Eight Feet Deep

Well, my professional acquaintance didn’t get the nod for vice presidential pick from Barack but this blog’s favorite fashion model did recently win the coveted title of Miss Teen USA.

Heath Waldrop of the Ashley News Observer in Crossett, Ark., e-mailed me the news on Aug. 17 and I just now got to open it because it was on the blog’s e-mail account (that’s a long story and I don’t have long.)

Yes, lovely 18-year-old Stevi Perry of Hamburg, Ark., whose highlights I have been keeping up with due to a nice e-mail her mother Kelli once wrote me won the honor recently at the pageant held in the Bahamas. I don’t exactly understand holding the Miss Teen USA pageant in the Bahamas, that would be kind of like holding the Miss Teen Bahamas in Beaumont, Texas, though not really at all.

But congratulations to Stevi, who says according to her Miss Teen USA bio that she will be attending film school in New York during her reign, tenure or whatever it is when one becomes Miss Teen USA. We hope she becomes a big star so we can say we (virtually) knew you way back when.

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.