Bernie Who?

Today's Washington Post provided the hardly unexpected news that the horrid Rudy Giuliani's bff, Bernard Kerik, is likely to be indicted on tax evasion and other charges. Kerik has already pleaded guilty to state charges that he accepted nearly $200,000 in "gifts" (I guess that is what they are calling that now), most of which involved substantial renovations to an apartment that Kerik did not pay for while working as the corrections commissioner and later the police commissioner when Giuliani was mayor of New York.

Or, to put it another way, Giuliani appointed a common crook to two of the most important jobs in the City of New York and then convinced President Bush (not that it was so hard, I'm sure) to nominate that crook to be in charge of the Department of Homeland Security. While this type of attention to detail certainly qualifies Giuliani to be the head of FEMA or some other senior position in the Bush Administration, I remain baffled as to why so many Republican voters seem inclined to support him for President. Let's hope Kerik and his ongoing problems finally shatter the inexplicable Giuliani mystique once and for all.

Quote of the Day

"It's kind of like having a 9-11 benefit game, and asking Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to throw out the first pitch." -- Deadspin, making the obvious (except to the hapless Bud Selig) point that featuring the Cleveland Indians and their racist mascot, Chief Wahoo, in MLB's "Civil Rights Game" might not have been the best idea.

Sis Boom Bah

According to this article in today's New York Times (subscription may be required), cheerleading has become at least as, and perhaps more, dangerous than some of the sporting events at which cheerleaders do whatever it is they do:

Emergency room visits for cheerleading injuries nationwide have more than doubled since the early 1990s, far outpacing the growth in the number of cheerleaders, and the rate of life-threatening injuries has startled researchers. Of 104 catastrophic injuries sustained by female high school and college athletes from 1982 to 2005 — head and spinal trauma that occasionally led to death — more than half resulted from cheerleading, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. All sports combined did not surpass cheerleading.

This danger element may be new to cheerleading, but here's something that has always been true: Cheerleading is stupid, exceptionally so.

I have never understood why parents and schools at all levels -- elementary, high school, and college -- think it is worthwhile to have students, almost always female, spend time "cheering on" others, almost always male, instead of doing something constructive themselves. I mean, it is not like people attending sporting events don't know when to applaud. And, please, don't tell me how athletic you have to be to do it. If cheerleaders were such good athletes, they would be playing on the teams they watch.

It's always been ridiculous. And now it's ridiculous and dangerous. It's tough to be perky after being dropped on your head.

I'm Baaaaaaack!!

As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by myself...

Anyway, while I will never be one of those several times a day, or even once every day, type of blogger, I plan to now get back to my multiple times a week posting schedule. During the past couple of post-less weeks, I have been thinking about what FCB look like, and I decided that, for the most part, it should be just what it has been. I do hope to add the occasional longer essay, however, with my goal being one such piece a week or so. As always, your thoughts and comments are most welcome. Thanks especially to those of you who made clear, both by submitting comments and by resorting to the somewhat old-fashioned method of talking to me, that you missed hearing from this corner of the Internets.

Brief Respite

Apologies to my loyal readers (both of them) for the lighter-than-usual posting activity this month. There are a few reasons for the lull, but none of them is especially interesting.

I have been spending some of this mini-hiatus thinking about the direction FCB should take in the days ahead, and I hope to have something to say about that soon. I am optimistic at least half of my readership will bear with me.

Pants on Fire

The interesting thing about the Scooter Libby case is not that he lied to the FBI and the grand jury. It's that he lied so obviously and ineptly. I keep reading what a smart guy he is, but his years at the side of the Prince of Darkness clearly taught him nothing about the art of deception.

It's particularly unfortunate, if predictable, that Libby's supporters still insist that some sort of miscarriage of justice has occurred, as if what might be the strongest perjury case ever had just not played out before us all. Nine witnesses -- including two co-workers -- contradicted Libby's story and testified that Libby knew about Valerie Plame Wilson before his conversation with Tim Russert, during which Libby claimed to have been first told about her CIA job. Yet we still have to hear this sort of thing from the likes of Mary Matalin, as quoted in today's Washington Post:

"Scooter didn't do anything. And his personal record and service are impeccable. How do you make sense of a system where a security principal admits to stuffing classified docs in his pants and says, 'I'm sorry,' and a guy who is rebutting a demonstrable partisan liar is going through this madness?"

What??? I guess Mary hasn't figured out that there are ways of rebutting Joe Wilson that don't involve lying to the FBI and a grand jury. And what does what happened to Sandy Berger have to do with all this? Nothing, of course, but in Washington World, it is all partisanship, all the time. Facts be damned.

Libby has learned what Martha Stewart and many others also have learned: It doesn't matter what you did or didn't do. It doesn't matter whether an "underlying crime" has been committed. If you lie to the feds, you are in for a world of hurt.

Quote of the Day II

"Can't we make this damn tin can go any faster?" -- Space shuttle pilot Commander William Oefelein, shortly after reading his e-mail while on his recent mission.

OK, I made this one up.

Quote of the Day

"First urge will be to rip your clothes off, throw you on the ground and love the hell out of you." -- Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, in e-mail message to Commander William Oefelein, who happened to be piloting the space shuttle at the time.

Not exactly "Ground Control to Major Tom."