All Your Base Are Belong To Us — The Kip Lange Homepage

I was asked in a recent post to defend Belichick’s diva tantrum at the end of the Superbowl. I can’t. All I can say is I think Bill was outcoached bigtime and he knew it and he wanted off that field as fast as possible.

Because, let’s face it, this Pats loss was a breakdown in coaching. You have two weeks to practice, and you know two things for sure: One, the Giants are going to try to take Randy Moss off the board, and two, they are going to be rushing and blitzing Brady like crazy.

Knowing that, the offensive line should have been ready for the blitz packages. And they weren’t. Guys were coming straight up the middle at Brady. He had no time whatsoever. And while you can blame it on the offensive line, true, that offensive line has held before and it should have been at least ready for that pressure in some SMALL way. Blocks were just totally missed. And a lot of that comes from coaching.

Again, I think Belichick knew he had simply been outcoached and he wanted off that damn field as fast as possible.

As for no shots of the Pats crying or anything — I think, more than anything else, the Pats were stunned. Even though they came out flat (and there’s no debating that). Stunned rather than depressed, I think. Although I’m sure they’re also depressed. But I do give them credit for all of them freely admitting they were outplayed (and outcoached) in that Superbowl.

Ah well, there’s next year, and for those who be hatin’, remember, New England lost a #1 draft pick over Spygate — so it’s not like they’ve gone unpunished. And none of you have to worry about asterisks next to their perfect season, because — they lost.

I also happen to agree that the “greatest team ever” stuff was WAY over the top.

There, there, happy now? 🙂

And I thank you, GC, for not rubbing the loss in, especially given what I assume is a great affinity for the Giants (do you really like Coughlin, though?). You know the Perfect Season is the Holy Grail of football, and I thought I might get a chance to see it — and that’s a chance that literally comes around once in a lifetime.

I’m getting over it, though…and God, what an awful game the Patriots played. Awful. Although New York played a great game, I’m not taking anything away from that. Especially up front, blocking for Eli, which is where it really counted.

Okay. I’m not going to get much into the mess that Super Tuesday is turning into, but I will say this: conservatives are making a mistake. 80% of them appear to be going over to Romney.

Listen to me, for God’s sake, especially in the states where the polls are still open. LISTEN TO ME. Do you want Romney fighting Islamic extremism? Do you think he will actually do it? Who do you think the terrorists are more worried will win, Romney or McCain? McCain, dammit, MCCAIN.

Look, it’s a bitter pill to swallow when McCain makes remarks about not nominating judges like Alito. But neither did Reagan. Reagan also passed, I believe, the largest amnesty bill ever for illegal immigrants (and the Earth, amazingly, did NOT fall into the Sun).

VOTE MCCAIN. Romney will LOSE THE GENERAL. Romney is a WHORE. Romney is a Stepford Candidate.

Romney, my friends, is not even Bob Dole. Romney is John Kerry with darker hair and weird Mormon underpants. Perhaps not on policy, but that’s the overall vibe he projects. You think that’s going to win the general?

My fellow conservatives, I beg of you:

VOTE FOR MCCAIN.

And I’m out.

I’m playing around with my Quickcam, so, um, here, here’s me saying hello. Four meg file .wmv file.

Well, after a little bit of waiting, I got my hands on a Dualshock 3, the one with “rumble” (force-feedback) in it. Yeah, I know, it’s not released in the US for another couple of months; I shelled out an extra $20 or so to get one from Japan — it’s the exact same model the US one will be.

Quick impressions:

– The controller is now a good deal heavier, and I like it like that, personally. It feels much less like the previous Sixaxis — which pretty much feels like a cheap plastic toy. Feels good in your hands.

– The triggers have been modified slightly and I think the analog sticks may be a touch more accurate.

– As reported, there is now a sort of “directional” rumble; a bullet flies by to the left, you feel it on the left.

– The rumble is back, it’s great, but it’s not nearly as strong as it used to be.

– Charging time and battery life seem to mimic the original Sixaxis — that’s a good thing.

Now, some games are going to be releasing patches to update to rumble, some already have rumble built in (Kane & Lynch, Turok…), but some will never have rumble at all.

Now…here is a list of games that Sony says will support rumble in one fashion or another…

I like the thing. I really do.

And even though the Giants deserved the win, the Patriots *still* almost had them — that one play where they chased Eli all over the place and he hurled up that desperation pass that was caught in a circus catch…

One play, season down the drain.

Congratulations to the New York Giants fans, you folks outplayed us today. Not by much, New York was far from stellar, but they made the plays when they needed to and the Patriots did not.

Now, that being said:

The last 19 games did not happen. This season did not happen. I will not talk about it. We will, henceforth, refer to this as The Game That Shall Not Be Named. And we will NOT NAME IT.

That’s it. That’s all. I don’t want to talk about it. I won’t talk about it.

Okay, I know I said in one of my last posts that I was leaning Romney, but I’ve settled down since my beloved Rudy dropped out (perhaps for the best, given his wife’s personality) and now…it’s McCain. And I know I have said McCain ain’t the guy, but that was before the field narrowed.

My overriding issue is national defense and holding a firm line in the war on terror; not letting it descend into a “war on drugs” lip-service affair, which is what I think Romney would help do to the effort. McCain will hold the line on defense and Islamic extremism — and Iraq. His record is clear on that. Crystal.

Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe makes a compelling case for conservatives to rally behind McCain right here; I know Rush is foaming at the mouth about this stuff, but Rush ain’t always right (I think some of my fellow VRWC conspirators just fainted from me saying that).

There you go. For what it’s worth, Kip Lange now officially endorses John McCain for President. I’m not ecstatic about it, but he’s the best choice. I think if I even tried to vote Romney my central nervous system might completely melt down.

Okay. As John McCain would say, “My friends –” (everybody seems to be McCain’s friend to McCain)…we of the conservative ilk don’t have a viable candidate this time around.

It’s not the end of the world for the conservatives in the Republican party. We initially rallied around Rudy, I think, minus the hardcore Thompson fans or Huckabee’s siren song to evangelical conservatives. And really, we all know Mike Huckabee is not going to win the primary. And really, we all know, if he did, he’d get his ass round-house kicked (you brought the joke on yourself, Mike) with a force measuring 10.0 on the Norris Scale.

Right. So we had, as Peggy Noonan recently called in, a “bubbling stew” with candidates, those of us on the right.

Now there seem to be only a couple of chunks of meat left.

You’ve got Romney and McCain. All Huckabee will do is siphon delegates *off* of those two, especially in states where Independents can vote in any party’s primary.

A lot of conservatives are rallying around Romney. Okay, so I’ve mocked Romney my whole life — I have a Mormon problem, I guess. But given what the press calls McCain’s “maverick” status (which is code for “he’s liberal”) and his age and…well, people are worried about McCain being able to beat down a young and virile Barack Obama or a battle-tested woman with balls bigger than her ex-President husband.

I guess what I’m trying to say is — pass me the air sick bag, but I might have to vomit up a Romney ballot. I don’t like it, but it may well be the best shot the Republicans have got, I think.

This is not really the conventional wisdom, it seems; it seems McCain has “earned” the nomination, and it really feels like 1996. Sure, Rudy endorsed McCain when he dropped out, and he’s got other endorsements (although from some with shaky conservative streed cred like the Governator of California). And yeah, the press loves McCain, but the second he wins the primary — the press will jump all over him, just watch. Honeymoon over, gloves off.

Doesn’t he remind you of Bob Dole?

Not in manner, maybe. But remember, Dole ran as a “compromiser” — which he was — and that is exactly what McCain is running as (and he’s not hiding the bad connotation of the word, either, i.e. repeatedly settling for what’s not the best option). Both are old, as well, very old.

We chose Dole in this manner. Don’t my fellow VRWC folks remember this? We chose Dole, and it was a disaster. And we all felt about Dole the way we feel about McCain.

Which is why I think — ugh — I think — I might go Romney. It’s still up in the air, though, I need a little more time to think.

Ow. Ugly thing to have to type. “Go for Romney”. Ick. Did I actually say that? No…can’t be…

It’s too bad Jeb Bush can’t really run. 🙂 (I actually partially mean that, believe it or not)

Look, you don’t have to read McCain’s liberal history to understand why conservatives are wary of him; just listen to some recent comments regarding how he wouldn’t elect conservative judges like Alito to the courts. Guys, that’s a big issue. A BIG issue — who appoints those justices.

From John Fund:

More recently, Mr. McCain has told conservatives he would be happy to appoint the likes of Chief Justice John Roberts to the Supreme Court. But he indicated he might draw the line on a Samuel Alito, because “he wore his conservatism on his sleeve.”

And that is something a conservative really doesn’t want to hear. Besides, give me a break about Alito wearing his conservatism “on his sleeve”. Okay, he’s a strict constructionist, but…the guy is a good justice and we should be glad to have him in there.

So let’s see how things break. All I know is that McCain ain’t gonna get much of a reception at CPAC, the annual conservative pow-wow (after all, I believe last year they were handing out “No Rudy McRomney” buttons) — this will be one of his few chances to reach out to the conservatives en masse and McCain better watch out and be ready to defend his liberal record on taxes, global warming, and campaign finance “reform” (or rather, the throttling of political free speech).

I know CPAC cats. I don’t see them buying McCain’s rhetoric. I see them seething because there is no conservative to vote for. I mean, another thing about Huckabee — he’s a Big Government fan, period.

Where does this leave us? I dunno. Right now McCain has The Big Mo, as they say, and we’ll have to see if Romney can derail it by throwing fistfuls of money at him.

Ah well. At the end of the day, members of the choir, remember that it’s still better to have McCain or Romney in there than it is to have Obama or Clinton…

Great article on Bill’s recent (and not-so-recent) antics, written by Jeff Jacoby (columnist for the Globe). Reprinting his article, received from his email list (a list you can join, look at the bottom of the column for info), verbatim, here:

————

THE DOMINANT CLINTON
By Jeff Jacoby
The Boston Globe

Sunday, January 27, 2008

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/01/27/the_dominant_clinton/

     On the day a new president is inaugurated, the outgoing president traditionally keeps a low profile, slipping away quietly after the swearing-in and leaving the spotlight to his successor. Not Bill Clinton. His first order of post-presidential business on Jan. 20, 2001, was a 90-minute rally at Andrews Air Force Base, complete with honor guard and a 21-gun salute.

     “I left the White House, but I’m still here!” Clinton exultantly told the crowd. “We’re not going anywhere!”

     Like most Americans, I was ready for the tawdry and tiring psychodrama that was the Clinton administration to finally be over. But something told me he wasn’t being rhetorical.

     “He means it,” I wrote at the time. “He *isn’t* going anywhere. Yes, he packed his bags, zipped his pants, and turned the White House keys over to the new tenants — but he’s still here. There are more grotesqueries to come from our ex-president. There will be more truth-twisting, more money-grubbing, more scandal. Even out of office, he will find seamy new ways to degrade the presidency. Just wait.”

     So here we are, seven years and one week later, and what do you know — Clinton is back in the news, his angry rants and political attacks casting a shadow over the presidential campaign. Once again the only elected president to face an impeachment trial is generating waves of outrage and dismay. A Rip Van Winkle newly awakened from 10 years of slumber wouldn’t be surprised to find Clinton under fire for spreading falsehoods and behaving disreputably. But he might do a double-take upon discovering that Clinton‘s critics now aren’t Republicans. They are fellow Democrats and liberals recoiling from his attacks on Senator Barack Obama, who has had the effrontery to challenge Hillary Clinton for the presidential nomination.

     Last week, Clinton was blasted by Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, an Obama supporter, for taking “glib cheap shots” that are “beneath the dignity of a former president.” He was excoriated by Ed Schultz, the nation’s top liberal radio talk host, for “lying about Barack Obama’s record” and “embarrassing” the Democratic Party. Tom Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader who has endorsed Obama, warned that Clinton‘s “overt distortions” were “not presidential” and could “destroy the party” if not checked.

     A past chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party charged the Clintons with practicing the “politics of deception” and likened the former president to Lee Atwater, a Republican operative who became infamous for his ruthless political warfare.

     “The Clintons play dirty when they feel threatened,” wrote William Greider in a scathing piece for The Nation, a leading journal of the left. “The recent roughing-up of Barack Obama was in the trademark style of the Clinton years in the White House. High-minded and self-important on the surface, smarmily duplicitous underneath, meanwhile jabbing hard to the groin area. They are a slippery pair and come as a package. The nation is at fair risk of getting them back in the White House for four more years. The thought makes me queasy.”

     What a pity that liberals and Democrats weren’t as plainspoken about the Clintons‘ shamelessness and dishonesty back in the 1990s. In fairness, a few were: Former senator Bob Kerrey famously characterized Bill Clinton as “an unusually good liar — unusually good,” and Jesse Jackson once described him as “immune to shame,” someone who at the core consisted of “absolutely nothing . . . nothing but an appetite.” But far too often the Clintons‘ habits of mendacity, anger, and self-pity, their constant blame-shifting, their stop-at-nothing pursuit of power were excused or minimized by the left.

     America‘s political culture might never have grown so embittered if Democrats then had been a little more outraged by the Clintons‘ lack of ethics and a little less zealous about demonizing those who criticized them.

     If recent weeks have made one thing clear, it is that the current Clinton campaign is as much about returning Bill to the White House as about making Hillary president.

     Bill Clinton’s angry outbursts, his lack of self-control, his overpowering presence in the public arena are surely a preview of what a Clinton Restoration would be like. Hillary might be the president, but Bill would still be, as he has always been, the dominant Clinton. To whom would he be answerable in a second Clinton administration? Not to the woman whose political career is a derivative of his, that’s for sure.

     Hillary likes to claim she is “running to break the highest and hardest glass ceiling,” but with Bill back in the White House, would it ever be clear just where the lines of authority really ran? What could possibly check and balance the extraconstitutional power of a presidential spouse who was also a former president? Anytime he wants it, Bill Clinton can have the spotlight. In a revived Clinton presidency, would he be content to remain in his wife’s shadow? Or would she continue — as she continues even now — to be in his?

(Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for the Boston Globe.)

— ## —

To subscribe to (or unsubscribe from) Jeff Jacoby’s mailing list, please visit http://www.JeffJacoby.com. To see a month’s worth of his recent columns, go to http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/jeff_jacoby.

Jeff Jacoby welcomes comments and reads all his mail. Unfortunately, he receives so many letters that he cannot answer each one personally.

Yuck. As much as I hate to say this, Mitt Romney is now a viable candidate for the presidency. Why? The economy. Romney has a good managerial record, and the American people are stupid enough to let the economy dominate the political discussion currently — over the war.

If the economy was thrummin‘ and hummin‘ perfectly, Romney would be further back. But he’s seen as a guy who has governed in a fiscally wise manner. I mean, let’s face it, folks, money is in Mitt Romney’s blood. You cut him, the guy is gonna bleed greenbacks.

Of course, this is idiotic on the part of the voters, because a president simply doesn’t have that much power over the economy. Yes, there are a few things a president can do. But not much. There’s not much politicians can do, period, or we wouldn’t have recessions.

It’s a tremendous mistake to nominate Romney because you somehow think ol‘ Mitt is going to pull us out of fiscal problems with the same ease he handled the mess at the Olympics. A tremendous mistake.

One of the greatest powers a president has — which we’ve seen — is the ability to declare and wage war (and no, he doesn’t need Congressional approval to do it, although many times a president will seek the stamp of approval before any military action). That — now that, I think Romney is not the best candidate for, nor even ready for — coming up with a comprehensive global policy to maintain some sort of stability in the highly volatile regions of the world.

It’s not that Romney couldn’t handle it; maybe he could. But the guy who’s proven himself in desperate situations is Rudy Giuliani.

Maybe with the economy off the table, Giuliani would be doing better. Right now, he’s at about 16% in Florida while McCain and Romney are tied for first at around 31%.

That’s disturbing news for the Giuliani campaign and for anyone who supports Rudy. If you haven’t been following things on the Republican side that closely — Rudy made a calculated gamble. He was sure he couldn’t win in New Hampshire and Iowa (which I believe is true) and spent most of his time campaigning in Florida. The idea was to win Florida and go on and win on Super Tuesday (February 5th) and pick up the nomination that way — Giuliani simply didn’t have the money to waste on the early primaries, when it was pretty clear he didn’t stand a chance, anyway.

Still, though, Rudy screwed up. He let himself drop out of the limelight. Once the almost-crowned forerunner, he’s dropped way back, and I haven’t heard much from him in general. Now, mind you, I’m not in Florida, where he’s doing his campaigning, but still — he should have tried to keep himself on the radar screen somehow. People have short memories when it comes to elections, and Rudy has been out of the spotlight just long enough to let McCain and Romney move to the forefront.

I never thought I’d say anything like this, but if Romney gets that damn nomination, I may vote Obama. Well, probably not, as likable as Obama is, he’s still a super-lib. Maybe I’d go back to Libertarian. I’m not sure. I am sure that if I see Romney’s name on the ballot during the general election and I do vote for him, I will be doing so with my teeth grinding and with only the thought, “Well, he’ll be a hair better than a Democrat.”

And for the love of God, would the Republicans please stop going on and on about the next Reagan? We don’t have anybody resembling Reagan in the race. Besides, Reagan was a great president for the time he governed. He was perhaps the greatest Cold War president we had.

There are no Reagans in the GOP primary, just as there are no Kennedys (although I know a lot of you think Obama is JFK reincarnated) in the Democrat primaries.

Frankly, we have a terrible selection of candidates. The best, I still firmly believe, is Rudy Giuliani, and I’m not backing down from that.

As for McCain — I suppose I could live with him, but his campaign finance reform (read: suppression of political free speech) work, and his refusal to support the early Bush tax cuts — well, that doesn’t give me a whole lot of confidence in him. Then again, I’m voting on one issue — international terrorism — and if you have to make me choose between Romney and McCain on that issue, McCain is clearly the superior candidate, and that’s where my vote will go.

But let’s not give up on Rudy just yet…yes, he looks like he may be down for the count, but those states on Super Tuesday…he could still win the nomination.

The most interesting scenario, and one the nation hasn’t seen in a long time, is if the Republicans go into the convention without a clear leader. In other words, we enter the convention without anyone having enough delegates to get elected. Then the candidates have to fight it out on the floor all night, wheeling and dealing, trying to get as many delegates as they can.

Could be interesting. 🙂

One more game.

One.

Game.

Superbowl.

BAHAHAHAHAHAH!