Idiocy in Sports Revelry

I'm not quite sure where or when the notion came to pass that victory by your team meant license to become temprary anarchists. It's high time the victory intoxicated mob nonsense came to an end.

The response to the improbable series comeback by the Boston Red Sox over the New York Yankees was actually relatively tame as modern mob celebrations go. That's sad commentary, because in addition to the setting of small fires and general rowdiness, there was a fatality. Per ESPN:

Victoria Snelgrove, a 21-year-old journalism major at Emerson College, was among 16 people hurt in the revelry. The injured also included a police officer.

Most of the injuries were minor, but Snelgrove suffered a severe head wound as police tried to subdue the crowd, authorities said.

This next quote ranks up there with the Bushisms.

Mayor Tom Menino told WBZ-AM that Snelgrove, of East Bridgewater, was struck by a "non-lethal weapon," but he did not elaborate. The Boston Globe reported that Snelgrove was hit by a "bean-bag" bullet. After Snelgrove was found lying outside Fenway Park bleeding from the head, the Globe reported she was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital, which said she died at 12:50 p.m

Mr. Mayor, if someone dies at the hands of a weapon, it is most certainly not a non-lethal weapon.

The idiocy was not limited to Boston. Since some of the Sox players are Dominican, people on the island took it as an excuse to fire their guns into the sky.

The Red Sox's victory prompted raucous celebrations across the Dominican, home to Pedro Martinez and ALCS MVP David Ortiz. Shooting in the air is customary during sports celebrations in the Caribbean country.

A sleeping 13-year-old boy was shot in the leg when a bullet tore through the zinc roof of his home in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo, police spokesman Gen. Simon Diaz said.

One other person was injured in Santo Domingo, as were two in the central city of Santiago and two in the southeastern coastal city of La Romana, Diaz said.

I'll never forgt my own experiences living in a Cleveland slum neighborhood. In 1997, the Indians defeated the New York Yankees in the AL Championship, earning the team's first trip to the World Series since 1954. Folks from around the 'hood celebrated similarly, firing their weapons in the air, some of them fully automatic. I stayed in the basement for several hours. It was one of many experiences that led me to furiously save my money so that I could escape that place.

The More Respectable, Older Parties

Libertarians are often blown off as a trifle or a distraction, accused of being not serious candidates.

The Democrats and Republicans. These are the gold standard. This is what you should aspire to!

One of the serious Democrats got into serious trouble recently in Wayne County. It seems that Wayne County Council candidate Alex Calkins was arrested after stealing some items from the local WalMart.

Truly a Democrat, he admitted to trying to steal some bagels, but that the alcohol and cleaning supplies were the work of an accomplice. Richmond Pal-Item report.

Truly not serious, Calkins is quoted as saying, "I still hope to get this position".

I hope the voters have more sense than that in Wayne County.

Gividen at the Debate

After all of the wrangling about trying to be included in the second Indiana Gubernatorial debate, the event has now come and gone, and Libertarian Kenn Gividen acquitted himself well. First impressions time.

Two main differences come immediately to mind:

• Kenn is the only candidate running a clean campaign
• Kenn is the only candidate willing to say that he stands for cutting the size and cost of government

It was incredible that, given how badly negative campaigning is perceived by the public, Daniels (R) and Kernan (D) launched into negativity in their opening statements. They never relented. Gividen was left standing as the one running squarely on the strength of his ideas, and the one who flung no mud. During the debate, he quipped, "Now you can see why they put me between these two guys".

Daniels surprised me with his willingness to leave the possibility of raising taxes on the table when faced with the problem of repairing the budget deficit. Kernan did not surprise me by dancing around the question of how to pay for things.

Kenn's closing statements were terrific. He used the analogy of two cars on the wrong side of the road representing the Democrats and Republicans. One is going slower than the other, but both are going the wrong way. He made the case that for anyone wanting real changes, a vote for Ds or Rs is the real wasted vote, and that the only way to send the message is to vote for him and to vote Libertarian.

Couldn't agree more.