Labor Day Update

Between the Olympics (I think I was one of the few people who did not like the opening ceremony; too much 'people are cogs in a totalitarian-regime here in China' imagery for me), our great vacation to the Outer Banks, the Democratic National Convention, and working to stop new off shore drilling, my blogging has suffered.

Here is a quick, all purpose dump:

• I was impressed and moved by Obama's acceptance speech on Thursday, especially the second half.   Great to see him challenge McCain and lay out what he was for.  And to pull off a great speech in front of 80,000 plus folks in a football stadium was impressive.  
• Equally impressive was a speech that stole the show from many compelling speeches in Denver.  I will always love Ted Kennedy (in my first election, the 1980 Democratic primary in North Carolina, my parents and I were the three Kennedy voters in our precinct; our hometown paper printed the results precinct by precinct, and in ours it was Carter 61 - or something - Kennedy 3) and was impressed by his turn at the podium.  But I was even more impressed by Hillary.  She was funny - the Bush-McCain twin line is pure gold - and pitch perfect.  Rhetorically, I really liked the 'are you in this election for me, or for the mother without health insurance or the returning veterans who need our help' turn of phrase.   Very impressive. Sign me up for 2016, when Hillary will be a young 68 (and Ariadne will be eligible to vote)!
• Odd that some, namely Dana Millbank of the Washington Post, critiqued Obama standing in front of Greek columns.  Gee, I wonder what they're supposed to represent?  What makes the critique from Millbank even odder is that he lives in DC, the most Greek-looking city in America this side of Astoria (or Tarpon Springs).
• Check out my Facebook page - or YouTube - for a great Greek-American music video in support of Obama. It may be the only prObama video that features a bouzouki and an anti-McCain rap in Greek.
• One last Hellenic Obama hook.  I've also posted a video of Obama discussing issues of interest to the Greek American community.  One interesting item is that Obama - along with Greek American Olympia Snowe and my man Bob Menendez - is a cosponsor of a Senate resolution calling on the State Department to not use the name Macedonia for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.  FYROM is used by the UN and it more proper, especially when you consider that Yugoslav Macedonia is an invention of Tito to keep that region part of Yugoslavia when it rightfully should be split between Albania and Bulgaria (the modern 'Macedonian' language is a dialect of Bulgarian, and for centuries those folks considered themselves Bulgarian).  
• I agree with those who say the Palin pick is one born of desperation. They needed some buzz and succeeded in stealing some of the energy from the Democratic convention.  Over time, I don't think she will wear well with swings and undecided voters.  It hurts McCain in two ways - one is it undercuts his 'experience gap' but also undercuts his main theme: this is a dangerous world and we need someone like McCain at the helm.   How can anyone justify having someone like Palin - who two years ago was mayor of a town of 6,000 people - a heartbeat away from the presidency when we are in a dangerous world and the president is 72?  Ruth Marcus' column in The Post tills the same ground here.
• Palin, as a hard-right Pat Buchanan-style Republican, does help solidify the base.  On Alaska issues she, in contrast to McCain, actively supports drilling in the Arctic but did work with us on trying to get ExxonMobil to pay damages owed after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.  We even did a press conference with her in DC.  She and I spoke together and were on the same dais, and after the press conference I sought her out for a thank you and a handshake.   I don't think Palin wanted to be seen with me, but we did exchange pleasantries.
• Finally, my two favorite signs from the convention were: Obama and the Tampa Bay Rays: Two Underdogs Who Will Win in All in 2008, next to a Chuck Todd for Prez poster.

Baseball Update

• Break up the Nats.  They've won five in a row thanks in part to the return of injured players like Zimmerman and Dukes.  There is a glimmer of life for DC baseball in a core of young players like Flores, Lannan, Balester, Snell, Bonifacio, Guzman, Zimmeran, Dukes and Milledge.  Except for Guzman, all those guys are under 25 so who knows.  It would great for this team to acquire a middle of the order first baseman or outfielder in the off season.
• That said, Bowden continues to make odd moves.  After signing Guzman to an extension they've traded for two more shortstops, and they're traded pitching to get these utility utility players. Which one is it, get down on the floor or freeze?
• We went to two of the wins over the Dodgers.  The highlight had to be watching Guzman hit for the cycle two nights after watching Zimmerman win a game with his glove.  Despite the atrocious team it's still fun to go to the ballpark.
• Another highlight was watching Manny Ramirez.  He went 5 for 10 in the two games we attended with a home run.  He looks effortless hitting. Great balance and such a quick bat.  It was as if he was taking batting practice.  When you look at him or CC Sabathia, who is leading the Brewers into the playoffs, it makes you wonder, is going from the AL to the NL like going from the majors to AAA?  It seems as if every AL player who has been traded to the NL starts to dominate as soon as they switch leagues.  That doesn't seem to happen in the other direction.  Griffey is doing okay with the ChiSox, but Randy Johnson struggled in New York but has been successful in the two years back in the NL.
• Speaking of the ChiSox and Obama, I saw an interesting Obama interview with ESPN's Stuart 'Holding Us Back' Scott. One, Obama defeated Scott in a one-on-one basketball game.  Two, Scott asked him who he would root for if the Cubs played the White Sox in the Series.  Without any hesitation he said the Sox. So instead of pandering about how great it would be for the city of Chicago BLAH BLAH BLAH coming together BLAH BLAH BLAH he stayed true to this favorite team, and dissed the Cubs while he was at it.  For the record, I'd root for the Cubs due to Ernie Banks and Jerry Reinsdorf.  Three, when asked which sports figure would have made a good Vice Presidential pick, his first response was Walter Peyton (note to Obama, Sweetness would have been a good pick but alas he is dead) but his second response was Jordan.

Olympic Wrap Up

• Not too much to say about Olympic basketball.   The U.S. played great the entire tournament and deserved to win.  The final against Spain was a great game to watch.  I've really come to respect Kobe Bryant this year, and he took over down the stretch against Espana.  On the world stage he showed who the best hoopster on the planet was.  No way the U.S. wins the gold without him.
• In addition to Bryant, LaBron James was equally phenomenal in Beijing.  It's easy to take him for granted since he's been surrounded by so much hype since he was a junior in high school, but he will become the next Jordan.  Remember, it took Jordan a few years to dominate the NBA and we are on the verge of watching James do the same.   Nothing that guy can do, or will do in the near future, will surprise me - including eventually winning three or four NBA championships.  
• Actually, one thing that would surprise me is if James signs with Olympiacos for $50 million when his Cavs contract expires.  Another thing that impresses me about James is his head and smarts.  Leaving the NBA would not be smart, at least until he wins a few championships.
• Greece did not make the medal round, losing to Argentina in the quarter-finals.  They had a shot, but Vasilis Spanoulis missed a three-pointer with four seconds left that would have given the Hellenes a one-point win.   They played well in the tournament, but in the end it was too much Manu Ginobili, who made a number of Manu-esque plays on both ends of the floor for the win.
• In general it was a very disappointing Olympics for the motherland.  Four years after winning a record high of 17 medals, Ellas slumped to 4 medals in Beijing.  They were even mocked by Jacques Rogge for leading the games in doping disqualifications, with 12.  Almost 10 Greek weightlifters were disqualified, but so was Fani Halkia, the defending 400-meters women's hurdles gold medalist.  Halkia's win in Athens was one of the best moments for Greece in 2004, so to see her DQed was especially disappointing.
• Also disappointing - seeing a totalitarian capitalist state stage the Olympics four years after Athens. For my money, the Olympics should stay in Athens forever.  The games are so big and expensive that only rich countries can afford them, so it's not like you're disenfranchising developing world cities like Johannesburg or Mumbai, cities that better things to do with their money than help Coca-Cola sell more soda.

That's enough now.   Have a good weekend.

Tar Heels

Opening Ceremony

I had a hard time watching the opening ceremony last night.  It certainly was spectacular in the Vegas-meets-Broadway sense of modern entertainment.  But I'm too much of a lefty to enjoy an opening ceremony hosted by a totalitarian capitalist state.

Two quick points.  One, it's one thing to celebrate the Confusion ideal of 'harmony' - I'm down with harmony - but harmony in modern totalitarian China is another.

Besides harmony, another value celebrated last night was 'openness.'   In fairness, the director of the opening ceremony is a Chinese filmmaker who wants to push his native land.  According to the New York Times he wanted to highlight periods in Chinese history when the nation was open to outside influences.  But today, the interaction with the west is a one-way street dictated by a totalitarian state.  Again, it's one thing to engage the west - and multi-national corporations - in the Olympics and another to continue to monitor and censure the internet, ban international newspapers, etc.   Ironic that the ceremony highlighted for the world that China is open to the world, but I doubt that message will reach the Chinese public.  

At least for me, watching a Chinese-produced ceremony highlighting harmony and openness is like watching a ceremony produced by apartheid-era South Africa highlighting brotherhood and equality.

I enjoyed the parade of nation for the expected reasons: watching Greece (and their tainted athletes) march in, and then seeing Lopez Lomong carry the US flag into the stadium.   On Greece, I didn't spot any of the basketball players.  Since we are in a hotel room in Elizabeth City (a brief stop on our way to the Outer Banks) I didn't have TiVO so could not pause the screen.  

More irony when Greek-American Bob Costas noted that the Olympics has gone from the smallest nation ever to host the Games - Greece - to the most populous in four years, ignoring the political-historical and liberty-chasm between the two countries.

Maybe I expected too much, but I thought NBC would make a bigger deal about Lopez Lomong.  That guy is THE story for me, not all the China red-washing.  He didn't get enough screen time for me.

OK - time to leave the hotel for the Outer Banks.  

Lopez Lomong

I'm so happy and proud of Team USA for voting Lopez Lomong to be the flag bearer in the opening ceremony that I have to blog about it one more time. Great to see the team - and by extension our nation - make such a profound and poignant statement. I hope Lomong's story inspires others during the Games.

Even without China's involvement in Sudan, the vote for Lomong would still be a moving one. I'm obviously biased, but nothing is more American - other than speaking out, of course - than the immigrant success story.

Now if we can only get Joey Cheek into China. And to show the influence this blog has, President Bush did call on China to offer my fellow Tar Heel a visa.

Olympic preview

For all it's commercialism - and this year the pollution and totalitarian politics associated with China - I'm still planning to watch plenty of Olympics the next two weeks.  I hope that the US wins more medals than China, that the Chinese government is embarrassed by the air pollution, and that at least a few athletes protest or at least speak out while in Beijing.

The Post has featured some good articles in the run up to the opening ceremony, especially Sally Jenkins' piece on Sunday.   They also ran a front page story today on activist and fellow Tar Heel Joey Cheeks being denied a visa to visit Beijing during the Games.  Even their generally lame blog, usually entitled DC Sports Bog (bog, get it!) has been re-christened the DC Sports Smog.  

A lot of the press has focused on Tibet (an over blown story; the Dalai Lama is basically a hippie Ayatollah who does not believe in elections, etc., and doesn't even support a Free Tibet, just an autonomous one that is still part of Communist China) but I wish the press would cover the more mundane fact that people can't vote and there is no freedom of the press, etc. in China.   It seems that Tibet gets more ink then the fact that 1.2 billion people have none of the democratic rights we take for granted.   

But despite that complaint, I think the press is doing a good job.  I doubt NBC will honestly report on the environmental and political problems associated with a totalitarian-capitalist state hosting the Olympics.  But I hope the print media will be more aggressive.   There may be hope for broadcasters other than NBC pointing out problems; my man Justin found an article at ESPN.com on the NBA and USA Basketball pressuring LaBron James, who is apparently becoming involved in Darfur, to stay silent during the Games about China's support for Sudan.  Nice to hear the right-wingers like Colangelo and Krzyzewski silencing athletes with a conscience. 

Speaking of which, it would be nice for President Bush to intervene on behalf of Joey Cheeks and his visa.  After all, I believe President Bush wants to spread democracy in Asia.   I'm sure he'll say something when he speaks in Thailand on Thursday.

The cases of James and Cheek remind me that in addition to the media, I really hope a few athletes stand up and say something about the lack of freedom, democracy and clean air in China.  There is nothing more American than speaking out, and you would think that China being a Communist country would make speaking out a no-brainer for folks on the left and right.  

One very positive sign from Team USA is the vote by team members to select Lopez Lomong, a former Lost Boy of Sudan, to be the flag bearer during the opening ceremony parade.  Great to see an immigrant selected, one who overcame so much to make it to America, let along the team. But also a great finger in the eye of Sudan's ally.

But as usual, money is more important that values or democracy, and the money involved and the pressure that comes with it will probably result in far fewer athletes speaking out that one would hope.  

A few more Olympic thoughts

• Americans have a special responsibility to speak out during the Olympics, but so do Greeks.  I hope Greek athletes aren't cowed by their privileged position at the front of the parade of nations enough to stay silent. What could be more un-Hellenic than a silent Greek!? Come on Stavro, say something about liberty and freedom while you're in Beijing!  We invented those two, also!
• Shocked to see the US women's soccer team lose today to Norway.  They should still advance to the medal round, and Norway is a very good team, but in the run up to the Olympics the American women had seemed to have worked out the kinks left over from their disappointing showing at last year's Women's World Cup.  
• As you know, I'm rooting for Greece to win the gold medal in men's hoops.  Mark your calendars: Ellas plays Krzyzewski's squad Thursday, August 14th at 8 am in group play.  I think both teams will advance to the medal round regardless of this tilt.  Finally, don't forget to vote on who you think will win the men's gold medal in hoops.