Yes, Bruntlett isn't much of a hitter. We know that. My wild guess is that Charlie Manuel knows it too.

The problem, according to you is that he didn't get a hit in his only at-bat of the game. Uh, care to try to prove that if Gross or anyone else had been at the plate, he would have gotten a hit? Did you actually watch the game last night? How many Phillies failed to hit with two outs and men in scoring position? Oh that's right, about half a dozen including Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell twice each. Jimmie Rollins can't seem to get on base at all. So Bruntlett's the problem? How do you figure?

The answer to your question, "why's he in the league?" is equally simple - he can play any position on the diamond except pitcher. Baseball teams consist of 25 players. That's 8 starting position players, plus 11 pithers and six others. One of the others has to be a back-up catcher. That leaves a maximum of five guys to fill all the other positions, to fill in when a regular starter sprains an ankle, to be a late-inning defensive replacement for a slow-footed or mediocre regular, etc. In short, guys like Bruntlett play an incredibly valuable role in baseball which is why, if you look around, you'll see that every team has one or two utility guys. Bruntlett, contrary to what you claim, is an extremely good infielder and has a lot more speed than Burrell whom he typically replaces.

If you don't have anything better to say than to try to tag Eric Bruntlett with the Phillies clutch hitting woes, stick a sock in it.

As Monty Python said about the parrot, "It's only restin'."

That these sleazy tactics have no traction this year has everything to do with 8 years of George Bush and the fact that the country has rarely been in such bad shape. Bush/Rove are highly associated with the politics of sleaze and people see what it's gotten us. With the economy tanking, people demand real solutions to their very real problems, and "Obama is a Muslim" and "Obama is a Terrorist" don't cut the butter.

But just wait. In happier times after 4-8 years of Democratic misrule, those tactics will be back. Count on it.

we'd do it in the Defense Dept. Counting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we spend over $600B on defense every year. That's more than the rest of the industrialized world combined. How is it that UK, France, Spain, etc. manage to feel secure while spending a tiny fraction per capita on defense that we do? We could easily cut the defense budget in half, but, surprise of surprises, neither candidate even mentions that. In that way, it's kind of like the War on Drugs; both candidates agree that a wasteful, failed policy should be continued.

This political system is incompetent to deal with real issues facing the country. If anyone thinks President Obama is going to end the War on Drugs, I've got a bridge to nowhere to sell you.

when are you guys going to pick up on the fact that "Joe the Plumber" isn't a plumber. He's not licensed in Ohio and therefore is not a plumber. He's never taken a training course, an apprenticeship course or any form of training to be a plumber. He works for Newell Plumbing and Heating, but he is not a plumber and certainly doesn't own a plumbing company. He also has an $1,100 tax lien against him. This is the guy that the McCain campaign made the centerpiece of the final debate before the election. Good job of vetting, guys.

All of the above is being reported by the Toledo Blade.

no, we're not reading minds. The "health of the mother" exception to abortion restrictions includes mental health. And it's something that anti-abortion folks point to time and again as an easy way to get around those restrictions. McCain has been pandering to that crowd for some time now and his reference along with the "airquotes" was a reference to that. The right-wing base got the message, and that's who it was aimed at.

With all respect, the quotation you posted makes no sense at all. If you'll recall, 8 years ago we were running a surplus. How do you imagine we did that if what you posted were true? The defense budget including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan amounts to about $600B far in excess of the deficit.

The idea that we could cut all federal spending except Medicare and SS and still run a deficit is just obviously false, as is the notion that 100% taxation of all wages, salaries and profits would be insufficient to meet current expenditures.

I don't know who puts this stuff in your head, but you need to read and listen with some degree of skepticism. Otherwise you end up with a head full of garbage.