The way I see it is that Bush simply has nothing to offer but dinosaur strategies like more drilling to combat the energy crisis. In his first speech on this issue he argued for drilling in ANWR, now he's arguing for off-shore. The basic lack of creative, outside of the box thinking is really what dooms this approach, never mind whether it would or wouldn't drive prices down. As Andrew points out, it might do so for the short term, but it's no long-term solution.

What surprises me is that McCain is hitching his cart to this flaming Hindenberg of a policy. If people have any sense at all and are as weary and wary of the intellectually bankrupt Bush agenda as I am, he has no chance this fall.

This makes me sick. Bill Simmons on espn.com has been following this story for a long time, and between this and the Donaghy stonewalling the league keeps looking worse. The most galling moment for me came when Stern stood there smirking while getting booed at the Celtics' trophy presentation. Clearly, he had to know what it was about. He's lost all credibility as anything other than a bottom-line hack for the owners.

But as this story points out, cities need to be a bit less short-sighted when it comes to acknowledging the advantages -- economically, culturally, etc. -- of having a major league sports team in town. Some kind of balance needs to be struck between letting them rob the taxpayers blind and working with them as partners to ensure their continued presence. And the league needs to be a lot less short-sighted, too.

If someone is saying, as I overheard a man in the locker room at my gym not too long ago, that Obama is a Muslim and won't salute the flag etc. etc., that person is already lost as a voter. Not necessarily because he or she is incapable of being informed that this information is false, understanding and accepting that fact, but because he or she is susceptible to the next wave of misinformation to come along, and the one after that, and the one after that.

I wonder if this web site is the right strategy, but I don't see what choice he has. It may be better to simply stick to the high ground and focus on the voters with the intelligence and wherewithal, not to mention the frustration with current policies and events, to actually follow through and vote for him in the fall.

Reading this piece at 3am on a night I can't get to sleep, it's strangely reminiscent of reading a preview of a championship final in which your team is heavily favored and all the experts are chiming in and predicting a fairly easy victory. The problem is you've been beaten down so many years in a row that you can't really bring yourself to believe it. Then it happens, and you think, yeah, we had it the whole time.

Well, we all know how that turned out for the Lakers in the NBA finals this year. Here's hoping the experts are right and we (and the world) can breathe a sigh of relief in November.

The thing that bothered me so much was Buck and McCarver kept referring to the Kazmir/Webb situation like it was some kind of unavoidable crisis. I'm not sure about Webb, but I know the Rays had been adamant for several days prior to the game that Kazmir not pitch. OK, so why the hell was he there?

For that matter, why was Ortiz taking up roster space? On the NL side, to a lesser degree, why were Webb and Lincenum? I understand especially with pitchers there are extenuating circumstances and so on, but if the game is supposed to mean something and a winner must be decided, baseball should institute a rule that no players whose clubs don't want them to play be there. A simple fix: allow the team to nominate a teammate to take the absent player's place.

I thought Francona did a horrible job managing the game. It would have ended several innings earlier if he'd saved someone with halfway decent speed to pinch run on some of those plays at the plate. Part of the reason I stayed up to watch, I'll admit, was out of morbid fascination, waiting to see if the fiasco of 02 would be repeated, and for the exact same reason.

Speaking of which, Buck is such a company man it shakes my whole faith in the game, the culture, and a system that demands fealty to the bottom line. I kept waiting for "lowlights" from the end of the 02 game, with Selig looking more flustered than McCain in that planned parenthood ad. Of course that -- any mention of that, the rules and managing mistakes that caused it -- is completely verboten. Instead it's all about poor Scott Kazmir and Francona and Hurdle running out of options. Sickening.

King: dhadbawnik For that matter, why was Ortiz taking up roster space? On the NL side, to a lesser degree, why were Webb and Lincenum?

Ortiz wasn't taking up roster space. He was replaced. He was there to enjoy the festivities. Lincecum wasn't taking up roster space either. He got sick Monday.

OK, so what about Webb and Kazmir (and who replaced Lincenum)? Again I saith: if the game is truly important, no starters who've just pitched or are unable to go for any reason shall set foot in the all star game. period. have their teams go down the rotation and send someone else, with all due apologies.

As for the HFA brouhaha, what about awarding it to the league that wins the most interleague games? Much as I hate, hate, hate interleague play, it would at least offer some justification for it.