Noah’s First Passover

See Noah’s blog for highlights of his first Passover.

Quote of the Day

Matt Yglesias, on that ridiculous Glenn Reynolds post alleging that Obama “just hates Israel and hates Jews”:

I�ll say for my part that I think a great many of Obama�s actions throughout the years�most notably his many social and professional relationships with Jewish people�suggest that he is not motivated by hatred of Jews. What�s more, his ability to persuade the overwhelming majority of American Jews to vote him is likewise an indication that the people most likely to be concerned with detecting Jew-hatred do not find this charge to be plausible. I suppose it�s true that the old �some of my best Chiefs of Staff are Jewish� thing can fall flat at certain points. But then there�s Larry Summers, David Axelrod, Peter Orszag, etc. The Obama White House looks more like an anti-semite�s conspiracy theory about Jews running the government than like an actual anti-semitic conspiracy.

Once again- Obama “snubbing” Netanyahu isn’t any more “anti-Israel” than criticizing Obama is “anti-American.”

The Hart-McMahon Anti-Climax

Yes, I watched the Bret Hart/Vince McMahon Wrestlemania match tonight. I don’t watch WWE much anymore, but since it was pretty much the last unrealized “dream match” left that hadn’t happen, I figured I needed to watch.
Honestly? Ugh. It’s not so much that it was a 60-something non-wrestler fighting against a 50-something guy who was presumably retired for injury reasons. It was just plain an ugly scene- Hart beating up McMahon for 15 minutes looked like an old man beating up an even older man.
Revenge, long in the making, that was anti-climatic, bungled, and way-too-late. Reminded me quite a bit of Saddam Hussein’s execution.
UPDATE: The Atlantic’s ace political blogger Marc Ambinder, a noted wrestling fan, live-tweeted Wrestlemania tonight. It’s apropos, since wrestling and politics are more or less the same thing these days.

The Best McNabb Take, and the Worst

I agree with every word of this rant by Johnny Goodtimes Sorry for the length, but it’s all great:

Sanity is not the hallmark of the Philadelphia Eagle fan. Instead, the majority of the talk in this city revolves around McNabb�s inbability to win the big one, around his lack of clutchness, his lack of character, his lack of cajones. His successes are cavalierly dismissed, his failures examined under a microscope that is far more intense than anything Louis Pasteur peered through. The anti-McNabb faction, stoked by loud-mouthed haters like Angelo Cataldi (who completely lacks any semblance of talent) and Mike Missanelli (who I think is usually pretty clearheaded but who fails to see this issue with any objectivity), froth at the mouth with stories of McNabb smiling, of vomiting, of his training in Arizona instead of the Siberian mountains like Rocky. The haters grasp at anything they can latch onto to validate their booing of McNabb on Draft Day, and then try to convince others with a rehashing of their major points day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute, on chat boards and local radio. Like Jim Jones�s voice booming out over the camp speakers in Guyana, the same words, phrases, and beliefs are rehashed and reiterated in a giant loop until you almost halfway-believe because you have no other choice….
The vitriol directed at McNabb is shockingly intense, particularly when you consider �that he is�without question the best quarterback in the 77 year history of the franchise. I�m sure that Bills fans got sick of Jim Kelly losing the big one year after year, but I highly doubt he approached even a modicum of the venom McNabb faces in Philadelphia….
I only can hope for this: that McNabb goes to a winner such as Minnesota. That the fans in his new town appreciate not only his talent but his toughness and his class. And that he wins a Super Bowl, while Eagle fans keep crying in their beer, as if fate owes them one. Newsflash: Fate doesn�t owe you shit. In fact, your pain may not be a product of fate, but one of kharma. As long as you treat athletes who leave it all on the field like trash, perhaps you don�t deserve a parade.”

Then there’s this bit of self-parody from Mike Florio:

To stay in Philly, McNabb may need another “financial apology”

This post is based on no facts and pure speculation, recycles the “financial apology” canard that some sportswriter made up, and just plain amounts to nothing. McNabb will probably get a new contract from whatever team trades for him, or from the Eagles if they get rid of Kolb and keep him. Is there something sinister or controversial about that?

The Year’s Weakest Health Care Allegory

I review “Repo Men” on Philly.com. Not nearly as good as “Repo Man.”

Qumar, and Other “Unnamed Middle Eastern Countries”

11 Points has a list of the most dangerous fictional Middle Eastern countries. My favorite is “The West Wing”‘s “Qumar,” which is especially dangerous considering it appears to have been carved out of a section of Iran.

The Baseball Card Bubble

Yes, there was one, and the cards you collected as a kid are pretty worthless. Sorry, your mom was wrong.

“Lost” Baby, Yeah!

“Lost” gets “Austin Powers”-like opening credits:

Lost vs. Saul Bass from Hexagonall on Vimeo.

5’7″

Here’s Noah’s latest blog post. Yes, he’s now five pounds, seven ounces.

Quote of the Day

Ta-Nehisi Coates, on the “rank amateurism” of the tea party:

I hear GOP folks and Tea Partiers bemoaning the fact that media and Democrats are using the extremes of their movement for ratings and to score points. This is like Drew Brees complaining that Dwight Freeney keeps trying to sack him. If that were Martin Luther King’s response to media coverage, the South might still be segregated. I exaggerate, but my point is that the whining reflects a basic misunderstanding of the rules of protest. When you lead a protest you�lead�it, you�own�it, and your opponents, and the media, will hold you responsible for whatever happens in the course of that protest. This isn’t left-wing bias, it’s the nature of the threat.

And speaking of the teabaggers, there’s this. And, even better, this.