Conason writes: No doubt the former mayor believes that he is "obviously" the best choice for president in reference to Giuliani's statement "I think obviously I would be the best at this."

One would think this is sloppiness, but it happens so often that it must be intentional. Giuliani -- whom, let the record show, I despise and think would be possibly the worst of a terrible lot running for the nomination -- was clearly modifying "I think" with the adverb "obviously".

Otherwise he would have said "I think I would obviously be the best at this." The placement of the "obviously", children, is the key to decoding the meaning of the sentence.

Yet, in order to score a completely unnecessary dig, Conason misuses the quotation to imply that he was saying something he wasn't.

My problem with this (in addition to it being sloppy journalism) is that it is just the sort of crap Hannity et al practice. Why twist what Giuliani has to say? He IS EVIL. HIS RECORD IS EVIL. WE DON'T HAVE TO TWIST ANYTHING TO DEMONSTRATE THIS FACT.

It is like when Bush I's people promulgated an erroneously literal translation of "mother of all wars" in order to demonize Sadaam as a tinpot dictator out of a bad hollywood movie. Or the way he used to drawl and emphasize the word "SCUUUUUD" whenever he said "scud missiles" as if even saying the word was disgusting. Again, what the fuck was the point? Sadaam didn't need to be spun as evil, he was evil.

C'mon Joe. Rise above these cheap tactics.

I have a confession to make. Back in the day when it was suggested that Bush might replace Selig as baseball commissioner, I thought: "oh please Lord, no. He'll really mess up the game. He's not fit to be baseball commissioner."

Who knew that the good Lord would answer that prayer and leave W free to become governor of Texas and then President? It's my fault.

While I am apologizing for fucking up the cosmos, I'd also like to apologize to Mike Mussina for messing up his no-hitter in Boston by saying to my wife "Honey, come watch! One more strike and Moose's got a no hitter!" As soon as the words came out of my mouth, Carl Everett hit that bloop single.

mea culpa

John Kruk was on Jim Rome yesterday and he was basically saying that if everyone else is doing it and there are no consequences, why would anyone not take steroids? I only caught part of it, but he seemed to imply that he didn't take them because he was concerned for his health. Rome, the complete freaking moron that he is, of course didn't ask him about the morality of cheating or breaking the law in order to swindle millions of dollars without earning it. He did seem to imply that those who were concerned with the purity of the game were naive fools.

Maybe I am, but I know that a lot of people cheat on their taxes and I could probably get away with it as well, but I don't. I know I could shoplift tons of food from the supermarket or I could label the organic lettuce as regular lettuce and save money, but I don't. It's not a fear of being caught or a concern for who else is doing what. It's about the morality of stealing or lying. I could give every student I have a B+ without reading their papers and no one would complain (and I'd get great teacher evaluations), but I feel a moral obligation to actually do what I'm paid to do.

Apparently, no one in the big leagues feels a sense of morality about this. Why haven't the Frank Robinsons and Phil Rizuttos of the Hall taken public stances on this? Why not say; if steroid users are let in, I will not come.

In a word, yes.

Leaving aside the morality of cheating for the moment, when people lose faith in the integrity of the sport for whatever reason they will not bet on it. The fewer people betting on any given sport, the fewer people watching it as a general rule.

Historically, many early efforts to standardize rules were undertaken with just that purpose in mind: to make betting fairer.

It is in the owners/players/leagues' best interests to have the games and clean as possible and having as many people betting on it as possible because that brings more eyeballs to the TVs and more fannies to the seats.

When sports lose their integrity, they lose their audience. Remember that until the 1960s, the unassailable Big Three sports in this country were baseball, boxing and horse racing. Two of those three have lost the perception of integrity and have consequently been overtaken not just by NFL and NASCAR, but also by arena football, hockey, beach volleyball, etc. etc.

So, Sinclair Lewis told us and so seems more true every day.

Remember that fascism is not a one-size fits all ideology. Italian fascism diverged from German National Socialism is significant ways, and American fascism has its own unique characteristics.

Nonetheless, they share a central authoritarianism which is inalienably opposed to individual rights and limits on the power of the leader. Mussolini liked to be photographed riding horses and swiming barechested to display his fascist manliness. It is not a stretch to see the same fascistic fetish in Bushian brush clearning and flight suit wearing.

Let's not romanticize 'nature' too much here. historically, yes, women have given birth at home. And historically also, women and babies have died in great numbers from complications ranging from breech position to haemoraghing to simply having the umblical cord wrapped around the neck for too long.