Still Great

Comment Philosophy

A lengthy discussion that started with my post on Howard Dean, M.D. not mentioning God in his Thanksgiving statement moved to how I don't actively engage commenters. Here's my response:

Thanks DJ. The family is doing fine.

Here's my approach to comments: I feel the need to respond to every one of them. Usually I stand by what I wrote in the post. I don't see the point of restating it in a comment. If I do develop a new argument I like to write a new post so it doesn't get buried in comments. (This post was just going to be a comment. It's become more deserving.)

I appreciate all serious comments and commenters. When I'm drafting a post I try to envision what the response will be. I think that strengthens my writing. Your responses are not ignored even though I don't respond.

The purpose of this weblog is for me to write. Its my running commentary about the weird, wild, wacky world around me. I allow comments to let others continue the discussion. (I'll hopefully get my Trackback problem fixed so that discussion can more easily be extended to other weblogs.) Like I wrote above, I won't respond to every comment. For me it's about adding value to the discussion. If I think a response is valuable I'll offer it; if not I won't.

I'll try to do a better job, but I make no promises. There's too many things to write about. The Jasminlive world is in constant flux. Something new always grabs my attention. I won't sacrifice good ideas for new posts to make the same point I made in my original post. To me that's a waste of pixels. There will be many points where we will have to agree to disagree.

Expect a Monday Malaise

Expect Aaron Rodgers to be starting as quarterback for the Packers next season. That's because if you had to force Brett Favre to make a decision at this moment he would retire. That's what he told ESPN's Chris Mortensen in an interview aired Sunday night. It's not the physical part of the game that's weighing on him, it's the mental. He's not sure he wants the ball with two minutes left in the game. He said he told Ted Thompson, "I don't know if I can give you everything." A month before his final 2005 game he called his former coach Mike Holmgren about it possibly being his last game. Favre would love to wait until training camp to make a decision, but he knows that wouldn't be fair to the Packers.

Despite talk to the contrary that Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy don't really want Brett Favre back next season (I'm talking to you, Mark Belling) both men visited him in Mississippi last week.

If you notice some irritation and mild depression with your Wisconsin co-workers you now know why.

"Favre Says he's Leaning Toward Retirement"

Stuck Watching a Bad Game

There is a downside to getting a partial-season ticket package as a gift: you attend games where you wish you could pull out the remote control and change the channel. Today, my father and I sat through the sloppiest NBA I can remember. Neither the Boston Celtics or the Milwaukee Bucks could made a crisp pass, they couldn't shoot from the floor or free throw line, they made dumb fouls, and they rarely move around on offense. The Bucks snagged a win because Michael Redd got hot in the fourth quarter.

The Bucks have been in a funk in January going 7-9. They're still within shouting distance of Cleveland for the fourth seed in the playoffs. Injuries to Joe Smith and now Mo Williams are part of the reason. Terry Stotts has to get his players focused better or they'll get bounce in the first round of the playoffs.

Gophers Takes Latest Battle in Border War

College hockey doesn't get enough attention especially in Wisconsin. This year the Badgers are one of the best teams in the nation and the Frozen Four national championship will be in Milwaukee in April. This weekend the #4 Minnesota Golden Gophers come to face the #2 Badgers. Tonight's game was wild and exciting like a good college game can be. After a stretch of three-straight goals the Badgers were down 5-1 and looked like you could stick a fork in them. But the third period was all theirs. They kept the puck in their offensive zone and drew on the electricity produced by the 17,000 rabid Badgers fans. The team's efforts in the final period weren't enough. Two penalties lowered their intensity just enough for the Gophers to pull out a 5-4 win. The Badgers hope to get out of their three-game skid when the again play Minnesota tomorrow night.

Oprah Takes Her Credibility Back

I meant to publish a post alerting you to James Frey appearing on Oprah today. But, oops, I forgot to hit the "publish" button. I'm going to engage in some literary license (inspired by Frey no doubt) and quote from a post that will never need to see the light of day.

Questions didn't stop with Frey. Oprah lashed out at Doubleday publisher, Nan Talese. Talese responded by saying the book wasn't fact-checked because publishers don't do that. "I thought as a publisher, this is James's memory of the hell he went through. . . . I do not know how you get inside another person's mind."

A question that I don't know was asked was why Frey allowed Doubleday to publish the book as a memoir when other jasmine live publishers rejected the book when it was sold to them as a novel? Frey admitted lying to millions of his readers yet said, "I still think it's a memoir."

The Smoking Gun editor William Bastone "felt bad for Frey" after Oprah's onslaught.

Random House, owner of Doubleday, will publish an author's note in all future copies of A Million Little Pieces. There's no mention if the book will be recatagorized as fiction.

When the Perfect is the Enemy of the Good

With Scott Walker out of the governor's race there's been some Mark Green bashing on local weblogs. Charlie Sykes doesn't offer any links (tsk, tsk; the most important thing about the web; being on vacation is no excuse) so I'm going to assume most of the criticism has been in the comments. After Walker dropped out I knew some people were bummed. Many have quickly come around. Even Chris at Spotted Hourse knows the ultimate goal is to beat Gov. Doyle, and Patrick at Badger Blogger thinks "Green is a great candidate."

To Walker supporters still upset with Green here are two words: chill out. The guy's a conservative. He's voted to cut taxes, control spending, ban partial-birth abortion, and require photo ID at the voting booth. Compare that to Jim Doyle.

It's obvious the Green campaign has to reach out to conservative Southeastern Wisconsin voters who really liked Walker. Since I think he's a smart guy who will do what it takes to beat Doyle I have no doubt he'll do that. All I ask of you Green critics is to keep an open mind. Breathe in, breathe out, then imagine four more years of Governor Doyle.

YIKES!

Kane's Bait-and-Switch

First, Eugene Kane wants certain members of the Wisconsin blogosphere to "Get some backbone or get out of the blogosphere." He complained about some webloggers (i.e. Jessica McBride) who don't allow comments. Ironic from a pathetic excuse of a weblogger who doesn't have weblog comments of his own (start griping to your employer if it's so important). I guess McBride's prominent listing of her e-mail address doesn't count. (It's actually in a bigger font than Kane's.)

Now, Kane decided he's superior because he gets letters to the editor and does webchats. It's no longer about the comments from www.chaturbaterooms.com. I'm still waiting for that coward to send me an e-mail or leave a comment. Hell, I'm still waiting for him to understand that being part of the blogosphere is linking to other webloggers. It's called being polite, a trait he rarely displays in his published words. He's still a weblogging newbie so I'll cut him a little slack. Even big media voices have to earn respect in the blogosphere. Kane has a ways to go.

A Quibble with a Quibble

In Daniel Suhr's round-up of coverage of Scott Walker's exit from the governor's race he quotes TAM and gripes against "some (self-righteous) finger-waving at Mark Green" with regards to my complaint with Rep. Mark Green's ethanol stance.

Later on he doesn't think Green will campaign to the middle now that he won't have a primary opponent. He uses as an example Green not caving to the "right-wing on ethanol even as he was getting pounded on both talk and paid radio." Does Daniel think government requiring gas to contain 10% ethanol to be a conservative position? Such interference in the free market doesn't sound like the conservatism of Goldwater, Reagan, or Gingrich. It does sound like President Bush's Big Government conservatism which also includes massive increases in educational and social welfare spending along with trade protectionism.

Ethanol has been my primary concern with Green. I'm a conservative first, then a Republican. If Green pushes policies I don't consider conservative I will call him out and oppose them. No candidate will agree with me 100%. If I wanted the perfect candidate I'd run myself. I was no Walker sycophant. In fact, until he dropped out I didn't endorse either GOP governor candidate. When comparing Green and Doyle there's no question who I support. As I wrote last Friday, "On school choice, on taxes, on spending, on government regulations, on ethics Green is superior. For that I'm endorsing Rep. Mark Green for governor of Wisconsin." Ethanol isn't a deal breaker. Green wants to end Wisconsin's image as a tax hell and improve the business climate. If he pulled that off I probably could swallow an ethanol mandate. Politics is the art of the possible. There's a clear choice in the election. Voters can choose the conservative Rep. Mark Green or the liberal, ethically-challenged incumbent governor.

"Quibbles with Commentary"