerry.

Needless to say, I won't be TiVo-ing Hardball anytime soon.

"Ambush Journalism...Or My Evening with Caveman Chris Matthews"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)

Post-Vietnam Kerry

The Swiftvets have a new ad. It's better than the first one because it's not a he said/he said debate. It's just Kerry's (in)famous Senate testamony in 1971 and the Swiftvets' reaction. These men were hurt and demoralized by Kerry's words. Also, it focuses on Kerry's barely-covered anti-war activities and his inability to appologize for "language [that] was sometimes excessive."

As the Washington Post reports, the Swiftvets are getting under Kerry Edwards' skins. One spokesman said, "Maybe if George Bush had seen combat up close his hired-gun mouthpiece wouldn't be so flip." Another took a page (or film cell) from Michael Moore and said, "Mr. McClellan needs to understand that John Kerry is not the type of leader who will sit and read My Pet Goat to a group of second-graders while America is under attack." These statements support the Bush campaign's notion that Kerry is "losing his cool."

If this ad gets people wondering about Kerry's anti-war efforts the next logical step would be to hammer on his Senate voting record on defense and intelligence issues. Bush is running radio ads in Wiscsonsin attacking Kerry for his lack of attendance at Senate Intelligence hearings. Steven Taylor has been writing about how little attention has been placed on that key information as to what policy would be in a Kerry Edwards administration. What happened in Washington, D.C., not Vietnam is where this election will be won.

[As a sidenote: The Washington Post also reports that the Swiftvets raised $300,000 through the internet (TAM's as cool as Wired News). Those Deaniac pioneers must sick to their stomachs that their techniques are being used against them.]

"The New Swift Ad"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 04:18 PM | Comments (1)

Sorry Guys

Olympic babe, Jennie Finch won't be posing for Playboy. Instead, she hopes acting and sports broadcasting are in her future.

"Would Finch Ever Pose Nude?"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Sports at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)

Hamm's Medal Tainted?

Gymnastics judges admit they made a mistake that cost South Korean gymnast Yang Tae-young a gold that was awarded to Paul Hamm. The judges based their scoring on a 9.9 scale even though Yang's same routine was scored on 10 scale in the team qualifying and finals. A one-tenth addition would have vaulted (pun intended) Yang from bronze to gold beating Hamm by 0.051.

The International Gynmastics Federation (FIG) won't change the results saying the South Korean team didn't protest the score at the time of the rotation. Knowing Hamm had a long way to go to be in contention, they may have not been as adament in their complaint. After the fact, they realize how important the mistake was.

The FIG refuses to release the judges' names, but the AP reports Spain's Benjamin Bango and Columbia's Oscar Buitrago Reyes set the 9.9 starting value and the U.S.'s George Beckstead was the panel chairman. Others may have been involved, but only three judges were suspended. I want to know if these same judges worked the team qualifying and finals. If so, how could such an obvious mistake take place?

Should Paul Hamm give up his gold medal? Did he actually earn it? Would sportsmanship dictate he return the gold and accept the silver?

Paul Hamm earned that medal. He fell on the landing of his vault, yet turned some spectacular performances on his other events to leap from 12th place to 1st. Hamm had no power over the judges. He didn't force a screw up of Olympian proportions. Hamm only did what he had to do, and that's tumble and fly like he never did before. Someone who did so much doesn't deserved to be punished by an uncontrollable error.

Yet Yang also shouldn't be punished for something outside his control. He was denied a gold because some judges couldn't get their act together.

Reporters are comparing this judging mess to the figure skating fiasco in 2002 in Salt Lake City. Corrpution took place there, while incompetance happened in Athens. Even the South Koreans aren't complaining of corruption even though an American was one of the judges. Olympic officials came to a solution in 2002 by awarding two sets of gold medals. Awarding golds to both Hamm and Yang would be the best ending.

"Judging Error Led to Hamm's Gold"

"Hamm's Gold Was in Error, but He'll Keep It"

"Hamm to Keep Gold Despite Error"

"Shades of Salt Lake City for South Korea?"

"Do the Right Thing--Give S. Korean a Gold Medal, Too"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Sports at 03:15 PM | Comments (1)

August 20, 2004

Lots of Good News

Who knows if I'll get any posting done since after work I'll be going to a Metallica concert. Here are some all-around feel good news items to satisfy your TAM cravings:

• Olympic champion, Paul Hamm is a busy man, but in a very, very good way.
  

• Carly Patterson makes it a gold-medal sweep in the gynmastics all-around for the U.S. She becomes only the second American to claim that prize. On the downside, she had to shine after Paul Hamm's now-legendary performance, and she had to do it before a half-filled arena.
  

• Good news for President Bush. Wisconsin's unemployment rate fell below 5%.
  

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Miscellaneous at 12:43 AM | Comments (2)

August 19, 2004

I'm Pumped

After Captain Ed's reporting of a Minnesota Bush event, I want G.W. to get back to SE Wisconsin soon so I can see him.

"Bush Ignites St. Paul, Norm Coleman Provides The Match"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 11:42 PM | Comments (0)

Kerry's House of Ketchup #23

Kerry speaks.

Last week, golf became a higher priority than politics. This edition of Kerry's House of Ketchup is short and sweet. I'm also highlighting some weblogs I've rarely or ever linked to help you broaden your blogospheric reading.

• The Swiftvets are getting under Kerry's skin. So, he harshly denounces them as doing Bush's "dirty work" and as nothing but a"front for the Bush campaing." Are they anymore of a front for Bush as MoveOn.org is for Kerry?
  

• Kerry doesn't just have an abortion problem (that's gotten little coverage) but a religion problem too.
  

• Beldar summarized Kerry adviser Richard Holbrooke's view of a Kerry administration's foreign policy, "If elected, John Kerry (and his likely secretary of state) will return us to the posture we were in on September 10, 2001."
  

• Max Boot finds Kerry's foreign policy a "muddle." [via No Left Turns]

• A Kerry quote in the Washington Post is just loaded with multiple levels of meaning and insight into the candidate.
  

• If you're having trouble following all the Swiftvets angle's (like me) Penraker has a summary.
  

• According to Jay Reding, Kerry Edwards isn't dealing well with the Swiftvets.
  

• Russell Wardlow found another Teresa Tantrum.
  

• John Hawkins fisks John Kerry's GQ interview.

Join in the fun by linking to the House of Ketchup. If you have an MT-powered weblog, just trackback to this post, and it will appear below. If your weblog software is incapable of trackbacks use Kevin's Trackback Form.

[Thanks go to the John F. Kerry Media Relations Center for the Sen. Zoop's "voice." Cheap gimmick not endorsed by Glenn Reynolds.]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)

Solid Gold

The highs and lows for gymnast Paul Hamm were extreme. After his third event, the vault, his chances for claiming a men's all-around medal looked impossible. Hamm says he was tired, and that's why he fell down on his landing. But Hamm got back up and didn't quit. He impressed the judges with his parallel bars routine and made everyone's jaw drop with his high bar routine. In the end, Wisconsin native Paul Hamm rose from disaster to become the first men's all-around champion in American history.

"Golden Finish"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 10:41 AM | Comments (1)

Crack in Swiftvet's Story

Swiftvet, Larry Thurlow, claims Kerry's bronze star award was "totally fabricated" because his boat wasn't under fire when he was patrolling with Kerry on March 13, 1969. Thurlow's bronze star citation says otherwise. Thurlow's explanation is "It's like a Hollywood presentation here, which wasn't the case."

"Records Counter a Critic of Kerry"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 10:31 AM | Comments (2)

August 18, 2004

I'm Sensing a Pattern

One Democratic U.S. Senator fibbing on his Vietnam service record is an anomaly. Two [and here] makes it awfully suspicious. Is there another Democrat with an inflated war record dumb enough to challenge the blogosphere?

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 02:01 PM | Comments (4)

Chide PETA

PETA wants to use Ronald Reagan in an ad campaign to promote vegetarianism. That's the tasteless part. The dumb part is they're taking a web poll asking for others' opinions. Let's stuff the ballot to give PETA a clear signal that Reagan's image shouldn't be used for wacky Lefty causes. (Then go out and get a big, juicy steak.)

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Culture of Death at 01:41 PM | Comments (2)

Read Kerry v. O'Neill

For those of you who didn't get to see the 1971 Kerry/O'Neill debate on C-SPAN, PrestoPundit found a transcript.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 02:11 AM | Comments (0)

Weblog Math

Bonfire + bread = toast.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Weblogging at 01:08 AM | Comments (0)

First Impressions: "Creamfields"

This is the first in what I hope will be an on-going series where I listen to an album for the first time and jot down my first impressions--hence the name. An album that doesn't have a great first impression shouldn't imply it's no good. Maybe at the time of my first listen I'm not in the mood for music genre (or in no good mood at all). It's possible for an album to "grow on a person--like mold." [Ten brownie points to the first person to tell me what sit-com that quote came from.] Conversely, an album that has a good first impression may not have the staying power of, say, Sugar's Copper Blue. Individuals evolve, and their tastes evolve with them. The first victim is Paul Oakenfold's new two-CD dance mix Creamfields.

The first disk is filled with hands-in-the-air trance that's full of melodies and hooks but isn't cheesy. Oakenfold's forte is picking excellent songs you can dance and hum along to. These songs send me to the version of the massive Creamfields festival running wild inside my head.

Disk 2 starts off with a more moderate pace and a break beats. "One Day" by NuBreed & Luke Chable sounds more like a electronicized pop song rather than an dance anthem. Things get revved up with Girl Nobody's "Cages" and continues on with The Sneaker's "Scatterbomb." Oakenfold gets back to the epic trance sound with Stel & Good Newz's "Particle" and his remix of U2's "Beautiful Day."

Creamfields is a solid dance collection. It contains melody, vocals, and plenty of irresistible, body-grooving rhythms.As long as Paul Oakenfold sticks to mix albums he's fine. It's when he does solo projects that we should cringe.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Music at 01:00 AM | Comments (2)

Getting Closer

Daniel Pipes is pleased the President is inching his way to formally acknowledging the enemy we're at war with.

"Naming the Enemy"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Terrorism at 12:03 AM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2004

The Olympic Spirit

If you're reading this you're probably not in Athens competing in the Olympics. If you feel bad about this don't fret. You can help John Kerry in the Flip Flop Olympics.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 11:42 PM | Comments (0)

BloggerCon III

BloggerCon III (Return of the Weblogger?) will be 11.06 at Stanford Law School. Even though it could be a Lefty love fest should John Kerry win on Election Day (the techno-utopianism would be running wild) I'd love to go. I haven't been to California in almost 20 years and never to Northern California. Unfortunately the date is in the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, and my store needs all the able bodies at that time. Dave Winer and friends will have to find another token conservative for their gathering.

"BloggerCon III date -- Saturday, November 6, 2004"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Weblogging at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)

Beatallica Revealed

Ever since a weird combination of Metallica and The Beatles started floating around the Net last year, all we knew about Beatallica was they were from the Midwest. I figured their home was Chicago given the Windy City's population and bigger music scene. Nope. Michael Brandenburg, A.K.A. Krk Hammettson, and his fellow four horsemen all call Milwaukee home.

"Meet the Milwaukeeans Who Meld Metallica, Beatles"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Music at 01:27 AM | Comments (0)

That Makes Two of Us

Stephen Green is "thorougly confused" about the whole John Kerry-David Alston link. So am I. If the two of us, both fairly intelligent and cogent enough to attract more than two readers, are confused imagine Joe Schmo who may only casually glance at the Kerry's possible imbelishments/lies about Vietnam while watching the Olympics. We're seeing lots of research being done in public in the blogosphere (start with Captain Ed), but no one has collected all the scattered bits and presented them in a way the public can understand. Until that happens this story will have little effect on the election.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 12:16 AM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2004

Frustrated

NRO's Kerry Spot would be spot on as a great weblog, but there's no permalinks. Since it looks like a weblog and reads like a weblog, then they should go all the way. It's not like NRO doesn't know anything about weblogs.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 11:57 PM | Comments (0)

Culture vs. Prosperity

A growing economy based on computers, electronics, and other gizmos needs energy. Gas, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, whatever, we need power or the machines will stop running, the cars will stop moving, and material improvement will grind to a halt. Oil prices have been high for months, long enough for serious alternatives to be considered. One is liquified natural gas (LNG) transported from overseas on large tanker ships. When the LNG arrives here it can immediately be put to use. It has to have its temperature raised so it can go into the natural gas pipeline network. Thus there is a need to build facilities to take in LNG.

The Passamaquoddy tribe in Maine will be voting tomorrow whether to turn over one-quarter of their reservation to a LNG facility. The Passamaquoddies are poor, and the facility will bring in 70 21st Century jobs (not all of them will go to tribe members) along with the halo of economic benefit that comes with them.

Critics inside the tribe worry that tradition will be lost. If continued poverty (half of the tribe is unemployed) and economic stagnation is tradition, then yes it will be lost to good jobs. It's wrong to assume the Passamaquoddy arrived in North America and stopped evolving culturally and socially over the centuries. I'm confident the tribesmen aren't living in huts and spending hours collecting and hunting for food like their ancestors did. So already some of their tradition has been lost.

As in all aspects of life, tradeoffs are required. The Passamaquoddy can drop the proposed LNG plant and try to find another way out of their poverty. Or they can embrace the economic benefits from the plant and use that gain to save the parts of the culture they feel are most important.

Just look at the rest of the world today. You will find that the richer a nation the more culture is created. This is because once individual needs are satisfied, people can use their surplus on culture--both high and low. Ironically, the best way for the Passamaquoddy to save their culture is to embrace the modern world.

"Maine Tribe Offers Home for Natural Gas Depot"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Economics at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)

Kerry: Fullbright Scholar

In the running subplot of the election, Kerry Sisters vs. Bush Twins, Vanessa Kerry scored a major accomplishment.

"Kerry Daughter Receives Fulbright Grant in Medicine" [via OTB]

UPDATE: Thankfully, Steven Taylor, a Fullbright Scholar himself, nips the "Vanessa doesn't deserve it because she has a rich family" quip in the bud. Let us also realize that even though Vanessa's stepmother is a billionaire she has no legal or moral claim on the Heinz fortune. We all have to take off the cynical, partisan glasses sometimes.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)

Waiting Game

The NY Times' Dave Anderson has some interesting prognostication for Whistling Straits' future:

Look for the 2012 United States Open to be awarded to Whistling Straits by the United States Golf Association, which has already committed to holding its 2007 Senior Open here.

"The U.S.G.A. people liked what they saw early in the week when they were here," said Herbert V. Kohler Jr., the plumbing-fixtures magnate who owns the course. And in June, when the Open is always held, he added, "it's going to be nasty for two reasons - the weather is a little more severe, more wind and occasional fog, and the rough would be more difficult."

B