Friday, June 30, 2006

Someone Should Put a Sock in John Rocker's Mouth

That statement is a bit of a pun, as Rocker's latest comments have come at the expense of White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. I shouldn't even state it like that, because, really, Rocker stood up for Guillen's recent homosexual slur of Chicago sportswriter Jay Mariotti.

Rocker said regarding the incident, "This is a free country. If he wants to use a lewd term, he should be able to use a lewd term. Can't you use a lewd term in America if you want?"

John Rocker has run into some trouble himself when it comes to slurs. In an interview for Sports Illustrated a few years ago, Rocker took swipes at gays, Asians, immigrants, and African-Americans. He referred to an African-American teammate of his as a "fat monkey," mocked Asian women, said regarding immigrants, "How the hell did they get in this country?", and commented that he could never play for a New York team, because he couldn't ride a train "next to some queer with AIDS."

Someone should do John Rocker a favor and shove a sock in his mouth, so that whenever he decides to make an ignorant comment, he can taste the nastiness that's about to escape his mouth. Yes John, it is a free country. You can say whatever "lewd terms" you'd like. It's just sad that some people have to resort to such "lewd terms."

Whatever Rocker wants to say, his career came to a complete halt the season after he made those comments to SI. He had been a very successful closer for the Atlanta Braves prior to that, but never returned to form. I had kind of rooted for the guy, hoped that the article was blown out of proportion, and that he really wasn't such a punk after all, but the more I hear or read the man's words, the more I realize that the article summed him up pretty accurately.

Link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2499926

Thursday, June 29, 2006

"Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang"

Usually, I just reviews and shout-outs to films I saw in the theater. But, this film I just saw recently did not play in a theater nearby, so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. For people who love wisecracks and smart aleck humor, check out this film! I must say, it was like watching my family and I talking to one another. It was a thing of beauty. I honestly haven't seen too many films with this kind of humor and it was a thing of beauty. Robert Downey Jr. has some good lines, but the king wisecrack in this film is Val Kilmer, who plays a gay detective and goes by the name Gay Perry. For those that don't enjoy smart aleck comments, then you may want to view another film, like "Date Movie." But, I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it and along with "The Matador" and "Thank You For Smoking," I think this is probably the funniest movie I've seen in the past year!

Another Bin Laden Tape Upcoming

Don't say I didn't warn you. Upcoming within three days will be a five-minute long Bin Laden audio tape, where "he" speaks of al-Zarqawi's death. Yeah, it'll be fake. I can't remember a dead man speaking on an audio tape, but whatever. So, for those of you out there who watch the mainstream news and hear about this tape in a couple days, please don't be alarmed. Who knows whose voice it actually is, but trust me, it's not a dead Bin Laden's.

Top Ten NFL Quarterbacks

No, this isn't a funny Top Ten list. I watched an NFL special on ESPN a couple nights ago, where they ranked teams by their quarterbacks for the upcoming season. I thought I'd do the same thing. Let me first mention a couple that just missed the cut: Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, Miami's new gunslinger Daunte Culpepper, and Jake "The Snake" Plummer of Denver.

10. Green Bay Packers (Brett Favre)- Yeah, the guy is getting up their in age, but still has one of the biggest hearts and drives in the game. He may force things a bit at times, by slinging the ball in spots where he shouldn't, but that's because, as we've all witnessed, he has been able to complete those in the past. With Javon Walker off to Green Bay, it'll be interesting to see what Favre can do this year. Hopefully, he'll end his career on a better note than he would have had he retired after last season.

9. Jacksonville Jaguars (Byron Leftwich)- One of the up and comers in the NFL. Speaking of rockets for arms, this guy has one. With Jimmy Smith retiring, a youngster needs to step up at the wide receiver position, potentially Reggie Williams, Ernest Wilford, or Matt Jones. With the Jaguars' tenacious defense and Byron's leadership, Jacksonville should again be in the hunt come playoff time. They may need someone to offensively step-up other than Leftwich, though.

8. New Orleans Saints (Drew Brees)- Brees' only concern coming into the season is his fully recovering from a surgery in the off-season. Brees has put together two very efficient seasons with the San Diego Chargers, who foolishly let him go in favor of Phillip Rivers (who will not be making this list, surprise, surprise). Brees had a great tight end to throw to and a great tailback in San Diego. He has many more weapons to work with in New Orleans, with veteran receiver Joe Horn, up and comer Donte Stallworth, and two do-everything tailbacks in Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush. While it may take a while for Brees and the offense to gel, when they finally do, it'll be something to watch!

7. Pittsburgh Steelers (Ben Roethlisberger)- This will be a testing year for Big Ben. He has been a hybrid of Trent Dilfer and Tom Brady early in his career. He's been a steady leader at times, but has also been asked not to lose. Roethlisberger will have to showcase more of that leadership this year, with the retirement of Jerome Bettis and losing Antwaan Randle-El to free agency. He still has some weapons around him in veteran wideout Hines Ward, tight end Heath Miller, and tailback Willie Parker, but Ben will need to step up this year more than he has in the past. If he stays focused, he should have no problem doing that.

6. Carolina Panthers (Jake Delhomme)- Most the analysts on ESPN called Trent Green the most underrated quarterback in the NFL, followed closely by Trent Dilfer. In my opinion, Jake Delhomme is the most underrated quarterback in football. Who had heard of this guy until three years ago when he led the Panthers to the Super Bowl? He hasn't let up since that point. Even last year, when tailback Stephen Davis got old and the running game was inefficient for the majority of the season, Delhomme was able to carry the team on his back (figuratively speaking, of course), and lead them to a playoff berth. This guy is a leader, a warrior, and a winner.

5. Atlanta Falcons (Michael Vick)- The most dangerous dual-threat quarterback in the game is this guy, Michael Vick. McNabb, Culpepper, Vince Young, Aaron Brooks, and others don't come close. Atlanta finished the season ranked 12th in offense and 1st in rushing offense for the second consecutive season, due in large part, to the presence of Vick. He has a great chemistry throwing the ball to tight end Alge Crumpler and veteran wideout Brian Finneran. Vick will need to develop that kind of chemistry with one of his young receivers, either Michael Jenkins or Roddy White. With this being his third season in the West Coast offense, and from a numbers standpoint, the offense improving both seasons in the system, we can expect more improvements for Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons offense this year.

4. Cincinnati Bengals (Carson Palmer)- Carson's coming off an injury in the playoffs, but that didn't stop me from putting him in the top 4. The guy is one of the most, if not the most mechanically sound passer in the NFL. When it comes to passing mechanics, next to Palmer, Vince Young would be a waterboy. He also has a couple sound receivers to throw to, in Chad Johnson and T.J. Housmanzadeh. Underrated tailback Rudi Johnson is also an effective presence to help balance the offense some.

3. Philadelphia Eagles (Donovan McNabb)- Yeah, Vick is the most dangerous dual-threat quarterback, but McNabb is currently the most polished dual-threat quarterback. McNabb has developed chemistry with the majority of his receivers. Running is a last resort for Donovan anymore, but he can scamper off and gain a few here and there. The guy is a leader, a winner, and it'll be a much cooler and calmer clubhouse without T.O.'s drama. Don't forget, without T.O., McNabb led the Eagles to the NFC Championship Game.

2. Indianapolis Colts (Peyton Manning)- Not #1? What? Yeah, now that you know #2, it's probably pretty obvious who I have at #1, isn't it? Manning may hold the records. He may have more weapons than anyone else in the NFL to throw to, in Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Brandon Stokley, and Dallas Clark, but the guy just has not found a way to get it done in the playoffs. Dan Marino is one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the game, but when it came to crunch time and the all important number (wins), for some reason, he couldn't compete with the likes of Joe Montana and others. Unfortunately, that's been the case with Peyton Manning as well thus far. But, enough negative talk. I did rank the guy #2, didn't I? There's only one guy better than him in my mind and that is...

1. New England Patriots (Tom Brady)- The good ol' 6th round pick out of Michigan. The guy won last year when Corey Dillon was slowed down, Rodney Harrison got hurt, the defense was very ineffective, and all the pressure was placed upon him to win ball games. For the most part, Brady won ball games. He lead the league in passing yards, but that wasn't enough, because of the ineffective ground game and defense. Brady is a born winner and with the help of his defense, he'll be in the running for a 4th Super Bowl ring. I'm not saying they're going to win it all this year, but if Brady isn't forced to throw the ball 40-50 times a game and score 4-5 touchdowns, he'll come out on top at the end of most ball games.

Some Need to Stay at the Shallow End

Why do I say this? Some people are not very deep thinkers and that's being nice. They're about as deep as a cupcake holder and again, that's being nice. I say this in response to some comments I received regarding a book I wrote. The comments weren't even mean or negative, but they were the kind of comments where I was stunned into silence, with one question lingering in my mind, "What?"

I wrote a book of poetry and released that not long ago. At the very start of the book, the introduction, I wrote about my inspirations, my influences, and my intentions. There were three major intentions with the book: 1) To provoke thought, 2) To open minds, and 3) To touch on emotions. I tried to write many of them in a novel format, where there's a main character, thoughts and feelings of that main character are expressed, and the message or moral of the story is known by the end. There were other poems where I took on controversial issues, tackled politics, religion, and even played around with a few odd ideas. As I tried explaining from the start, these were written to provoke thought and open minds. They were not written as a black and white way of saying, "This is how it is. This is right. That is wrong. Deal with it." I tried to go against the mainstream in many of these poems, in attempt to widen horizons and expand boundaries of readers. I believe that many times, from when we're first born, we have decisions made for us, have beliefs shoved down our throats, and have little choice to decide for ourselves what it is we actually think or feel about an issue. By the time we have that option, it may be so ingrained in us, that it's too late to open our minds to anything else. I know that and that was one key motivation for me to write these poems.

I just heard from a friend last night that he shared my book with a friend of his and someone I've known for a while. I guess she pointed to a poem that she felt was about a man using a woman for sex and said it was "so true." Then, she commented that she doesn't agree with my political views. It's not like when I read a novel, I see it as being black and white, true or not. Novels are fictional (not true). They're fictional or sometimes fantasy journeys to travel on, as the reader confides in a main character and travels with them. It's not an opinionated blog, where a person may read and nod at something they agree with or shake their head in disgust at something they don't agree with. Oddly enough, that poem wasn't even about men using women for sex. But, I won't tell her that, because, that is one beautiful thing about art, the multitude of interpretations that go along with it. What kind of bothers me is the fact that she read these things just by reading the words and not getting into the feeling of the words that were expressed. I find that it's very difficult to truly appreciate art unless we attempt to be emotionally involved with it. Most of the political ones were there to provoke thought and open minds. One deals with the idea that what we label as "conservatives" today (especially those at the top of the ladder) would not be considered conservatives by Ronald Reagan and the like. One deals with contradictions and hypocrisies. Regardless of how blind we want to be, every country has those. One attempts to illustrate the ridiculousness of labeling a person as being Anti-American for disagreeing with a presidential decision during a time of war. Another deals with the imperfections of capitalism. Yet another revolves around 9/11 and the latent consequences our country has faced because of that horrific day. These are not poems where one should agree or disagree. They're there to catch a reader's interest and hopefully provoke them to do some reading and research of their own to come to a decision for themselves and not one that was made for them years ago. Even that one where she claimed she agree with me on. Again, that's not a poem where one should either agree or disagree. That's an emotional piece that should trigger feelings, not a yes or a no.

Some people should just remain in their floaties and stay at the shallow end of the pool. They should stick to slapstick and stupid-humored comedies, read columns and op-eds, and beware of the dangers that come with swimming in the deep end. It's much easier for one's head to go underwater, at which point, their eyes must close, because things cannot be seen very clearly anymore.

The Republicants and Demobrats

I've read criticism in recent days toward the Democratic party and how they can't all agree on something, the Iraq war, in particular. While the majority of Republicans have stood by one another and said in unison, "Let's stay the course!", the Democrats have been a very divided group. Some will claim that the Democrats who are now in favor of a pull-out are flip-floppers and can't stand firmly on an issue. The two parties, how they operate, and their bickering toward one another reminds me of a time that I think the majority of people can relate to- middle and high school.

After most people seemingly got along in elementary school, many split apart, and went in different directions in the upcoming years. Cliques were numerous. Where a label could be placed upon a person, there was a clique to represent that label. In these cliques, there usually was a head spokesperson or a leader. In most scenarios, they were the ultimate decider. In certain cliques, he or she may be a dictator and not allow the others a chance to speak. Where these leaders went, the followers, well, followed. When they spoke, there were nods in unison. Whenever a person spoke out against this bully or a dictator, he or she would pay the price, either by being kicked out of the group or having nasty rumors spread about them, and boy, do those rumors ever spread around so quickly! Other cliques may operate more like a democracy, where everyone's voice is heard, but at the same time, through much talk and deliberation, decisions are harder to come by.

Sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it? Anymore, it seems like the bully (or bullies) reside in the Republican clique. For a while there, the bullies had so much force, that both cliques nodded in unison when the bully(-ies) spoke. Anymore, the bully(-ies) influence on the Democratic clique is minimal, but he/she/they still hold(s) a firm grasp on their opposing clique when it comes to certain issues. There are only about 3-5 Republicans who don't nod in unison with their leader(s). Lord only knows what they have to deal with because of that.

So, is there a better clique? A stronger one? A more warm, friendly, and comfortable one? That last question truly depends upon the person, but I think the majority would prefer the freedom and opportunity of letting their voice be heard and taking part in the decision-making process than to play the hybrid role of a mime and a prostitute. One question distinctly comes to mind for me. That is, is it better for an entire group of people to stand side by side on a decision and be wrong or for a group to disagree, argue, and bicker over an issue until they can reach a healthy compromise? People in relationships would hopefully choose the latter of the two (but not all would).

The truth is that there isn't a right answer to those questions for all scenarios. When there are certain time constraints, at least one person has to eventually step up and make the final decision. In Jeopardy, only a certain amount of time is given for a person to give an answer to the question. There isn't much time to do research, go through books, the Internet, or ask a friend (unless the show is Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?). But, when there are no actual time constraints, then there is no reason not to make the most of that time, do research, have lively conversations and debates, and come to a final conclusion that most can agree on. While I believe the Republicans may have a reason to shoot down the Democratic decision-making process if a Democratic candidate was a manager of a baseball team, they have no reason to insult this philosophy when it comes to most issues and political predicaments. To be accurate is better than to be quick. Just ask Peyton Manning.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

"NFL Head Coach" (PS2) Review

There are only two games a year that I buy for the PS2: "NCAA Football" and "Madden." But, this year, I saw some previews for a new EA Sports title called "NFL Head Coach," so I had to check it out. Yeah, I'm a football nut. This is the start of the year for football nuts like myself. "NFL Head Coach" will hold me over until "NCAA Football" and that will hold me over until "Madden" and before I know it, the actual season(s) will begin!

It being the first year for this new game, I generally knew what to expect based upon some reviews I read (and the title of the game), but you never truly know what you have in a game until you play the darn thing. If one loves the scouting, recruiting, and dynasty mode in "NCAA Football" and loves the franchise mode in "Madden," then my guess is that they'll like this game. I'm not using the word "love" here as an exaggeration. I mean, they have to truly LOVE these things. Why? Because, that's the bulk of this game. You don't get to actually play and control the players on the field. You get to be the guy on the sidelines preparing those players, calling the shots (plays), challenging calls, calling timeouts, substituting, and talking to players for either motivational or strategical purposes.

Now I'll start from the very beginning and give everyone some insight on what transpires. I made a head coach, used my name, and made him look somewhat similar (not exact, of course) to myself. I got to pick out his attire that he'd wear on different occasions: in the office, at practice, on gameday, and in cold weather. I also got to pick out my offensive and defensive philosophy. On the offensive side of the ball, I chose the single back and on the defensive side of the ball, I went with the 4-3. I also mentioned that my specialty was on offense (offensive coordinator) and that I was more a strategist than a motivator (although, looking back, I wish I had chosen motivator). Trey Wingo then appeared at the ESPN Studios talking about this new and upcoming coach that everyone is talking about. As he was saying these kind words about me, he showed highlights of this past year's Super Bowl between Pittsburgh and Seattle, because, supposedly, I was the offensive coordinator for the Steelers. This portion was pretty cool, because the highlights were very true to what really happened. They showed the record-breaking touchdown run by Steeler back Willie Parker and showed the reverse receiver pass from Antwaan Randle-El to Hines Ward. A short little scramble by Big Ben Roethlisberger was also shown on the clip.

On from there, I was told that upcoming was an interview and to grab the phone in my office and call the team that I was most interested in. So, naturally, I picked the Atlanta Falcons. I thought about picking the Detroit Lions or even a nobody like the Houston Texans, but that might be a future project. For my first project, I decided to talk to the Falcons. The interview process then took place and I was asked 20 questions, so they could gain a better understanding of my football knowledge and if I was a right fit for the team. There were a couple questions that could've gone one of two ways, depending on your own philosophy, but there were a couple others that anybody could answer. I remember one question that went something like this, "If you have a power back, what do you do with him? A) Make him your #1 receiver, B) Run a lot of sweeps and tosses, or C) Run up the middle, right at the defense." Naturally, I went with A). Just kidding. I went with C), of course. There were a couple questions like that, but there weren't too many that I had to roll my eyes enough to get a headache. Once the interview was completed, I was then notified that I had 5 offers, so I checked them out and those offers were from: the Saints, Texans, Jets, Raiders, and the Atlanta Falcons. The deals ranged anywhere from $12 million over 4 years to $2 million over a year. But, the Falcons gave me the best offer, about $16 million over 5 years, so I took that and no, not for the money. Although, that didn't hurt matters any.

After I made my decision, I was shown around in my new office, told what all I needed to know, and then got down to business. My first job was to hire and fire coaches. These coaches include: offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams coach, scouting director, offensive line coach, running back coach, quarterback coach, tight end coach, wide receiver coach, defensive line coach, linebacker coach, and defensive back coach. My special team's and linebackers' coaches contracts were up, so I had to either re-hire them or look elsewhere. The special team's coach did a decent job, it appeared, so I scheduled an interview with him, but the linebackers' coach could definitely find a job elsewhere, as could the defensive coordinator, wide receiver coach, and tight end coach. So, I fired those three other coaches, who were still under contract, and went out to interview coaches for four positions along with one specialty coach who would retain his job. The interviews went fairly well. All the coaches I had come in and talk to me received great praise from others and they seemed knowledgeable enough (more so than their predecessors), so I hired them. Next time, I may be a little tougher on how I go about hiring new coaches, but I was excited and wanted to play (coach) some football, so I was a bit anxious on hiring the coaches. Next year, I think, if their contract is not finished, I'll be firing my scouting director, quarterback coach, and maybe my offensive coordinator.

Up next on the plate was re-signing players whose contracts had expired. There's a coaches meeting every week to go over their specialties and give some input on what they think needs to be done. Sometimes this input is helpful and other times, not so much. It plays much like "The Sims," although, these people actually mutter real words and not an alien language no one could understand. After they finish whatever it was they wanted to say, one's given two options for a response. From what I've seen thus far, these options are either: 1) agree; trust increases or disagree; trust decreases or 2) agree (passive); trust decreases slightly or disagree (aggressive); trust decreases, but knowledge is potentially gained. From the outset, the owner tells the coach that trust is a key component to winning. Throughout the season, through statements and decisions made, trust will either increase, decrease, or hold steady between the coach and his position/specialty coaches, the coach and the players, the coach and the agents, and the coach and the other owners. During this time of year, most of the coaches lend insight on what the goals should be in the off-season with re-signing players. In my case, tight end Alge Crumpler's name was brought up, as was defensive end Brady Smith, and safety Keion Carpenter. Be careful during this part of the season. While each roster, in the end, will be composed of 55 players, not all the players need to be there after this period of the off-season. I just went crazy and signed about everybody. While this was fine to an extent, I ended up letting go of a few of them, in order to make room for other free agents I wanted to sign and that cost me some extra money. If you're going to do what I did, make sure you don't give players (especially the mediocre to below average ones) much bonus money, because that's the amount you'll be penalized if you sign and then let them go. After I re-signed players that had previously been on the Falcons the year prior, it was time to sign players from the larger free agent pool. Also, it's a time to make trades. These few weeks (along with the draft) is when you truly attempt to compose the team the way you see fit. Some trade offers were a bit ridiculous, I admit, but others I received were more balanced and there were even a couple where I had the definite advantage over the team who offered me the deal. This is when I went crazy. I let go of Ty Detmer and signed Shaun King to be my third-string quarterback. I traded the likes of tailbacks Warrick Dunn and T.J. Duckett away (yeah, no more DVD, I know). Because of that, I signed free agent backs Quentin Griffin and Frank Gore. I signed free agent fullback Thomas Tapeh to battle it out with Justin Griffith and Fred McCracy. I signed free agent tight end (now converted receiver) Antonio Gates. Defensive end Patrick Kierney and cornerback Jason Webster were traded. The 49ers dealt me outside linebacker (converted defensive end) Andre Carter. The Saints dealt me cornerback Mike McKenzie. I signed place kicker Adam Vinatieri and punter Andy Groom, and was able to trade my way up to the 2nd draft slot (all the way from 15) to pick up USC all-everything back Reggie Bush.

Speaking of which, that brings me to the draft. All throughout the off-season, the coach and scouting director go over players to scout. This occurs once a week. When you feel like you're ready for the draft, you can start to scout free agents or players from other clubs that you might be interested in trading for. Then draft day comes about and Mel Kiper is front and center. Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk went #1 to the Texans and with the second pick, I took Reggie Bush. For some reason, Kiper didn't like that pick. It goes to show you how much that guy knows! During the draft, there are many different options. You can ask your scout director who he thinks you should pick (I didn't listen to mine much and he didn't care much for that, but oh well). There's a computer where you can look over your roster to check out what areas you need the most help in. There's a telephone handy, in case you want to trade up in the draft or trade down. I freaked out at first, because I didn't know what to do. I knew who I wanted to take, but kept clicking on the computer and the phone and the list of players I could draft wasn't popping up. But, when I went over to my scout director and he told me who he thought we should pick, I simply replied no and then the list of players available appeared. After that first pick, it was easy sailing from there, but that first one was tense. There is the option of skipping ahead to your next pick once you've made a pick. Until then, Mel keeps talking away as picks come in and you have the option of calling different teams to try and make deals. After I got Bush, I wasn't very interested in trading up or down, so I skipped ahead to my next pick. Because of this, the draft didn't take too long. One thing to be careful of, my roster was full before the draft, and because of this, my rookies ended up not getting signed, so they became free agents. Don't make the same mistake! Fortunately, Reggie Bush was still available as a free agent, so I let Frank Gore go, picked up Reggie and it's like I had him signed all along. I did so much other maneuvering in the off-season, that I didn't pick up any of the other people I drafted. I still have a lot of room under the cap, so next year should be especially fun! Heck, signing Bush off the free agent market may have benefited me. The guy only asked for $4.5 million over 3 years! I gladly accepted that! But, it's not worth the risk. If I hadn't of gotten Bush, I would've slapped myself silly, especially since I traded my top two backs.

After I composed my team, it was off to training camp. You can sim ahead as much as you'd like. There's even an option during office hours, as they're called in the game, that a coach can swap certain drills with something else. But, there are certain goals that are set before training camp and until one reaches those goals (and you will be notified when they have been reached), then I wouldn't suggest to sim ahead to the pre-season. I simmed past one drill and noticed that the players' numbers actually dropped. The drills include: OL vs. DL, where the d-linemen attempt to get past the o-linemen and to the quarterback; WR vs. DB, where a receiver is matched up against a defensive back and the quarterback attempts to complete passes to the receiver; RB vs. LB, where the linebacker attempts to get to the tailback before the tailback jukes, spins, and bursts past him for a score; contact passing drills, contact running drills, and contact play calls. The contact drills can boost a player's numbers more than the non-contact ones, but with the contact comes the added risk of injury. There are 10 reps per drill and in the contact ones, you can choose between the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team on offense and defense. After these drills, the coach has the option of altering the depth chart and moving players around according to how they're performing. Even during the weekly meeting, coaches will suggest that one player start in front of another, because of how they're playing. Some players' numbers hold steady. Others bounce around like a pinball. Yet others, who have a potential to be great, don't wake up for a while and need a boost of some sort (no, not steroids). Some respond well to being moved from 1st to 2nd team. Others finally get it going with extra reps. Some just don't wake up until pre-season, as I've noticed. So, if you're getting frustrated with a star player of yours, don't give up. As training camp winds down and pre-season begins, a much clearer picture emerges on who will be starting.

I should mention, that during the drills, a percentage is tallied based on the number of reps a team has had of a certain play. When that play reaches 100%, it's called a money play. If a play is at 13%, then there's still a lot of work to do, a lot of reps that need to be taken in order for the offense or defense to get comfortable enough to be effective on gameday. So, if you don't decide to sim ahead past the drills, keep this in mind. Before the games each week, the offensive and defensive coordinators will waltz in and show their gameplan. As coach, you can add and subtract however many plays you want, but from what I've seen, the plays in the gameplan are pretty indicative of what has been practiced during drill sessions. Meeting with the scout director take place, as well, where the two of you can scout players from the opposing team and when a manual is provided for the coach on what needs to be done to win the game. An overview of the opposing team and their key players is provided, as are the year and previous game's statistics, and the goals of the week.

Then, it's finally off to pre-season. When on offense and defensive, the coordinator's suggest plays to pick, but you, as the head coach, have the final say. During plays, you can talk to anyone over on the sideline and talk motivationally or strategically. There are usually only three options given for a motivational chat, but several options for a strategic one. The only risk for the motivational speech is the fact that players will respond differently. Green pluses and red minuses will be placed over their heads to illustrate this point. The coach can also alter the depth chart, which is smart during a pre-season game. I usually play my starters for 2 quarters and the back-ups for the final two. Approaching my final pre-season game, I may have my starters in for 3 quarters. But, be careful, as they can get injured. The coach is also in charge of timeouts and challenges. I've challenged one play thus far and got the call overturned, which I was surprised by. After I saw the replay via the challenge video, I thought the refs called it correctly and that it was incomplete, but they overturned it for a completed pass and a first down. There are also pre-snap options on offense and defense, where you can set a man in motion (to either side), tell the quarterback to pump fake, to scramble if he has to, to look short, to look deep, to look toward the sidelines, tell him which receiver to look for first, amongst many other options. On defense, line and linebacker shifts can be put on, and the secondary can be adjusted. Audibles, of course, can be called, as well. As all this is going on, a game is being played. This past game, where my team won 55-25 over Tennessee, I think half the time I was paying attention to the sidelines, altering the depth chart, and strategizing and the other half of the time, I was watching the game. My first pre-season game against New England, I really didn't know what all I had the opportunity of doing, but, I've noticed more and more through each and every game, and oddly enough, when the regular season begins and the players are about to finally be ready, so will their coach.

This is one of those games, where I can't decide if I like it, yet, I can't stop playing it either. I think it may be for the fact that I honestly haven't played any video games for a while. The more I play it, the more into it I get. For those that are interested in buying it, just know what you're getting yourself into. They call the game "NFL Head Coach" for a reason! It's like a football version of "The Sims," where your job is not to build a house, but to build a football franchise. I'm just starting one in Atlanta and we'll be tough to handle with Vick and Bush in the backfield! Game on!

Overall grade: 7.5/10

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Ozzie Guillen Shoots Mouth Off Again

I've always liked Ozzie Guillen, as a player, a coach, and a manager. He's one of those tenacious little guys you want on your side. He's like a David Eckstein, Allen Iverson, or Warrick Dunn that, regardless of their size, will give so much heart into their game, that they find a way to be successful. It's hard not to root for people like that. But ever since Guillen became manager of the Chicago White Sox, he's had a knack for talking himself into trouble. The same was true just yesterday, as Guillen called Chicago sportswriter Jay Mariotti a "f*g" and a piece of "s**t." While Guillen claims that he meant no harm to anyone else regarding the homosexual slur, he said it and I'd be very surprised if he was not penalized by the league, through a fine of some sort. Mariotti has been very critical of Guillen's coaching (even though the Sox won the World Series last season), but that gives no reason for Guillen to run his mouth like that. I'll even admit that I'm not a big Jay Mariotti fan, but I'm not going to sit around here and insult him using slurs. When people are in the spotlight, as Guillen most definitely is, they have to deal with commentary coming from all sides. It comes with the territory. One critic shouldn't bother a manager so much, especially considering this manager took his team to break their so-called curse last season en route to winning the World Series and they're having another fine year again this season. He should just do his job. If Mariotti does his job and criticizes Guillen and Guillen does his job and takes the White Sox to the playoffs and possibly another World Series, then who's going to have the last laugh? Guillen had the last laugh a season ago and will again if he stays focused and does his job.

Alonzo Mourning Is A Champion

It was nice to see the Miami Heat win Game 6 last night to become the NBA Champions. I don't hold anything against Dallas, but it's nice to see a guy like Alonzo Mourning hold and raise a trophy that's rightfully his. He was told in 2000 that he'd probably never play NBA basketball again, due to his kidney problems, but due to his cousin giving him a kidney and all his hard-work, dedication, and determination, 'Zo was able to play in the NBA again. Regardless of the naysayers, Alonzo Mourning officially (in the NBA sense) became a champion last night, but to the countless people he's inspired and given hope to all over the world, he's a champion regardless of the ring. The ring is just the icing on the cake, as it's said and Alonzo Mourning can now be referred to as a champion in all faces of life. Congratulations! There's no guy I'd rather have seen won the title than him.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

D-Wade

Dwayne Wade, or D-Wade as he's called by many, is a starting guard for the Miami Heat and one game away from leading his team to the NBA Championship Trophy.

I've heard many comparisons, especially between he and Cleveland Cavaliers' guard LeBron James. While James was picked first in the draft three years ago, Wade was taken fifth. Most analysts claim that they'd still take James first in the draft. Me? I'd take Dwayne Wade, with LeBron going #2 and Carmello Anthony going at #3.

Yeah, I'm crazy right? LeBron James has more upside than anybody. Reggie Bush coming into the NFL out of USC reminds me a bit of James and the hype he received going into the NBA. But, if I had to pick from Michael Vick and Reggie Bush, I'd take Vick for the same reason I'd take Wade over LeBron. LeBron and Reggie are two of the most exciting players that I've had the pleasure to watch over the years, but what is unknown about Bush at this present time and what we're still waiting to see out of LeBron is leadership, attitude, and finding ways to win ball games. I don't care if LeBron scores 40 points a night, with 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, if Cleveland loses the game. I don't care if Bush rushes for an all-time record, if New Orleans loses the game.

While Dwayne Wade may not have quite as much up-side as LeBron James, the guy is a proven leader, plays with an attitude, and knows how to win ball games. He'll do anything it takes to win and he usually comes out on top. Remember last year, Wade carried the Heat into the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to Detroit in seven games. Shaq was banged up for most of the playoffs. The Heat sat on Wade's shoulders and he carried them all the way to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Until this year, LeBron had never lead his team to the playoffs, where they lost in Game 7 to the Detroit Pistons in the second round, the team that Miami beat handily in six games. While Shaq has been pretty effective for the majority of the playoffs, Miami has leaned on Dwayne Wade. He's scored over 40 points twice in the NBA Finals and is averaging 34 points a game. He's especially come alive in the 4th quarter, where he lead Miami to a most unprobable comeback in Game 3 and to an overtime win two nights ago in Game 5. He didn't even shoot that well from the floor two nights ago, but when it was crunch time, he had the ball in his hands and did everything he could to make something happen, take the ball to the rim, and get fouled with 1.9 seconds left on the clock. Down by one, he made both free throws without the ball touching the rim. That's smooth. That's clutch. That's Wade.

He's a better defender than LeBron James. He's more consistent from the floor and more consistent from the foul line. He has a better midrange shot. He's more of a leader. He has more attitude. He's more clutch. When the game is on the line, Wade wants the ball in his hands. While people can argue with me all they want to and while James may have more upside than Wade, I would take Dwayne Wade over LeBron James if I had the chance. If Miami wins either Game 6 or Game 7, Wade will have lead his team to one more NBA Championship than James and will be awarded with the MVP as well.

The Braves' Collapse

Wow. That's the first word that comes to mind when thinking about the Atlanta Braves' recent tailspin into last place of the National League East. I cannot remember a time when they played this badly. Of course, I'm only 25 and I know they were pretty pathetic before I was seriously into baseball, but here's a team that has won a record 14-consecutive division titles. They just find ways to win, regardless of injury problems, changes on the roster, their schedule, lineup changes, experience, etc. They don't find excuses to hide under while they shrug their shoulders and lower their expectations. They hold the expectations high, regardless of the obstacles in a season. They were 27-23 not too long ago and within 3.5 games of the first-place New York Mets. Since that time, they're 3-17 (.150 winning percentage) and 30-40 overall. I've lost track of how far back of first they are, but it's at least 14.5 games now. Is it impossible for them to go on a run and win another division title? No, it's not possible. They were 10 games back of San Francisco back in the day in mid to late July and they came back and won the division title. So, no, it's not impossible, but they'll have to make some changes, start winning some games, and fast!

So, what's wrong with the Braves this year? I can't point to one thing. What I could do is point to several things that have plagued Atlanta this season, especially in the past 20 games. First off, they don't have a legitimate lead-off man. Marcus Giles is a heck of a ball player and an excellent 2-hole hitter, but he's not a lead-off guy. He's been floundering around .230-.240, which has ranked him near or at the bottom of the league in average for a lead-off hitter. Why they don't lead-off Edgar Renteria, as I've been saying for a month or so now, is beyond me. He's been hitting .320 or better all year and rarely strikes out.

While Edgar has been a stud for the Braves, they do miss Rafael Furcal's speed. The Braves don't have a speedster on the base paths anymore. Renteria can steal around 15 bases. Giles could still 10-15. Chipper and Andruw Jones could steal up to 10. Jeff Francouer could steal 10-15. Overall, as a team, they don't have bad speed, but they do not have that one consistent base stealer that can wreak havoc once he reaches first base.

The Braves also strike out way too much. Outside of Edgar Renteria and catcher Brian McCann, the other six position players strike out their fair share of times. Last I saw, the Braves had the third most strikeouts of any team in the National League and were on a pace to beat their own team record for most strikeouts in a season. That's one record that a team does not want to break.

Atlanta's hitters have also been way too inconsistent, outside of the before-mentioned Renteria and McCann. Giles, Chipper, Andruw, Ryan Langerhans, Jeff Francouer, and Adam LaRoche have all been extremely inconsistent with their bats. Giles, Langerhans, Francouer, and LaRoche are all hitting around or below the .250 mark. They'll have 3 for 3 days, but also 0 for 4 days with 3 strikeouts and 5 runners left on base. There's rarely a time when three Atlanta hitters are swinging the bats well in a game. One or two might, but rarely has there been a time when coach Bobby Cox could count on Renteria, McCann, and either Chipper or Andruw in a game. Left-fielder Matt Diaz has been the third most consistent hitter for the Braves and he's backed up either Ryan Langerhans or the newly brought up Matt Thorman from Triple-A Richmond.

Speaking of inconsistency, that word is accurate when referring to all the Braves' pitchers. This goes for the starters, middle relievers, set-up men, and closers. John Smoltz has been fairly consistent, but not as effective as he was last year. He's typically given up 3 runs in six to seven innings of work. That should be good enough to win games or at least, keep the Braves competitive, but with their inconsistency at the plate and their horrendous bullpen, Smoltz will need to start allowing 2 or fewer runs in his starts. Tim Hudson began the season inconsistent, but has leveled off some in recent starts. But again, even when he allows 3 runs, chances are, he may be in line for a loss by game's end. Horacio Ramirez has thrown fairly well since he came back from injury, but is still limited in the amount of innings he can go. John Thomson was dreadful for the past month or so until he was put on the disabled list recently. Jorge Sosa has thrown better the past month or so, but only has 1 win to show for it. Former closer Chris Reitsma had blown 4 of 12 save opportunities and had an E.R.A. over 8.00 before he was placed on the DL. Recent closer Kenny Ray started his closer campaign successfully saving his first four ball games, but has since then blown one and not pitched nearly as effective as he had early in the season. Oscar Villareal may have 7 wins to his name, but that's just from being at the right place at the right time, as his E.R.A. is over 5.00. Youngsters McKay McBride, Chad Paronto, Tyler Yates, and Josh Stockman have shown flashes of spark, but with having little to no experience at the big league level, have also shown flashes of being rookies.

One problem I've noticed lately is how the Braves get down early and it's difficult to come back with their offense struggling the way it is. It's either that, or they take the lead one inning and give the lead right back up the very next inning. They've had difficulty falling behind early and in maintaining leads. It's like they've lost the confidence in knowing how to win ball games.

Another problem for the Braves is bad luck. They seem to start series with teams who are either just starting to get hot or are in the midst of a hot streak. Two series ago, Atlanta got swept by the Florida Marlins. Florida went on from there to sweep the Toronto Blue Jays. That happened earlier in the year when the played against Arizona and Los Angeles.

Finally, the last problem I can think of is the fact that no more than one component of the Atlanta Braves' team seems to click on a given night. One night, their defense might be on top of its game, but the hitting is not, so they lose 2-1. Another night, the pitching may be on, but the offense is not and they lose 1-0. The next night, the hitting might pick up, but the relievers throw nothing but gopher balls and they lose 10-7. They night after, they may do everything well, except play defense, and they lose 5-4, because of a late-inning error. They have just seemed to find ways to lose the past three weeks. It's like the direct opposite thing from what Michael Jordan was known. The guy just knew how to win. It didn't matter how well he played, at the very end, he found a way to pull his team on top. With the Braves lately, it's just the opposite. Regardless of how well they play, they seem to find ways to lose.

It's not just one component that's holding the Braves down and one little change isn't going to do the trick and take the Braves from worst to first. There are a lot of things that have to change if they want to be competitive and have a chance to make the playoffs, let alone win the division. Consistency in their hitting and pitching is at the very top of the "to do" list. If they continue to play inconsistently, as they have been, then they might as well start trading away some ball players and bringing up some kids from the minors to get them some playing time, because if they keep playing the way they are right now, they're not going to win too many more ball games.

"The Break Up" Review

Only about 1 in 3 critics liked this movie and after seeing it, I have a couple hunches on why. First off, some may have gotten used to Vince Vaughn being in uproariously funny comedies, where not much drama took place, such as: "Old School," "Dodgeball," "The Wedding Crashers," and even "Starsky & Hutch." There is less comedy in this one and more drama. Lastly, even though the movie is called "The Break Up," the previews looked to be hinting on it being an odd romantic comedy, where there'd be a happy ending. This movie was anything but a typical romantic comedy. In fact, I don't even think we can classify it as a romantic comedy in the least bit.

At the very start of the movie, we see how Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston met, at a baseball game. Through the opening credits, we see shots of the good times that Vaughn and Aniston had with one another. Right after the credits end, we jump right to when problems arise in the relationship. We stay there for a short while until Aniston says that she's through with Vaughn and the relationship. From there on out, it's a string of games being played by Aniston, in attempt to get Vaughn to realize how lucky he was, come back to her, apologize, and promise to make some changes in his life. She, like some females I know, expects Vaughn to have the ability to read her mind and know what she's hinting at without hearing her s-p-e-l-l it out for him. Because of this, like many guys, he doesn't get the hint. This all makes for an interesting and oft times funny story. From Aniston kicking Vaughn off the couples bowling team and making him remove his shirt right then and there, walking out of the alley bare-chested to Aniston's flamboyant brother beating up Vaughn, this movie, while loud and annoying at times, is quite entertaining, so long as a person walks into the movie knowing what they shouldn't expect (another "Wedding Crashers"-type film with that kind of humor).

The problem in this story is the fact that neither of the lead characters are all that likable. At first, we empathize with Aniston's character, because let's face it, Vaughn's character is an ungrateful slob. But, after the break-up, we begin to empathize less with Aniston's character, because of all the games she plays on Vaughn. By the end of the movie, we can see subtle changes in Vaughn, but it's a little too little too late for him to be well liked by the viewers. The most personable of the characters are probably Vaughn's bar buddy Jon Favreau, Aniston's female friend, her flamboyant brother, and the flamboyant male secretary at Marilyn Dean's, Aniston's workplace.

All-in-all, I'd have to say that, while satisfied with the overall entertainment value of the film, I was slightly disappointed with the likability of the two lead characters. It's definitely worth seeing, but don't expect the laugh-out-loud moments that were prevalent in Vaughn's previous comedies.

Grade (for comedy): 6.5/10
Grade (overall): 6/10

Sunday, June 18, 2006

The Seven (Un)Wise Men (Right-Wing Media Figures)

You're all in for a treat today. This blog will contain the words of wisdom from my seven FAVORITE people in the world: Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson. There are seven of them and while yes, Coulter is a woman (I think), she disrespects women and their rights, so I think it's fair for me to group her in with the six other (Un)Wise Men. I also tried to find quotes from Chris Mathews, Joe Scarborough, and Oliver North, but couldn't find many. Just a warning and heads up to all those who read this. Some of the following quotes are rather disturbing and offensive, so be prepared and I, in no way, shape, or form had anything to do with these quotes. I can't stand these seven individuals. I'm merely laying out their words to illustrate how ridiculous they are. Included in the list will be stupid quotes, disturbing ones, along with a few that are simply outrageous. Most of the quotes are listed with a source. For those that aren't, I have all the links where I found the quotes at the very end of this blog. If there are any that I missed (and I'm sure there are), feel free to post others you've heard or read. Here are the quotes, in random order:

"When contemplating college liberals, you really regret once again that John Walker is not getting the death penalty. We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors." - Ann Coulter, at the Conservative Political Action Conference 26 February, 2002

"I'm going to tell you, what's good for al-Qaeda is good for the Democratic Party in this country today. That's how you boil this down. And it doesn't have to be al-Qaeda. What's good for terrorists is good for John Kerry. All you got to do is check the way they react." - Rush Limbaugh [15 March 2004]

"I'll tell you who should be tortured and killed at Guantanamo: every filthy Democrat in the U.S. Congress." - Sean Hannity, Hannity and Colmes, June 15, 2005

"Finally, the ACLU -- we talked about this yesterday and I -- and, you know, I have to pick on the ACLU because they're the most dangerous organization in the United States of America right now. There's by far. There's nobody even close to that. They're, like, second next to Al Qaeda." - Bill O'Reilly (2 June 2004)

"It appears that America's anti-Biblical feminist movement is at last dying, thank God, and is possibly being replaced by a Christ-centered men's movement wheihch may become the foundation for a desperately needed national spiritual awakening." - Jerry Falwell (attributed)

“What’s needed is a constitutional amendment protecting the rights of students and other citizens to voice theirreligious convictions and apply their faith to everyday issues. It would require an amendment to the Constitution ofthe United States to protect voluntary school prayer and religious liberty generally.” - James Dobson, Solid Answers (Tyndale House Publishers), 1997, p. 189

"How can there be peace when drunkards, drug dealers, communists, atheists, New Age worshipers of Satan, secular humanists, oppressive dictators, greedy money changers, revolutionary assassins, adulterers, and homosexuals are on top?"- Pat Robertson, The New World Order, p.227

"I think Mrs. Sheehan bears some responsibility for this and also for the responsibility of other American families who have lost sons and daughters in Iraq, who feel that this kind of behavior borders on treasonous." - Bill O'Reilly (9 August 2004)

"The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this." - Jerry Falwell, blaming civil libertarians for the terrorist attacks of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, tow hich Pat Robertson again agreed, quoted from AANEWS #958 by American Atheists (September 14, 2001)

"Governor, why wouldn't anyone want to say the Pledge of Allegiance, unless they detested their own country or were ignorant of its greatness?" - Sean Hannity, Hannity and Colmes, June 12, 2003

"And one of the things that -- that the -- the AIDS activists said regularly back then was, oh, this is only a matter of time before it spreads to the heterosexual community. It's only a matter of time. And they used that as -- as one of the weapons to try to get people like Reagan to start talking about it from their standpoint. And of course it -- it hasn't. It -- it didn't, and it hasn't, other than in Africa, and in Africa it is -- it is being spread not just by -- it -- it -- it's promiscuity that -- that -- that spreads this, if you want to know the truth. It's promiscuity. But it -- it hasn't made that jump to the heterosexual community." - Rush Limbaugh, June 9, 2004 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show

"Liberals love America like O.J. loved Nicole." - Ann Coulter

"Frankly, I'm not a big fan of the First Amendment." - Ann Coulter, University of Florida speech, October 20, 2005

“[T]hese perverted homosexuals...absolutely hate everything that you and I and most decent, God-fearing citizensstand for.... Make no mistake. These deviants seek no less than total control and influence in society, politics, ourschools and in our exercise of free speech and religious freedom.... If we do not act now, homosexuals will ownAmerica!” - Jerry Falwell, 1999 fund-raising letter (reported in Church & State, October 1999, p. 9)

"[P]ain is a marvelous purifier. . . It is not necessary to beat the child into submission; a little bit of pain goes a long way for a young child. However, the spanking should be of sufficient magnitude to cause the child to cry genuinely." - James Dobson, from Dare to Discipline, pages 6 and 7

"It's hard to do it because you gotta look people in the eye and tell 'em they're irresponsible and lazy. And who's gonna wanna do that? Because that's what poverty is, ladies and gentlemen. In this country, you can succeed if you get educated and work hard. Period. Period." - Bill O'Reilly(16 June 2004)

"NOW is saying that in order to be a woman, you've got to be a lesbian."--Pat Robertson, "The 700 Club," 12/3/97

“The public school system is damned. Let me tell you how radical I am. Christian students should be in Christianschools. If you have to sell your car, live in a smaller house or work a night job, put your child in Christian schools.If you can’t afford it, home school.” - Jerry Falwell, “Trends in Christian Higher Education,” speaking at Regent University, Sept. 22, 1993

"[Canadians] better hope the United States does not roll over one night and crush them. They are lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent." - Ann Coulter, Hannity & Colmes, November 30, 2004

"If we are going to start rewarding no skills and stupid people--I'm serious, let the unskilled jobs that take absolutely no knowledge whatsoever to do--let the stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work." - Rush Limbaugh

"Is it you hate this president or that you hate America?" - Sean Hannity, Hannity and Colmes, April 30, 2003 (to attorney Stanley Cohen)

"[A] cruise missile is more important than Head Start." - Ann Coulter, in a speech, November 2001, rebroadcast by C-Span in January, 2002.

“Separation of Church and State has long been the battle cry of civil libertarians wishing to purge our gloriousChristian heritage from our nation’s history. Of course, the term never once appears in our Constitution and is amodern fabrication of discrimination.” - Jerry Falwell, “Falwell Fax,” April 10, 1998, (reported in Church & State, May 1998, p. 18)

"You want to have two guys making out in front of your 4-year-old? It's OK with them. A guy smoking a joint, blowing the smoke into your little kid's face? OK with them. And I'm not exaggerating here. This is exactly what the secular movement stands for." - Bill O'Reilly (12 September 2003)

“The First Amendment says Congress shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting thefree exercise thereof—nothing about a wall of separation, nothing about separation of church and state! Merely,Congress can’t set up a national religion. End of story.” - Pat Robertson, “The 700 Club,” April 11, 1986, Christian Broadcasting Network (reported in Church & State, April 1996, p. 10)

"Homosexuals are not monogamous. They want to destroy the institution of marriage. It will destroy marriage. It will destroy the Earth." - James Dobson, on gay marriage, from The Daily Oklahoman, October 23, 2004

"[P]eople talk about the potential for good that can come from destroying these little embryos and how we might be able to solve the problem of juvenile diabetes. There's no indication yet that they're gonna do that, but people say that, or spinal cord injuries or such things. But I have to ask this question: In World War II, the Nazis experimented on human beings in horrible ways in the concentration camps, and I imagine, if you wanted to take the time to read about it, there would have been some discoveries there that benefited mankind." - James Dobson

"I think there should be a literacy test and a poll tax for people to vote." - Ann Coulter, Fox News, Hannity & Colmes, August 17, 1997.

"Feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society." - Rush Limbaugh

"It doesn't say anywhere in the Constitution this idea of the separation of church and state." - Sean Hannity, Hannity and Colmes, August 25, 2003

"Kerry is cheap. Most gigolos are. I mean -- I think it -- I think it goes with the, with the definition." - Rush Limbaugh [7 April 2004]

"[T]he boy's father has to do his part. He needs to mirror and affirm his son's maleness. He can play rough-and-tumble games with his son, in ways that are decidedly different from the games he would play with a little girl. He can help his son learn to throw and catch a ball. He can teach him to pound a square wooden peg into a square hole in a pegboard. He can even take his son with him into the shower, where the boy cannot help but notice that Dad has a penis, just like his, only bigger." - James Dobson (June 2002 Newsletter)

"I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period." - Pat Robertson (Christian Coalition)

"If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being." - Jerry Falwell

"We're fighting against humanism, we're fighting against liberalism... we are fighting against all the systems of Satan that are destroying our nation today... our battle is with Satan himself." - Jerry Falwell

"Hitler would be a card-carrying ACLU member. So would Stalin. Castro probably is. And so would Mao Zedong." - Bill O'Reilly (19 January 2005)

"We cannot intervene in the Muslim world ever again. What we can do is bomb the living daylights out of them." - Bill O'Reilly, (17 June 2004) The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly

"The mission of the Christian Coalition is simple," says Pat Robertson. It is "to mobilize Christians -- one precinct at a time, one community at a time -- until once again we are the head and not the tail, and at the top rather than the bottom of our political system." Robertson predicts that "the Christian Coalition will be the most powerful political force in America by the end of this decade." And, "We have enough votes to run this country...and when the people say, 'We've had enough,' we're going to take over!" - Pat Robertson

"I think we ought to close Halloween down. Do you want your children to dress up as witches? The Druids used to dress up like this when they were doing human sacrifice... [Your children] are acting out Satanic rituals and participating in it, and don't even realize it." - Pat Robertson, "The 700 Club," 10/29/82

"We're not sexists, we're chauvinists -- we're male chauvinist pigs, and we're happy to be because we think that's what men were destined to be. We think that's what women want." - Rush Limbaugh [15 April 2004]

"They found three massive underground tanks, each 60 feet long, 10 feet high, each with about 100 marijuana plants growing inside. The university's plumbing and electric lines had been tapped into the water to heat the plants, and the tanks were accessible by a homemade hatch door and a ladder that the culprits used to climb down into their secret liberal lab." - Sean Hannity, Hannity and Colmes, June 8, 2005, describing an underground marijuana factory found by contractors working on a water main project at the Long Island campus of the State University of New York.

"Hugo, Cesar--whatever. A Chavez is a Chavez. We've always had problems with them." - Rush Limbaugh [26 March 2004]

"Not all Muslims may be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims." - Ann Coulter

"I would warn Orlando that you're right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don't think I'd be waving those flags in God's face if I were you. This is not a message of hate -- this is a message of redemption. But a condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It'll bring about terrorist bombs; it'll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor." – Pat Robertson, on "gay days" at Disneyworld

"Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up." – Pat Robertson, on nuking the State Department

"Listen, citizens of San Francisco, if you vote against military recruiting, you're not going to get another nickel in federal funds. Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead. And if Al-Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead." - Bill O' Reilly (8 November 2005)

"Some strong-willed children absolutely demand to be spanked, and their wishes should be granted. . . [T]wo or three stinging strokes on the legs or buttocks with a switch are usually sufficient to emphasize the point, 'You must obey me.'" - James Dobson, from The Strong-Willed Child, pages 53-54.

"If [Jimmy Carter] were president today, we'd all be speaking Arabic." - Bill O'Reilly (21 July 2005)

"And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way—all of them who have tried to secularize America—I point the finger in their face and say "you helped this happen." - Jerry Falwell, on the terrorist attacks of the 11th of September 2001, The 700 Club (13 September 2001).

"I think Muhammad was a terrorist. I read enough by both Muslims and non-Muslims, [to decide] that he was a violent man, a man of war." - Jerry Falwell, 60 Minutes (CBS) (30 September 2002)

“It’s amazing that the Constitution of the United States says nothing about the separation of church and state. Thatphrase does appear, however, in the Soviet Constitution, which says the state shall be separate from the church andthe church from the school. People in the educational establishment, and in our judicial establishment, haveattempted to impose the Soviet strictures on the United States and have done so successfully, even though they arenot part of our Constitution.” - Pat Robertson, Interview with Conservative Digest, January 1986, (reported in Church & State, April 1996, p. 10)

"The Democrats are giving aid and comfort to the enemy for no purpose other than giving aid and comfort to the enemy. There is no plausible explanation for the Democrats' behavior other than that they long to see U.S. troops shot, humiliated, and driven from the field of battle. They fill the airwaves with treason, but when called to vote on withdrawing troops, disavow their own public statements. These people are not only traitors, they are gutless traitors. New Idea for Abortion Party: Aid the Enemy." - Ann Coulter, November 23, 2005

"We know who the homicidal maniacs are. They are the ones cheering and dancing right now. We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war." - Ann Coulter, from her syndicated column, 13 September, 2001

"I mean, why didn't these morons leave New Orleans before the hurricane? I'll tell you why: because they wanted to rape and loot! That's just the way some people are! And if they're black--if the rapists and looters are black--it's not George Bush's fault! We've had these problems ever since the Emancipation Proclamation. Once the whites leave town, all you've got is overwhelming lawlessness. That's not racism, Mr. Snerdley; it's a proven, demonstrable fact. Have you even seen a ghetto in Greenwich, Connecticut? I rest my case." - Rush Limbaugh [12 September 2005]

“[Tolerance is a] kind of watchword of those who reject the concept of right and wrong…. It’s a kind of adesensitization to evil of all varieties. Everything has become acceptable to those who are tolerant.” - James Dobson, Focus On The Family radio broadcast, Nov. 4, 1996

“Again, the phantom ‘separation of church and state’ clause was cited as the justification.” - James Dobson, Americans United for Separation of Church and State- 5 -Comment on the failure of school vouchers in the courts, Jan. 1998 fund-raising letter

“[The Antichrist] will be a full-grown counterfeit of Christ. Of course he’ll be Jewish. Of course he’ll pretend to be Christ. And if, in fact, the Lord is coming soon, and he’ll be an adult at the presentation of himself, he must be alive somewhere today.” - Jerry Falwell, Address to a group of pastors at a conference in Kingsport, Tenn., on Jan. 14, 1999, Close Encounters with the Religious Right, (Prometheus Books, Amherst, New York) 2000, pp. 117-118

"...You've got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops and I am for the President—chase them all over the world, if it takes ten years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord." - Jerry Falwell, CNN Debate with Jesse Jackson (24 October 2004)

“We have had a distortion imposed on us over the past few years by left-wingers who have fastened themselves intothe court system. And we have had a lie foisted on us that there is something embedded in the Constitution calledseparation of church and state.” - Pat Robertson, Address to the Christian Coalition “Road To Victory” Conference, Oct. 12, 2002

"When lawlessness is abroad in the land, the same thing will happen here that happened in Nazi Germany. Many of those people involved with Adolph Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals – the two things seem to go together." - Pat Robertson

“Without question in my mind, the greatest danger to our moral perspective and to the family and indeed to thenation is the homosexual activist movement.... Homosexuals want it all. They want everything.… They want it all, and what’s scary about it is they’re getting it all.” - James Dobson, Address to the Family Research Council Washington Briefing, March 15, 2001 (reported in the May2001 Church & State)

"Why should Blacks be heard? They're 12% of the population. Who the hell cares." - Rush Limbaugh, Notable Quotables, mrc.org

"Press passes can't be that hard to come by if the White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president." - Ann Coulter, (Version of her February 23, 2005 article, "REPUBLICANS, BLOGGERS AND GAYS, OH MY!" at her website. Universal Press Syndicate edited this line for distribution, changing the phrase "that old Arab Helen Thomas" to "that dyspeptic, old Helen Thomas."

"My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building." - Ann Coulter, in a New York Observer interview, 26 August, 2002

"The only way to reduce the number of nuclear weapons is to use them." - Rush Limbaugh

"The most beautiful thing about a tree is what you do after you cut it down." - Rush Limbaugh

"And guys, if you exploit a girl, it will come back to get you. That's called 'karma.'" – Bill O'Reilly, in his book, "The O'Reilly Factor For Kids," 2004

"You would basically be in the shower and then I would come in and I'd join you and you would have your back to me and I would take that little loofa thing and kinda soap up your back...rub it all over you, get you to relax, hot water...and um...you know, you'd feel the tension drain out of you and uh you still would be with your back to me then I would kinda put my arm - it's one of those mitts, those loofa mitts you know, so I got my hands in it...and I would put it around front, kinda rub your tummy a little bit with it, and then with my other hand I would start to massage your boobs, get your nipples really hard...'cuz I like that and you have really spectacular boobs..." - Bill O'Reilly (1 September 2004)

[Planned Parenthood] "is teaching kids to fornicate, teaching people to have adultery, every kind of bestiality, homosexuality, lesbianism – everything that the Bible condemns." - Pat Robertson, (The 700 Club, variously dated as 9 Apr. 1991 or 14 Jan. 1991).

"There is no separation of church and state. Modern U.S. Supreme Courts have raped the Constitution and raped the Christian faith and raped the churches by misinterpreting what the Founders had in mind in the First Amendment to the Constitution." - Jerry Falwell

"The ACLU is to Christians what the American Nazi party is to Jews." - Jerry Falwell

"If the owl can't adapt to the superiority of humans, screw it." - Rush Limbaugh (Ought to Be, p. 162).

"We have more trees in this country today than when the Declaration of Independence was written. The wackos will tell you that's impossible." - Rush Limbaugh

"Bumper sticker idea for liberals: News magazines don't kill people, Muslims do." - Ann Coulter, May 18, 2005

"I think [women] should be armed but should not vote...women have no capacity to understand how money is earned. They have a lot of ideas on how to spend it...it's always more money on education, more money on child care, more money on day care." - Ann Coulter, Politically Incorrect, February 26, 2001.

"The fact that Marc Cherry's a gay Republican means he should join the Democratic Party." - Jerry Falwell, Meet the Press (28 November 2004)

"Over 100 years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that’s held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings." – Pat Robertson, on the dangers of judicial activism

"There is no such thing as separation of church and state in the Constitution. It is a lie of the Left and we are not going to take it anymore." - Pat Robertson

"I don't have any respect by and large for the Iraqi people at all. I have no respect for them. I think that they're a prehistoric group." - Bill O'Reilly, (17 June 2004) The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly

"I don't do personal attacks here." - Bill O'Reilly (27 February 2006)

"The ethic of conservation is the explicit abnegation of man's dominion over the Earth. The lower species are here for our use. God said so: Go forth, be fruitful, multiply, and rape the planet--it's yours. That's our job: drilling, mining and stripping. Sweaters are the anti-Biblical view. Big gas-guzzling cars with phones and CD players and wet bars -- that's the Biblical view." - Ann Coulter, from column "Oil Good; Democrats bad", 12 October, 2000

"I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve." - Rush Limbaugh

"Liberals hate America, they hate flag-wavers, they hate abortion opponents, they hate all religions except Islam, post 9/11. Even Islamic terrorists don't hate America like liberals do. They don't have the energy. If they had that much energy, they'd have indoor plumbing by now." - Ann Coulter, Talking Ann Coulter doll, Conservative Book Service (from Slander, pp. 5-6; published June 2002)

"There are more acres of forestland in America today than when Columbus discovered the continent in 1492." - Rush Limbaugh

"There is no question that Whoopi Goldberg's foolish comments at a John Kerry fundraiser hurt Kerry--who had no idea how to handle the situation. Chevy Chase should have learned from that. Even he has to know that calling the president of the United States an "F" is not going to be accepted by most Americans. Now you don't see this kind of thing on the Right. You don't see prominent conservatives cursing out Democratic members of Congress, for example. Now I know talk radio can get rough but nothing like what these Hollywood nitwits are throwing out there." - Bill O'Reilly (17 December 2004)

"I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!" - Jerry Falwell, America Can Be Saved, 1979

"The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country." - Jerry Falwell, sermon, July 4, 1976

"And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods which become consumed by them. And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up." - Rush Limbaugh

"Too many whites are getting away with drug use...Too many whites are getting away with drug sales...The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too." - Rush Limbaugh [5 Oct 1995]

"I am addicted to prescription pain medication." - Rush Limbaugh [10 Oct 2003]

"Whether they are defending the Soviet Union or bleating for Saddam Hussein, liberals are always against America. They are either traitors or idiots." - Ann Coulter

"My libertarian friends are probably getting a little upset now but I think that's because they never appreciate the benefits of local fascism." - Ann Coulter, MSNBC February 8, 1997

"I do not believe the homosexual community deserves minority status. One's misbehavior does not qualify him or her for minority status. Blacks, Hispanics, women, etc., are God-ordained minorities who do indeed deserve minority status." - Jerry Falwell (http://www.tylwythteg.com/enemies/falwell.html)

"The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." - Pat Robertson, 1992 Iowa fundraising letter opposing a state equal-rights amendment ("Equal Rights Initiative in Iowa Attacked", Washington Post, 23 August 1992)

"[Homosexuals] want to come into churches and disrupt church services and throw blood all around and try to give people AIDS and spit in the face of ministers." - Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, 1/18/95

"AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals." - Jerry Falwell

"I just wish Katrina had only hit the United Nations building, nothing else, just had flooded them out, and I wouldn't have rescued them." - Bill O'Reilly, on his radio show, Sept. 14, 2005

"God gave us the earth. We have dominion over the plants, the animals, the trees. God said, 'Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It's yours.'" - Ann Coulter, Fox News, Hannity & Colmes, June 20, 2001.

To disabled Vietnam vet Bobby Muller: "No wonder you guys lost." - Ann Coulter, MSNBC, 1996 (Muller has been involved in pro-peace efforts, thus drawing the ire of Ms. Coulter.)

"... nobody sticks up for Christmas except me. Did Peter Jennings stick up for Christmas last night? I don't believe he did. How about Brian Williams, did he? Did Rather stick up for Christmas? How about Jim Lehrer -- did he? Did Larry King [say] "hello, I love Christmas" -- did he? No." - Bill O'Reilly (9 December 2004)

"Presbyterians are the spirit of the Antichrist." - Pat Robertson (The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, p. 239)

"Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history."- Pat Robertson (Interview with Molly Ivins)

"Will African-Americans break away from the pack thinking and reject immorality-- because that's the reason the family's breaking apart--alcohol, drugs, infidelity. You have to reject that, and it doesn't seem--and I'm broadly speaking here, but a lot of African-Americans won't reject it." - Bill O'Reilly (25 February 1999)

"Which brings me to this week's scandal about No Such Agency spying on "Americans." I have difficulty ginning up much interest in this story inasmuch as I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East, and sending liberals to Guantanamo." - Ann Coulter, Coulter's syndicated column, Dec. 21, 2005

"When we were fighting communism, OK, they had mass murderers and gulags, but they were white men and they were sane. Now we're up against absolutely insane savages." - Ann Coulter, 16 August, 2004

"The Antichrist is probably a Jew alive in Israel today." - Pat Robertson

“We often hear of the constitutionally mandated ‘separation of church and state.’ Of course, as you know, thatphrase appears nowhere in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights....We do find this phrase in the constitution ofanother nation, however...that of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics—an atheistic nation sworn to thedestruction of the United States of America.” - Pat Robertson

"I was wrong. I am not pleased about it at all and I think all Americans should be concerned about this…What do you want me to do, go over and kiss the camera?" – Bill O'Reilly, on ABC's "Good Morning America," making good on his promise to publicly apologize if weapons of mass destruction were not found Iraq, Feb. 10, 2004

"It would be a much better country if women did not vote. That is simply a fact. In fact, in every presidential election since 1950 - except Goldwater in '64 - the Republican would have won, if only the men had voted." - Ann Coulter, May 17, 2003.

"If those kids had been carrying guns they would have gunned down this one [teenage] gunman. ... Don't pray. Learn to use guns." - Ann Coulter, Politically Incorrect, December 18, 1997

“There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that sanctifies the separation of church and state.” - Pat Robertson, “The 700 Club,” Oct. 2, 1984, (reported in Church & State, April 1996, p. 10)

"You know what’s really frightening? You actually have an influence on this presidential election. That is scary, but it’s true. You’ve got stoned slackers watching your dopey show every night and they can vote." – Bill O'Reilly, to "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart, Sept. 22, 2004

"You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense, I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist." - Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, January 14, 1991

"I think the other point that no one is making about the abuse photos is just the disproportionate number of women involved, including a girl general running the entire operation. I mean, this is lesson, you know, number 1,000,047 on why women shouldn't be in the military. In addition to not being able to carry even a medium-sized backpack, women are too vicious." - Ann Coulter, from Hannity & Colmes, 5 May, 2004

“[The separation of church and state] was never in the Constitution. However much the liberals laugh at me forsaying it, they know good and well it was never in the Constitution! Such language only appeared in the constitutionof the communist Soviet Union.” - Pat Robertson, “The 700 Club,” Jan. 22, 1995, (reported in Church & State, April 1996, p. 10)

"Conservatives believe man was created in God's image, while liberals believe they are gods. All of the behavioral tics of the liberals proceed from their godless belief that they can murder the unborn because they, the liberals, are themselves gods. They try to forcibly create 'equality' through affirmative action and wealth redistribution because they are gods. They flat-out lie, with no higher power to constrain them, because they are gods. They adore pornography and the mechanization of sex because man is just an animal, and they are gods. They revere the UN and not the U.S. because they aren't Americans -- they are gods." - Ann Coulter

“I want to say very clearly, ladies and gentlemen, there’s no such thing in the Constitution as, quote, separation ofchurch and state. That term does not exist in the United States Constitution. It existed in the former Soviet Union’sconstitution, but not America.” - Pat Robertson, Americans United for Separation of Church and State- 4 -“The 700 Club,” Christian Broadcasting Network, June 17, 1998

"Here at the Spawn of Satan convention in Boston, conservatives are deploying a series of covert signals to identify one another, much like gay men do. My allies are the ones wearing crosses or American flags. The people sporting shirts emblazened with the "F-word" are my opponents. Also, as always, the pretty girls and cops are on my side, most of them barely able to conceal their eye-rolling." - Ann Coulter, opening paragraph of a column that USA Today dropped after an "editing dispute" (26 July, 2004)

"It is interesting, that termites don't build things, and the great builders of our nation almost to a man have been Christians, because Christians have the desire to build something. He is motivated by love of man and God, so he builds. The people who have come into (our) institutions (today) are primarily termites. They are into destroying institutions that have been built by Christians, whether it is universities, governments, our own traditions, that we have.... The termites are in charge now, and that is not the way it ought to be, and the time has arrived for a godly fumigation." - Pat Robertson, New York Magazine, August 18, 1986

"It is clear that God is saying, 'I gave man dominion over the earth, but he lost it. Now I desire mature sons and daughters who will in My name exercise dominion over the earth and subdue Satan, the unruly, the rebellious. Take back My world from those who would loot it and abuse it. Rule as I would rule.'" - Pat Robertson, The Secret Kingdom

"If Gore had been elected president, right now he would just be finding that last lesbian quadriplegic for the Special Forces team." - Ann Coulter, from Jewish World Review 14 October 2004

“You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if [President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela] thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don’t think any oil shipments will stop. [...] We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.” - Pat Robertson, 22 August 2005, in a broadcast of his Christian Broadcasting Network's program, The 700 Club

Links:

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ann_Coulter

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sean_Hannity

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bill_O'Reilly_(commentator)

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Dobson

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pat_Robertson

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/billoreilly/a/oreillyquotes.htm

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/funnyquotes/a/anncoulter.htm

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/funnyquotes/a/patrobertson.htm

http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/7027/quotes.html

http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/foulwell.htm

http://www.au.org/site/DocServer/They_Said_It.pdf?docID=221

http://home.att.net/~jrhsc/rush.html

Saturday, June 17, 2006

An(n)ti Coulter

Outspoken conservative columnist and author Ann Coulter has written many "tributes" for liberals, so I thought I'd return the favor that she so deserves.

The problem with writing this "tribute" is, where does one begin? Well, let me start by proving how much Coulter loves "liberals." Let's check the titles of her books: Treason (Liberal Treachery From the Cold War to the War on Terrorism), Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right, How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must), and Godless: The Church of Liberalism. Yeah, she sure has paid her respects to liberals.

Coulter went to an Ivy League school and was a lawyer, so she is book smart. If she continued on with her legal career, then she may very know exactly what she's doing and be very successful. But, there are other types of intelligences. Even though she's written best-selling books and while she may know the ins and outs of the legal system, she appears to be rather clueless when it comes to politics and religion.

Ann Coulter is an extremely black and white person. She may be even more black and white than mathematics, which is difficult to accomplish. A person is either a good conservative or an evil liberal. There is no in-between. She even noted on the show Beyond the News (Fox News) on June 4th of 2000, "The swing voters---I like to refer to them as the idiot voters because they don't have set philosophical principles. You're either a liberal or you're a conservative if you have an IQ above a toaster." She consistently refers to liberals as idiots, amongst other things, so according to her, you're either a conservative or an idiot (amongst other things). Black and white thinking like her's signifies simple-mindedness and narrow-mindedness. Issues are black and white, right or wrong (left, according to her), yes or no. There is no in-between. There is no gray area. There is no room to be flexible. It's my way or the highway is typically their philosophy. It's extremely difficult to engage in conversation with people like her. It doesn't matter if she believed that the capital of New York was Buffalo and another showed proof that the actual capital is Albany, she'd continue to shout and let it be known that she was right and the other was wrong. This is why, many times, when Coulter actually receives doubt about something she said or a follow-up question, she'll resort to name-calling. Why? Perhaps that she has little to no evidence to back up her hate-filled statements.

For those who don't know much about Ann Coulter and feel that I may be exaggerating in my claims that she makes hate-filled statements, I will provide some for you to read.

Coulter wrote the following in her December 21st, 2005 column, "I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East and sending liberals to Guantanamo."

In the April 25th, 2005 Time magazine article on Coulter, entitled, "Ms. Right," Coulter stated, "It would be a much better country if women did not vote. That is simply a fact. In fact, in every presidential election since 1950 - except Goldwater in '64 - the Republican would have won, if only the men had voted."

In an interview with George Gurley on August 26th of 2002, Coulter said, "My only regret Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building."

In an article written June 7th of this year at CNN, Coulter let her thoughts be known about the immigration situation, "I'd build a wall. In fact, I'd hire illegal immigrants to build the wall. And throw out the illegals who are here. It's cheap labor."

When she worked at MSNBC, the comment that ended her career was when she talked to a disabled Vietnam veteran, who spoke out against the war, via satellite and said, "People like you caused us to lose that war." She was then fired for making that statement.

Need I even mention what she recently wrote and said regarding the 9/11 widows? In her latest book, Godless, she wrote this about the 9/11 widows, "These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arazzis. I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much." She also wrote, "And by the way, how do we know their husbands weren't planning to divorce these harpies? Now that their shelf life is dwindling, they'd better hurry up and appear in Playboy." To go along with all these, she's also referred to them as "the Witches of East Brunswick."

Those are only a few examples. I could list off countless others that's she's either written in her columns, books, or spoken.

She not only bothers "liberals," but she bothers conservatives as well. While some conservatives may agree with her approach and her black and white thinking, many do not. Many are not false dilemmicists (yes, I made that word up), where they believe there are only two possible options to every question or issue. Arnold Beichman, of the conservative Washington Times, had this to see when reviewing Coulter's book, Treason, "I'd tried to read Miss Coulter's book and failed. Life is too short to read pages and pages of rants." A conservative at the Washington Post, Christopher Caldwell, reviewed Coulter's book, Slander, and said this, "It's a piece of political hackwork. The deeper into her subject she gets, the more she resorts to the tools of calumny and propaganda she professes to critique." A site of professed conservatives call her "bin Coulter" and below the name and picture reads a portion of the CNN show Crossfire, from November 23rd, 2001, when Ann Coulter and Peter Fenn spoke to one another.

FENN: "Let me ask you one very simple question. You have written, and I quote, 'We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity.'"

COULTER: "Yeah, that was a good one."

FENN: "Now, I just have one very simple question. Who is 'they'?"

COULTER: "The sentence before that sentence says who they are. And that is the terrorists, the people cheering and dancing in the street."

FIEGER: "Convert them to Christianity?"

COULTER: "The ones we happen to be killing right now. Thank God for the Green Berets."

FIEGER: "What's the difference between you and bin Laden?"

On the site, this interview is followed by several quotes illustrating Coulter's angry and hateful nature.

In an article written the day after 9/11, Coulter wrote this, "This is no time to be precious about locating the exact individuals directly involved in this terrorist attack. We don't need long investigations of the forensic evidence to determine with scientific accuracy the person or persons who ordered this specific attack. We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war."

Coulter has shown much hypocrisy in her books, columns, and spoken words. While she claims the Democrats to be using victims, such as the 9/11 widows and Cindy Sheehan, for their own benefit, Coulter has done likewise with her old friend Barbara Olson, who died in the 9/11 attacks. With her hateful words and black and white thinking, it'll be easy to see the hypocrisy involved with these next statements she made.

On the Today Show in June of 2002, she said this, "Political debate with liberals is basically impossible in America because liberals are calling names while conservatives are trying to make arguments. It's really all the same lie (that liberals tell), that conservatives are either stupid or scarily weird and therefore you don't have to deal with their ideas."

On page 19 of her book, Slander, she wrote, "A central component of liberal hate speech is to make paranoid accusations based on their own neurotic impulses, such as calling Republicans angry, hate-filled, and mean."

She also wrote the following statement in the same book, Slander (page 91), "Liberals don't try to win arguments, they seek to destroy their opponents and silence dissident opinions."

Coulter's latest book and others are in the non-fiction genre, which is scary, because if one were to research many of her statements, they'd find many lies and inaccuracies. In fact, over 3,000 can be viewed at the following link: http://slannder.homestead.com/. Coulter stands by her footnotes in the books, but when one does some fact-checking, they soon realize that regardless of the quantity of footnotes, there are numerous inaccuracies and falsifications.

Even though Ann Coulter is well-educated, she is an extremely black and white, simple-minded individual. With her, that old saying of a narrow-mind and large mouth ring true. She believes that her way is the only way. She speaks out against African-Americans, Arab-Americans, Latino-Americans, homosexuals, Democrats, liberals, moderates, dissenters, and women. Oddly enough, she seems to believe in a country where slavery is still in effect and women are at home, serving their husbands, with no rights outside of the home, and yet, here she is, making the most of these rights and freedoms given to women. Perhaps she feels that only she and other women like her should be awarded these rights. People like her divide the nation. She claims that "liberals" don't allow for debate and conversation and resort to name-calling. She should really look in the mirror when she says that, because as she said at a February 23rd, 2003 appearance at Indiana University, "Liberals are wrong about everything" and when she spoke to a crowd at the University of Connecticut, she began the question and answer session by saying, "I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am." All Coulter gets paid to do is brainwash her followers into believing documented lies. She wants the world to believe that liberals are wrong about everything, are evil, Satanic, and ruining the earth's existence. She's even said, "Even fanatical Muslim terrorists don't hate America like liberals do." She's defended David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, has not fully admitted to being a Christian Fundamentalist, but did say, it was only for the fact that, "I'm from Connecticut where the term is not frequently used."

Ann Coulter is everything that she writes about. She's full of anger, rage, and seems to want the world to know that. Unfortunately, the world is listening (and reading). Her followers will be there, just like any other big-time figure, but I hope that the rest, through research or common sense knowledge, remain either certain of her BS that she's dishing out to the public or at least, skeptical. I think I've found the one person I would vote for George W. Bush over and that's Ann Coulter.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Coulter#_note-24

http://users.rcn.com/skutsch/anticoulter/genelyons.html

http://users.rcn.com/skutsch/anticoulter/evilstupid.html

http://users.rcn.com/skutsch/anticoulter/withfriends.html

http://users.rcn.com/skutsch/anticoulter/quotes.html

http://www.coulterwatch.com/files/BW_2-003-bin_Coulter.pdf

http://slannder.homestead.com/