Worst 24 hours in DC since . . .

probably the day the Supreme Court decided that George W. Bush was president.  On that day in 2001, I remember thinking "well, there goes the Arctic Refuge."

The good news is, of course, that didn't happen.  We won.  But it's harder to find some good news in the last 24-hour news cycle.

One, phenom Steven Strasburg needs Tommy John surgery.  When that news came across my phone Friday morning I almost cried.  That fact alone, that I felt like crying about a baseball player I've never met, proves that old phase: 'sports fans are the most miserable people on Earth'. 

As I tweeted yesterday (@AthanDCTarheel), the Curse of Lez Boulez is real.  DC sports teams can not catch a break, and the only team that has historically won (history leaves out DC United) is the one with the most racist name in history, and boasted a proud racist owner for years in the 40s, 50s and early 60s.

Soul sucking as Strasburg's injury is, a sucking compounded by the timing since we found out about the diagnosis a day AFTER Bryce Harper's hope-inducing introduction and awesome batting practice session, there are SEVERAL silver linings. 

1. there were 10 pitchers in this year's all-star game who had the surgery, and almost 85  percent of the hurlers who have had the procedure come back just as strong or stronger
2. Stasburg is only 22 years old; his body is still growing and his youth should aid his recovery.  
3. hurting a shoulder is a much bigger problem for a pitcher than an elbow or forearm; many have opined that he can strengthen his shoulder while rehabilitating after Tommy John surgery.

Finally, their is Strasburg's attitude.  And I'm not talking about his work ethic.  I'm talking about his quote that it's better to have this happen now than say, at a time when the Nats are in a pennant race or battling for a World Series. Clearly, Strasburg is thinking big picture about his injury, surgery, recovery and career, so so should we.  But it still stinks to have to wait and hope things go well. 

Speaking of hope, let's hope John Wall or Bryce Harper are not hit by a bus.

Two, speaking of speaking of hope, the other bad thing to befall your nation's capital is the Glenn Beck rally.  I don't have much to add to the discussions about how outlandish it is for Beck to be linked to Martin Luther King and the "I Have A Dream" speech.  MLK was about making the country better and fulfill the meaning of it's creed; Beck's message is based on fear of the other and turning the clock back.  

And how can someone who claims President Obama is racist against white people and hates white culture profess to reclaim the civil rights movement?

But I do want to point out the irony of standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial.  Not only is it inappropriate for Beck to stand near where King stood, but what about Lincoln?  Does it bother Beck and the Tea Party that Lincoln: 

• was the father of big government, a government that swelled in size to fight and win the Civil War?  
• actually fought a war against white culture, at least white slave-owning culture?  Many Confederates thought that Lincoln hated white people;
• supported redistributing land, for free, via the Homestead Act, an act that gave away 160 acres to anyone over 21 years old and was loyal to the United States. According to history.com, similar bills were proposed prior to the Civil War but were defeated by southern members of Congress who feared new territories populated by non-slave holding homesteaders who supported laboring over slavery.
• supported labor over capital: "labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration."
• strongly opposed the Tea Party's intellectual forefathers, the Know-Nothings, on immigration, stating that if they gaining power the Declaration of Independence would be amended to "all men are created equal except Negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics."  That sounds Tea Partyish to me.

I really think the Palins, Becks and the Tea Party have already hit their high water mark.  I just can't see folks, except maybe in Utah or Idaho maybe Kentucky, voting for these guys in November.  Their time has past, and Americans rarely if ever vote their fears rather than their hopes.  

Hopes, for Strasburg's recovery, and in November.