Category: Orphans

As Barack Obama gets his text message fingers ready to announce a Veep choice, there once again has surfaced a glimmer of hope for some sanity in a Democratic presidential ticket.

Some officials have indicated U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, has made Obama’s short list for vice presidential nominee. Edwards’ name was first floated recently by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. And as I have indicated before, since Chet is the only potential Veep candidate I know and I feel is a decent guy, I would welcome the news of his being tapped for No. 2 on the Dem ticket. Also, once in the Capitol basement, Chet once bought me a glass of iced tea in the cafeteria so he can’t be all bad.

Now I really wouldn’t support a candidate just because Edwards and I are professional acquaintances. I have tons of acquaintances, both personal and professionals, who are total s**theads. Rather, my knowledge of where Chet has excelled such as in veterans and military affairs are among the reasons I would most likely support an Obama-Edwards team. Otherwise, I’m not sure if I could support an Obama-Anybody team.

So, I won’t get my hopes up but will say ahead of time that it will be a genuine surprise and even delight if Obama picks Chet Edwards as his running mate. But, as I have also said before, doing the deed that makes sense usually is the last act one sees in a presidential campaign although stranger things have happened.

I suppose Internet karma is not allowing me to link items today no
matter to what venue I choose. So if you want to know about American
beach volleyball godesses Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh then you
will have to search like I did.

It isn't that I have fanatically followed the Olympics this year but
it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the likes of Michael
Phelps and his eight golds and now the two spectacular beach
volleyball stars beating the Chinese for their second gold medals.
There is little else I can say today except Misty and Kerri pretty
much rock. Oh, and the Chinese "women" gymnasts, 16 years old. Right.

The biggest political game right now is the “Veep Stakes” or “Whoseitgonnabe?” I am sure some enterprising college students could make it a drinking contest — something such as a chug is mandated whenever one hears the name “Joe Biden” or “Joe Lieberman.”

Is McCain really considering Lieberman for VP? That would be a very strange choice, I think. What would really be ironic is if we had another 2000 fiasco-standoff in Florida and this time a bunch of smug young Democrats would be standing in front of cameras and talking on their cell phones while holding signs that read: “McCain-Loserman.”

There are several smart choices Obama could make — Biden if he keeps his trap shut or Bill Richardson or a few others — but both presumptive presidential candidates will probably pick some slug who will “guarantee” them a victory.

Ah, let the games — if they haven’t already — begin.

What’s with the — already?

The “interactive bug” seems to be biting more and more of our newspaper Web sites. It is a trend that I find somewhat repulsive not so much because I think news sites should repress feedback. It is just that a lot of times you see more of your own community, your own culture even, than you would really like. Such displays also raise the chances for many dire unintended consequences from pronouncements that are just colossal knee-jerking.

Take some of these comments on my local daily newspaper Web site regarding a story of great interest in our area over a shocking crime. While I have a visceral reaction not unlike some of my fellow Southeast Texans, I can only wonder what effect such open observations might have on a potential jury pool. Also, I ponder how such reactions compounded by thousands of news media sites now and in the future might have on jurisprudence in general.

My thoughts have nothing to do with being tough or soft on those who break the law. Instead, it’s a selfish notion but one I feel every American has the right to chew over: What if I were arrested for some crime I didn’t commit? What if it was you? I believe the Innocence Project and other instances where people were found to be unjustly convicted makes such a question an even more legitimate in this day and age.

Tragedies such as this one in our area — still fraught with many unanswered questions — are bad enough. But a rush to judgment in this and any other crime does nothing good if the guilty party or parties go free.

My fair city has gotten itself a new minor league basketball team.

It isn’t hard for me to restrain myself from great jubilation over the news. First of all, basketball just doesn’t do it for me and by “it” I mean anything. It was fun to play pickup games until I broke my pinkie during the first week of fire academy. I sort of had a vague interest when the Rockets made the NBA championships during the OJ Days. And women’s college basketball can be semi-entertaining to me. But needless to say, if pro basketball doesn’t thrill me the American Basketball Association just doesn’t have a chance with me.

The problem is that our county built this big entertainment complex out on Interstate 10 some years back with an arena and outside amphitheater — just the thing in our subtropical Augusts with 90-plus heat and similar numbers for humidity. And since that time they have been trying to get people to come to it. You know, build it and they will …

First they obtained a minor league hockey team. That was even more out of place in Beaumont, Texas, than minor league basketball. But minor league hockey has flourished in some small markets where the owners aggressively pursued a fan base. But the Texas Wildcatters didn’t make it. As for the semi-pro arena football team, the Drillers (get the oilfield connection), I don’t know how successful they’ve been. I kind of like the idea of arena-style football. It features a lot of passing like 6-man football but I don’t like the idea of that kind of football being indoors.

So we have the Southeast Texas Mustangs as our new minor league team. Here in the land of Friday Night Lights where high school ball is king and in a year or two from now the local Lamar University Cardinals will once again play collegiate ball. All I got to say to the Mustangs is lotsa luck!