Willie

In the New York Times article featuring comments from Willie Randolph on how his firing was handled by the Mets, there is a quote that stands out to me:

{“Getting close, ‘06,when Beltran didn’t get the bat off his shoulder,” Randolph said, referring to the last out of Game 7, when Carlos Beltran took a called third strike with the Mets down two runs with the bases loaded.}

Sadly, I think if Willie had taken the blunt approach that this quote exemplifies throughout his tenure with the Mets, he may still be the manager. It was this kind of accountability that his Met team lacked, at least in the public eye, which lead to Willie's managerial style to come into question in both the Press and throughout the fan base.

It's too bad. I feel bad for Willie.

Remember These?

I used to collect these Desert Storm trading cards. I thought about them today as I pondered the questions being asked of Scott McClellan on 'Meet the Press.'

I find myself frustrated with folks asking McClellan 'If you had these feelings during your time in the White House, why didn't you resign, or ask the President why he was misleading the people?'

Are we serious here people? We the people of the United States and that includes YOU the PRESS, are going to cop an attitude and try to make Scott McClellan look like a spineless dickhead after he comes out and admits in as much as he can, with details, to the world, that he along with the rest of the Bush administration mislead the country on such topics as: The War in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and the CIA Leak? I'm stunned. F'ing stunned. I'm glad he didn't resign under protest or question the President at the time when he decided he didn't like how things were going. He let it play out, he played his role, and when he decided he had enough he left his position. Now he's in a new position where he can, as an insider, with DETAILS, confirm some of the issues that we as Americans most voraciously debated about...and now that we have that info, we as a people are asking him why he didn't just quit and question his integrity.

Hey Scott Mclellan, nice try, but it's a lost cause. Your desire to expose the lies of the Bush administration, and admit your own guilt in the process, will be passed off as just a way to pad your bank account and people on all sides of the political spectrum will talking-head to death all the wrong messages about this book on 24-hour news TV.

I'm not applauding the guy as a hero here folks, I HATED Scott Mclellan as the Press Secretary because he was a master at dodging questions and spewing out all the standard talking points that a Press Secretary is supposed to. I hated him just like I hated Ari Fleischer and even George Steponpoopulous. All of the press secretaries do what he did, he's just the only one to decide he doesn't like how that feels, so he's coming clean.

I genuinely believe he's trying to get the message out that people were right to question this Presidency and for the first time it's actually coming from someone who worked WITH THE PRESIDENT ON A DAILY BASIS and yet every interview this guy is on, he's getting grilled as to why he didn't resign or argue with the president.

If he had done as Bob Dole has said, this info would never have gotten out to the public. He either would've been fired, forced out, or at the very least kept from the info that he was privy to when he was 'one of the boys.' And if anyone thinks for a second that the administration wouldn't have tried to smear him after the fact if he had decided to resign and reveal even just the first bit of scandalous info, you're just not smart. Now he has a body of evidence, not just one scandal that can be pushed under the rug. Think we'll get a book like this from Tony Snow? I think not.

A small rant, I know. But the fact that McClellan's machismo is being questioned by the likes of Viagra lovin' Bob Dole, instead of people saying 'Wow, the President really did lie about the CIA leak and Iraq' is astounding to me.

I'll end with my second favorite Carl Sagan quote which you'll find on my MySpace profile:

"Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of confusion and bamboozle requires intelligence, vigilance, dedication and courage. But if we don't practice these tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us -- and we risk becoming a nation of suckers, up for grabs by the next charlatan who comes along."--Carl Sagan