Maybe It’s Just Me …
Maybe it’s just me, but shouldn’t it be illegal for American investment banks to conspire against their own country by handing out a bunch of lousy mortgages then bundling them together and selling them to some poor sap who thinks they’re good and then betting that those loans will fail? Isn’t that pretty much a sure thing? When your country is in the midst of a precipitous financial crisis brought about by thousands of bad mortgage loans, isn’t what Goldman Sachs did the equivalent of economic treason? Don’t the officers and board members responsible for this cynical, self-serving ploy deserve prison time? Watch the hearings. They don’t get it. They are smugly superior. Well, yeah, a bunch of people may have lost their home and jobs, but look how much money we made. That‘s why we deserve those big bonuses. If Congress can’t find room for bipartisan agreement on regulating and punishing these blood suckers, then we have truly lost our way.
Speaking of which, maybe it’s just me, but does anyone believe the pope and members of the Vatican hierarchy when they say they plan to get serious about rooting child molesters from the ranks of their priests? This molestation scandal has been going on for decades and has now spread from the United States across Europe. Can South America be far behind? Thousands of faithful have left the flock and tens of millions of dollars have been paid to families of victims in hush money and yet every time a new scandal is revealed, the pattern is the same: Priest (or bishop) molests a number of young boys over a period of time, is eventually found out, is sent somewhere for “rehabilitation” and eventually winds up working in contact with children again. No one ever calls the cops. Now, we have high-ranking cardinals attributing the molestation problem to homosexuals, following in the Church pattern of ignoring science in favor of self-preservation. They also divert attention from the more serious matter that church leaders have allowed this sin to go on by covering it up at almost every opportunity and by stubbornly refusing to find any place in the church for women, except in the pews. A Catholic Church with married priests (who have children) and women priests and altar girls would have dealt with the molesters swiftly and surely a long time ago.
On a less serious note, I have always thought Jim Carrey was a moron. Now I have proof. The actor of a thousand faces and one emotion ended his long (for Hollywood) relationship with Jenny McCarthy via Twitter. First: Jenny McCarthy! Second: Twitter! Third: Jenny McCarthy! Oh, and for good measure, he tweets (Is that really a word?) that Tiger Woods’ wife was complicit in his behavior. Carey is a moron.
Speaking of which, maybe it’s just me, but shouldn’t officials of Cal State Stanislaus, a public university, have revealed all the details of the contract they signed with Sarah Palin for a June speaking engagement there? It seems to me, students shouldn‘t have had to go dumpster-diving to find out that Palin insisted on having pre-screened questions, bottled water, bendable straws and a first-class hotel reservation for her visit. As for the fee, that’s still anybody’s guess. Maybe it’s just me, but shouldn’t boards of trustees represent the best interests of the public university?
And really, Michael, whatever happened to baseball players knowing the basic rules of the game. Exhibit’s A,B,C and D: Angel Pagan and Jose Reyes of the New York Mets and Brian McCann and Eric Hinske of the Atlanta Braves. During a recent game, Reyes hit a popup to the infield with runners on first and second and less than two outs. This initiates the much-maligned infield fly rule, which is simple: Batter is automatically out, runners go at their own risk. Here’s how it played out: Reyes’s popup was dropped, (but he was out as soon as he hit it). He ran to first anyway and stood there. McCann, who picked up the ball, threw it to first where Hinske tagged Reyes and the bag (both redundant). Meanwhile, Pagan who was on second, ran when the ball was dropped and kept running while the Braves threw the ball around and scored on a headfirst dive. Bravo, Pagan, right? Not quite. After the game, Pagan said, “I’m sure a lot of people don’t know all of the rules. (Yes, they’re called non-players.) You can’t know every one.(How about the ones that come into play almost every day?) But we talked about this in spring training. (Way to go, coaches.) I knew the batter was out (good), but I didn’t know you could run. I’m glad I learned that. (Again, way to go coaches.)”
Now, maybe it’s just me, but I’d bet everyone of those players played Little League ball and, trust me, as a former coach, Little Leaguers are taught repeatedly about the infield fly rule — both parts. When you’re making millions, you should know this basic stuff, it seems to me. Fines all around if I had my way.
And finally, doesn’t the new Arizona law letting police ask anyone for proof they are in this country legally stir memories of those old World War II movies? Pappers plizz! Ah, maybe it’s just me.
I’m through griping for now.
Tags: Bob Gaydos