Monthly Archives: September 2007

September 16, 2007 · 10:38 pm

Bill Belichick Thrown For Loss

What’s with Coach Bill Belichick?

Along with the rest of Patriots Nation, I was shocked by this video taping fiasco. What an embarrassment for a franchise that had earned a lofty reputation throughout the country for three Super Bowl wins in the last six years.

Now we’re left to wonder if violating NFL rules had something to do with the team’s successes.

I keep thinking that the gains for the Patriots from video taping the defensive signals of an opponent from the sidelines are minimal. The fact that the practice violates the NFL rulebook makes it even less appealing you would think.

However, not to Coach Belichick. The taping took place in the first game of this season and the NFL stepped in. The punishment – $750,000 & a first round draft pick – seemed way out of line for the violation to me. NFL management, however, may have been punishing the coach’s arrogance as much as the deed itself.

The New York Daily News reported on September 16th that you could go into some electronic web sites and purchase binoculars that have built-in video capabilities. If the Patriots were that eager to pick up their opponent’s defensive signals why not park someone in the first row of the stands and have them use that perfectly legal equipment?

I believe that someday we will learn what Coach Belichick’s motivation was and how long the practice had been going on. I can guarantee you that the information will not come from the coach himself. The Songo River Queen is more responsive than he is! Some insider will spill the beans for a price and then we will all know.

But the damage has been done and the team we admire will be described hereafter as “cheaters” and every victory past and present labeled, “tainted.”

( Appeared in the Bridgton News – September 16, 2007 )

John Tierney Still Wrong on Iraq

We learned in the Salem News September 11th (“Tierney challenges general’s update on Iraq”) that our Congressman John Tierney is unhappy with the report given by General David Petraeus regarding Iraq. If the report of General Petraeus was predictable then Mr. Tierney’s reaction was predictable as well.

To offset the positive progress report Mr. Tierney feebly attempted to belittle the message. It didn’t work. General Petraeus comes across as John Roberts did in the Supreme Court hearings and so straw-grasping verbal assaults on either of them make the assaulters look like the nonstop partisans they really are. Osama Bin Laden in his recent appearance on CNN (Caveman News Network) was better at making his point.

Mr. Tierney seems to think that it is possible to support the troops but not the mission. I strongly believe that he cannot have it both ways. His reaction to General Petraeus’s report and his other attempts to undermine our efforts in Iraq ultimately raise the risks our troops face there. Pull out in a hurry? The enemy sees a light at the end of the tunnel and has more reason to continue. The purpose of this war is to destroy the will of the terrorists. They need to become convinced that their disruptions in Iraq and elsewhere accomplish little. A well-arranged combination of leadership, manpower, and willpower can get this done.

I also worry that Mr. Tierney has a huge blind spot regarding the aftermath of our withdrawal from Vietnam. We betrayed the people that supported us there and we emboldened evil folks elsewhere with that betrayal. Ignorant of that history Mr. Tierney dangerously wishes for our country to betray yet another area of the world and appears unconcerned about the near-certain consequences.

His approach is unfortunate and dangerous. Was he elected for life?

( Appeared in the Salem Evening News – September 15, 2007 )

Teaching Moments in Minnesota

There are lessons to be learned from the recent happenings in Minnesota. Let me go through a couple of them.

First, we have this ongoing furor over repairing the 1A bridge over the Parker River in Newbury. Was the bridge calamity in Minnesota not shown on local TV?

The bridge in Newbury needs repair. The best time to repair a bridge is before it collapses not the way it worked out in Minnesota. Inconvenient? You bet, but how about considering the flipside, could you?

I read of the appeals to various politicians to stop the process and wonder why any of the politicians bother to listen to any of this nonsense. It sure wouldn’t look too hot on a politician’s resume to say that he/she stopped, or tried to stop, the repair of a bridge that badly needed repair.

The idea that the bridge would be kept open while they work on major repairs is laughable. It is somewhat like asking for major surgery while insisting that you will continue jogging while the surgery is taking place. Close the bridge down completely so that the work can be done without interruption.

Soon we’ll be hearing from folks insisting that the bridge be repaired quickly. Patience they don’t have. We’re talking about a potentially life-saving operation and these people will want it done fast. Try that one on your doctor before he performs open-heart surgery.

The work on the bridge should begin as soon as possible and be allowed to take as long as necessary.

Also in Minnesota we had an unfortunate lesson learned at Minneapolis Airport by Idaho Senator Larry Craig. This pathetic Republican tried to strike up a sexual relationship with a complete male stranger in a bathroom there.

The stranger happened to be working for the police department and arrested the Senator. The Senator hoped that a quick admission of guilt would put an end to his problems but it didn’t go that way. Soon there were denials which failed miserably especially since a tape with the Senator’s confession was handy to repute the denials.

The lesson that Senator Craig should have learned in Minnesota was that he was representing the wrong state and in the wrong political party. If he had only been from Massachusetts the idea of resignation wouldn’t even have been an option. He could have trusted the voters of this state to let him continue no matter what he did.

After all this state voted to let Democrat Ted Kennedy continue in the Senate even after he fled the scene of an accident that turned fatal because of his negligence. After all this state also let Democrat Barney Frank continue in the House of Representatives after he was picked up for allowing a male hooker to run a prostitution ring out of his apartment. Frank’s conduct was so deplorable that even the Boston Globe abandoned him but not the voters of this state.

It’s one thing for voters to lack good sense but people living near a dangerous bridge should know better.