The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Did anyone see that Megyn Kelly-Donald Trump interview? You know, the first such interview since Trump insulted Kelly in any and every such way, from harshly criticizing her journalistic integrity to her level of intellect, to her monthly cycle, and beyond? Yeah, that played out like Mayweather vs. Pacquiao part deux - a great deal of hype and yuuuge disappointment in the end. The two transformed from Tyson and Holyfield to Mahatma Gandhi and Tommy Chong. Here's how it came across to me... Megyn Kelly: "You've received a lot of criticism for some of your comments over the past several months. Is there anything you've said or tweeted that you now regret?" Donald Trump: "Yeah, sure, I regret things, but you have to move on, you know? I mean, I don't want to get into specifics or reflect on these regrets, because what's the point of admitting guilt and learning from it in order to be a better person if all you want is to be a better person?" K...

Here's my exaggerated rendition of last night's CNBC Republican debate: John Harwood: "As they ask you in job interviews and without saying things like, 'I'm too hard of a worker,' what's your biggest weakness?" John Kasich: "Let me go into my closing statement first. I'm better than all these other people on the stage tonight. I've gotten things done in Ohio; gotten things done in Washington; and gotten things done in my own home on occasion, namely, my wife. So if you want someone that regularly gets things done both in and out of the house, I'm your guy! If you don't want that, then choose one of these other wackadoodles." Rand Paul: "My biggest weakness is that I love the Constitution so much, I sometimes hand-feed it chocolates by a burning fire on a cold winter's night, before reading it French poetry in English." Carly Fiorina: "Whatever Donald Trump says it is. How about it Donald? You up for...

Whether a source is slanted to the right or slanted to the left, I always look to other, more nonpartisan, reputable sources to either confirm or deny the validity of the article (or display a bit of both). I may label myself as a progressive, but if I read an article from a liberally-slanted source which sounds a little fishy to me, I'm going to do anything but confirm it on the spot, even if I want to believe the article's claims. This is why I often times resort to fact-checkers. No, they may not be perfect, but I'm going to believe the words of an individual who has thoroughly researched an article or statement, gets paid to do so, and attempts to be as objective as possible with his or her analysis, over an op-ed piece, a talking point on a cable news network or radio show, a chain email, or a single quote. I write all this because, over the weekend, word broke of a study which claimed that we could be heading for another mini ice age in the next 40 years. Of course, n...

Unsurprisingly, far right-wing site Breitbart has decided to go a different direction from the mainstream media when it comes to reporting on the Charleston, South Carolina shooting and its aftermath. The site has gone on to compare Dylann Roof to William Ayers, because President Obama and Ayers used to spoon together after speaking at "Hate America" meetings or something to that effect, so the site felt the need to let it be known that since Obama used to associate with Ayers, he has no room to lecture the country about racism and race wars. Not long after, the website posted this headline: "Serial Lies: Politifact blasts Obama over gun claim about mass killings in other countries." Yes, that's a bigger exaggeration than if I said I'd slept with more women than Wilt Chamberlain and Gene Simmons combined. The Politifact headline read, "Is Barack Obama correct that mass shootings don't happen in other countries?" While the site ruled his...

I read a Facebook post today which made me simultaneously shake my head and laugh, as I can't help but be dismayed by what many consider to be news nowadays. Brian Williams may have exaggerated or outright lied about a major story several years ago, yet a recent study also showed that Fox News exaggerates the truth or outright lies 61% of the time, not to mention that bumper stickers and online memes are passing as facts for many people anymore. As for the before-mentioned article which was posted on Facebook, it's titled, "'The difference between high school in 1970 and 2015' couldn't be more accurate," by Joshua Riddle of Young Conservatives . He didn't write the original "piece," but like many other right-leaning sites, has decided to spread the word from the anonymous author. Rumor has it Snopes.com  is conducting an investigation on the matter as we speak (or I type). Here's the article. I'll be sure to make some lovely remar...

When talking to the uber-conservative NewsMax TV on Wednesday, Wisconsin Senator and man voted creepiest potential Boy Scout leader - Ron Johnson - said the following with regard to Affordable Care Act premium increases in the state: "I'm driving around Wisconsin, I'm talking to business owners and I'm talking to health care providers and insurance agents as well and they're seeing that same kind of range [of premium increases for 2015], anywhere from 16 to 60 percent. Kind of with an average of around 30 percent here just anecdotally in Wisconsin." Bob Uecker, would you care to give your two cents regarding Senator Johnson's numbers? "Just a bit outside." Thanks. The fact of the matter is, according to the numbers reported by the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) last month, healthcare premiums will increase by an average of 3% in 2015, and two insurers are actually reporting decreases for the coming year. Medica ...

While I am officially through day 53 of the 63 insanity beachbody workout and have noticed some nice changes, I still feel the need to poke fun at it a little bit. In these workouts, the leader - Shaun T - has the tendency to say and do certain things throughout each and every one. For example, I can't count how many times he says the following (okay, it's not that I CAN'T count; I just don't want to): - "Dig deeper!" - "You can do it!" - "I'm watching you!" - "I'm right here with you!" - "Come on, people!" When it comes to his actions, he shows the following tendencies: - To either do 10 seconds of an exercise at the start of it or at the very end, meanwhile everyone else tries to do it for the 30 or 60 seconds he sets. - When he walks around and talks to people and points out what they're doing, 4 out of 5 times he does this with a woman, and doesn't shy away from touching her (a lot...

Is it just me or does it seem as if 94.3% of people never take responsibility anymore, and in most cases, they then point the finger at someone else when confronted about a slip-up of theirs? In politics, in sports, at work, at school, between couples, between friends, between family members, seemingly anywhere and everywhere, when someone is called out on a mistake they made, instead of admitting to the error, they then point the finger at someone else. Why does it seem so difficult anymore to admit a mistake, attempt to learn from it, and not make that same mistake again? I'm not exactly sure, but this seeming shifting-of-blame epidemic does get aggravating at times. Here's an exaggerated version of what I'm talking about... Setting: At the Humee residence in Washington, D.C. Diana Humee: "Why didn't you do the dishes this morning before leaving for work?" Donald Humee: "You never asked me to. Besides, you almost always do them." Diana: ...

On Monday, Nicholas Kristof wrote an article which delved into the Ferguson, Missouri shooting, as well as racism in this country, entitled, "Even people who support racial equality show bias." If curious, you can read the article at this link: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2014/09/01/even-people-who-support-racial-equality-show-bias.html To save you some time, I'll condense the article by pointing out a few of the highlights: - "Scholars have found that blacks and Hispanics treated by doctors for a broken leg received pain medication significantly less often than white patients with the same injury. School administrators suspend black students at more than three times the rate of white students. Police arrest blacks at 3.7 times the rate of whites for marijuana possession, even though surveys find that both use marijuana at roughly similar rates." - "Two scholars sent out nearly 5,000 resumes in response to help-wanted ads, rando...

According to Louisiana State Representative Lenar Whitney (yes, a Republican), global-warming/climate-change is "perhaps the greatest deception in the history of mankind." Yes, even though the Arctic sea ice is still melting, winters have been continually getting warmer (this past one excluded), and carbon dioxide concentrations have been continuing to rise, global-warming is "perhaps the greatest deception in the history of mankind." What really makes me laugh about these global-warming deniers is the fact many of them are ardent believers in the Bible. Representative Whitney, what do you have to say about global-warming, and the fact temperatures have been rising and arctic ice has been melting? "It is perhaps the greatest deception in the history of mankind." Representative Whitney, what do you have to say about the Bible, and the belief that a virgin gave birth to a perfect being, and this perfect being sacrificed himself on a cross to save m...

I just read another article by Kyle Becker of the uber right-wing Independent Journal Review , entitled, "10 Offensive Things Conservatives are Accused of Thinking - Yet They Actually Never, Ever Do." Yes, that's the wondrous title. This should be interesting... Becker starts off his "piece" with this: "Liberals are full of opinions. Not only do they like to give everyone their unsolicited opinions of whatever random thing they happen to be thinking at the time, they love to speak for other people. Even when it's ridiculous. Even when no one in their right mind in the 21st century ever, ever thinks such horrible things. These Amazing Kreskins love to tune in to their ESPN and have at it. Here are 10 things lefties accuse conservatives of thinking that no one ever, ever does." So, Mr. Becker, who accuses liberals of speaking for conservatives, is now going to speak for liberals who speak for conservatives? Isn't that special? He may al...

It's amazing to watch cable news channels when a significant crime or tragedy has struck a part of this nation. In light of the recent mass shooting in this nation's capital, MSNBC decided to report the shooter's name without confirmation, Fox News thought it was a prime opportunity to be partisan and racist, and CNN felt that any bit of news, even if it wasn't news at all, was important for everyone to hear. MSNBC leans left, Fox News leans right, and CNN leans whichever direction the wind takes them. Here's my slightly exaggerated version of how the three networks report on such events. Headline: A 25-year old African-American man attempted to rob a bank and is holding several people hostage Network: MSNBC "We're just getting word about an attempted bank robbery in Chicago, Illinois, where an African-American man is holding several people hostage. Apparently the man is about 25-years old, and do we have a name yet? We do? Okay, we just got confirmat...

I hate being so hard on ESPN writers, but over the past few months, I've been noticing wretched articles with increasing frequency. The latest one comes courtesy of Phil Sheridan, and is entitled, "Kelly gets first taste of Vick turnovers." The article came in light of the Philadelphia Eagles 26-16 defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs last night, where Michael Vick was picked off twice in the first half - his first two interceptions of the season (compared to 5 touchdowns). Sheridan started his article with this: "Now Chip Kelly knows. Since January, when he was hired to replace Andy Reid as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Kelly has dismissed his video record of quarterback Michael Vick's habit of throwing footballs to the other team. Kelly didn't know Vick's reads on the 24 interceptions he threw in his previous 23 games. He didn't know whether a receiver ran the wrong route or an offensive lineman missed an assignment. So h...

Heard of the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, where people try to connect an actor with Kevin Bacon in six or fewer steps? It appears as if Fox News has been playing a condensed version of that game with regard to President Obama and Benghazi. I call it the Three Degrees of Benghazi. Here are just a few examples: Starting point: "Syria may have used chemical weapons against its own people." Fox News' next move: "Obama is looking very weak as a leader during this whole thing." Fox News' closer: "He's obviously doing this so people forget about his weak leadership during Benghazi!" Starting point: "A shooting rampage occurred in Washington, D.C. earlier today." Fox News' next move: "At last check, 12 people were killed." Fox News' closer: " That is only eight more than were killed in the most brutal attack on American non-American soil - Benghazi!" Starting point: "It's another record...

While one can't learn a great deal from just one week of a season, here is what I personally learned after the first week of the NFL regular season: - Referees don't seem to like the Green Bay Packers much in the opening week of the regular season. Next year, the Pack may just want to rest their guys through week 1 and start the season in week 2 at 0-1. - Tom Brady may be one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the game, but he's just one guy, and after watching the Patriots' last-second win against Buffalo, it's safe to say Brady has less help on the field than minorities have voting in North Carolina. - Ditto for Adrian Peterson - The Pittsburgh Steelers just aren't very good anymore. Ben Roethlisberger gets less protection than a streaker at the Thanksgiving Day Parade. - ESPN is more skeptical about Chip Kelly's offense in Philadelphia than parents are when told by kids with chocolate all over their faces that they didn'...

Following the Philadelphia Eagles' 31-24 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars last night in the team's third preseason game, many Philly sports-writers were quick to label starting quarterback Michael Vick as "shaky," all the while praising the play of backup quarterback Nick Foles. While Foles was very efficient in the second half of last night's game and has been for most of the preseason, I'm still slightly perplexed on the myriad of such articles which were published by Philadelphia writers either last night or this morning. Vick wasn't as sharp in last night's game as he had been in the team's first two preseason games. He completed 15 of 23 pass attempts (65.2%) for 184 yards (8.0 ypa and 12.3 ypc), with 1 touchdown pass and 1 interception. In his defense, the interception was on a pass Vick was trying to throw away while getting hit. However, he held onto the ball too long and would have avoided the pick if he had tossed the ball out-of-...

Last night, the Detroit Lions pummeled the New England Patriots by the final score of 40-9 in the teams' third pre-season game. This has already gotten ESPN fired up, where they're blowing things out-of-proportion like Fox News does regarding anyone with the last name of Obama.  ESPN already aired a televised segment entitled "Patriots Panic Meter," released an article where the first line read, "I know it's just a pre-season game, but...," and Vegas odds have it at 1 : 2 that someone affiliated with the organization will at some point today ask the question, "Have the Patriots lost it?" Psst... It's just a pre-season game. Two weeks from now, every team will be 0-0 and this game will have meant next to nothing as far as records and playoff chances are concerned. Quarterback Tom Brady just played the first half, and while his Patriots trailed 16-3 at halftime, that was a much more respectable score than what it wound up being. If he ...

As seems to be all too common, the media has blown Mariano Rivera's recent struggles out-of-proportion. The long-time New York Yankees closer has blown his past three save opportunities - the first time that's occurred in his Hall-of-Fame career. What has happened as a result of that? ESPN analysts wondering aloud if Rivera is losing "it." Let's get something straight here - while Rivera has struggled in his past three outings, even with those struggles, he has a very solid ERA of 2.44. Rivera is now 3-2 on the year, with 35 saves (5 blown), 41 strikeouts and 8 walks in 44.1 innings pitched. This is Rivera's 19th year with the Yankees. To this point, he's saved 643 games for the club, struck out 1,160 batters, while walking just 285 in 1,264.0 innings. He also has a career ERA of 2.22 and a WHIP of 1.00. Those are just Rivera's regular season stats. His post-season statistics are even more impressive. He's 8-1 in post-season play, with 42 sav...

If you want to read one of the most strangely structured articles out there and one with more than just a hint of racism, I recommend reading Ben Stein's blog, "The Trayvon Martin case is worrying me," over at the right-wing site The American Spectator . Stein starts his piece by talking about how hot it was in Sandpont, Idaho, before randomly saying, "I had a tough time sleeping last night. The Trayvon Martin case is worrying me. I'll tell you a few reasons:" That would be like me writing a blog which started in this manner: "The weather has been nice and cool for this time of year. I've been able to get more work done outside than usual. My dog - a Siberian husky - has been able to take more decent length walks with me than is typical during the summer months. Anyway, the NSA spying is really starting to bother me..." Okay, Mr. Random, I mean Stein, please continue... "First of all, the media have made this case into the lynchi...

Very recently, I've seen some far-right evangelicals make comparisons between NBA basketball player Jason Collins and NFL player Tim Tebow. It's usually provided in the form of a cartoon, which goes something like this: Tebow: "I'm a Christian." Media: "Shut your mouth! Keep your religion to yourself!" Collins: "I'm gay." Media: "You're a hero!" First off, the bit regarding Tebow is a definite exaggeration. While the media loves to hear good soundbites and Tebow isn't really known for that, I haven't heard anyone in the media start yelling at the quarterback after he gives thanks to God. It's not like I've heard anything such as this: Tebow: "First off, I've got to give praise to God for giving me the opportunity to play...and..." Reporter Fernando Dipshitz: "Hey, Tebow! Shut the hell up! We don't give a rat's a*s about your God! Talk football, godda*mit!" No, l...